Becca J Norman

TLDR: Skip to reference links My annual knitting tradition Over the past few years, I've happily settled into the rhythm of knitting one sweater for myself each year, and smaller projects throughout the rest of the year. It works for me. Sometimes I knit sweaters for other members of my household (can't have them feeling left out ALL the time...) but I look forward to my one special sweater that's just for me all year. Well, this year I knitted that one sweater, a cardigan, ( I tend to alternate between cardigans and pullovers) and felt like starting another sweater because it wasn't even winter yet and why not? My family was still in limbo with the transition between active duty Army and returning to Korea as a civilian contractor family. I had time to spare and nerves to settle. An offer I couldn't refuse My friend Rachel Costello posted a testing call for a new design that looked amazing, as well as a yarn discount from a dyer whose colors looked beautiful. I was in Missouri, away from my stash and other handmade sweaters, so I decided to go for it. The only problem was that I didn't know how much longer I would be there, and thus wasn't sure if I should have the yarn shipped to where I was, or to my American PO box in Korea. In case you missed it: this video should get you up to speed on some of the craziness of this transition. It was far from a smooth ride. Leap of faith I decided to go ahead and order the yarn and have it shipped to my parents' house in Missouri. I had no idea when I would be leaving or when the yarn would arrive; I just hoped that, like everything else in my life, that it would work out in the end. And thank God, because I ended up being in Missouri for over a month past when the yarn arrived. Yarn from Zeezee Textiles: Baby suri laceweight in "Matcha" and Natural fingering weight in "Cyprus" They are so soft, especially the baby suri, and do you see that twist on the darker green? That gives it great squish and stretch recovery. It's non-superwash, which I've learned not to fear. About that sweater... This sweater that I found so irresistable is the Duotone, which is a pullover sweater with a drop-sleeve and bottom-up construction. Normally I'm not a fan of dropped sleeves, but for some reason this one really appealed to me. Like many Knitters, I favor a top-down construction because of the ability to try it on and test for length before committing to the hem. Rachel designed this very thoughtfully with a provisional cast-on to allow for adding length after the fact if desired. And the sleeves were worked down from the shoulders, so that was easy. Best of both worlds! It's worked with 2 strands held together, one fingering weight and one lace weight mohair or something else with a nice loft. I like alpaca because it's less itchy for me, so I chose baby suri. (Suri Alpacas have straight hair as opposed to curly and wooly, which makes it a nice mohair substitute) There is a fun faux i-cord detail down the center front and back, as well as the sleeves, and I chose the version with the i-cord bind off rather than ribbing on the ends of the sleeves and body. If you remember my advice for knitting when stressed, this one ticked all my boxes: Mostly stockinette in the round interesting detail with a 2-row repeat soft happy color simple relaxed fit First things first The yarn arrived in hanks, so it had to be wound before I could do anything. I didn't bring my ball winder or swift in my luggage, but luckily I have some pretty mad ball winding skills, so I sat down on the floor to watch some nature documentaries with my kids, put the yarn around my feet, and set to work. It was a full body workout! Second things second Once the yarn was wound up into usable cakes, it was time for the gauge swatch. My personal tension tends to be tighter than average, so I started out with a flat square using the recommended needle size, then cast on extra stitches and switched to knitting in the round with the next size up. I like to measure my swatches before and after blocking, so I'll have an idea how much growth to account for when I'm knitting the sweater and checking sleeve and body length. The fun part Time to start for real! Knitting the body isn't really that interesting to journal about, but it's oh so satisfying and relaxing. Sweater, interrupted At this point, my husband had left to start his new job in Korea, but due to paperwork errors (so. many. errors.) The kids and I had to stay behind and wait for our approval. It was for the best though, because we were in the process of evicting a delinquent tenant from the house that was our first home together. The day after my husband flew out, the eviction was approved by the court. What a relief. But oh my goodness, I was not prepared me for the state that house was in. I spent many many hours (between homeschooling my kids and cooking for a very full house since the other adults still had actual full-time jobs) cleaning that house over the following month, with lots of help from family and friends, as well as some paid professionals, and the job was still nowhere near done when it was time for me to fly back across the Pacific Ocean. But did I mention how much I love my family? My brother, sister-in-law, parents, aunt, and uncle continued the restoration in my absence and it looks amazing now. Good enough for family to live in, which is good because I'll never trust a stranger again. Being a landlord isn't as luxurious as you might think! Home again Back at home, I was happy to be reunited with my ball winder and swift. I wound up the rest of the yarn and set to the task of finishing so that I could give Rachel my feedback. She seriously worked so hard to make this pattern easy to follow and fit many different body types. And she's not paying me to say any of this. Mods Of course I went rogue on something! I always do. As much as I loved the i-cord bind off style, I had a feeling the ends would always try to roll up and it would bug me. I decided to add bands of double knitting just before the bind off, and after a few tries, I figured out how to get it just right. You can find that tutorial here. I also added a couple inches to both the sleeves and body, since my arms seem to be longer than average (interesting, since I'm slightly shorter than average...) and I hate it when my wrist bones and belly show. Remember how I said I measure the gauge swatch before and after blocking? I knew there would be a very slight amount of growth once it was blocked, so I calculated how much length to add with this in mind. Here for the links? Pattern Main color yarn Highlight color yarn Ravelry project page YouTube video These are not affiliate links, but the ones below are: Knitpicks Aloft Super Kid Mohair Knitpicks Palette - fingering weight yarn These would be a more-budget-friendly option and still very nice for this pattern.

If you want a professional-looking finish for your sweater sleeves and hems, but also want a departure from the standard ribbing, you'll love this trick. I'll show you how to modify any stockinette pattern to add this type of hem. It's seamless, maintians the stretch of the fabric, and won't roll up. The sweater I'm demonstrating on is the Duotone, designed by Rachel Costello. You can read all about that project here. It's worked in the round, which is how you will be learning this technique today. Step 1: The setup round At the beginning of the round, knit one stitch and then cast on one stitch via the backwards loop method. For a crash course on the backwards loop: 1. Make the loop Make a single loop in the working yarn, with the tail end in front of the end attached to the work. 2. Put it on the needle "backwards" Give it a half-twist counter-clockwise and slide it onto the right-hand needle. Gently tug the yarn to snug up the new stitch. Don't pull it too tight or it will be really hard to work into on the next round! Repeat this knit 1, backwards loop to the last stitch, and end with a knit. You will have a regular knit stitch at the beginning and end of this round, with no backwards loop in between. This makes a more invisible transition. Step 2: The Purl Round If you're using a beginning of round marker, slip that and begin the second round by slipping the first stitch with the yarn in back, and purling the backwards loop stitch with the yarn in front. Yarn in back, slip 1, yarn in front purl 1... Repeat until the end of round. I do find that it's easy to zone out and accedentally start working a knit 1, purl 1 ribbing because it's so familiar. To combat this, I find it helpful to say out loud (or whisper under my breath) "Slip, purl, slip, purl..." So that I don't forget what I'm doing. All knit stitches will be slipped, and all loop stitches will be purled. On the following rounds, they will be more distinct purls. End the round with a slipped stitch. Step 3: The Knit Round Slip the marker, and knit the first stitch with the yarn in back. Then slip the purled stitch with the yarn in front. Yarn in back, knit 1, yarn in front, slip 1... You know the drill. Repeat until end of round, ending with a knit stitch. You may or may not notice at this point that the yarn is always staying on the inside of the slipped stitches, rather than passing over the outside of the fabric. We are essentially creating 2 separate layers of stockinette with a hollow in the middle. Keep Going Repeat Steps 2 and 3 two to four additional times. It's crucial to alternate between them and avoid repeating the same round consecutively. You can choose the width of your double-knit band. In my opinion, it should have at least 3 sets of knit and purl rounds. For this sweater, I did that for the sleeves and completed 4 sets on the body hem. Finishing To finish the edge, I don't recommend the regular bind off, but rather a tubular bind off, which also goes by the name of kitchener bind-off, sewn bind-off, and Italian bind-off. On this sweater, I did a stylized i-cord bind-off and I love the way it looks. Finished edge with i-cord bind-off Don’t be scared to play around! Making modifications to sweater designs can seem daunting at first, but it's so rewarding to look at something you not only made with your hands, but also added your own special touch to. This was a great design and I loved the creative finish to the edges, but knew I would hate the way they would roll up. It took me 3 tries to figure out just the right way to set it up, but it really paid off!

Knowing different ways to finish edges is one of the best ways to become a better knitter. Mastering all the stitch patterns in the world but only knowing one way to cast on or bind off will often leave your masterpeices looking amateur. This particular technique gives a wonderfully clean finish by creating a little tube that envelopes the stitches along the bound-off edge, and when worked in the round, it seamlessly joins at the beginning and end of the round. This is a great finish for sweaters, blankets, and really anything you want. It's moderately stretchy, although maybe not a great choice for finishing ribbing. I'll be demonstrating on my Duotone Sweater to finish the double knit edge I created. It's wonderful for double knitting. While it's not terribly difficult, it's what I call a compound technique, because it involves a few different techniques that could each be taught on their own. These are: Knitted cast on (also known as "cabled cast on") K2tog tbl Kitchener stitch I have a tutorial for the kitchener stitch on the blog, but for the others, continue reading and/or watch the video below. If your project is on circular needles, you can either continue with the same circulars, or if you prefer binding off with on double-pointed needle in your right hand, that will also work. If you've ever made an actual i-cord, you'll see the similarity in this technique. Step 1 Using the knitted cast on technique, cast on 3 stitches. Knit one stitch, but instead of slipping the old one off the left needle as you normally would, you will instead transfer the new stitch on your right needle over to the left needle without twisting. Repeat this 2 more times, each time knitting into the newest stitch that has been created. Step 2 Knit 2 stitches This probably needs no explanation, but you will now have only 2 stitches on your right needle, and the first stitch that you cast on will still be on the left. Step 3 K2 tog tbl ( or in the case that you're finishing double knitting like me, k3tog tbl) "TBL" stands for "through the back loop." To do this, you insert the right needle purlwise through the legs of the stitches on the back side of the needle, as opposed to on the front like when you're purling. Then you can wrap the yarn around the right needle and pull it through like normal. This will join the cast-on stitch with the original stitch on the body. The right-hand needle is in the "back loop" of 3 stitches If you are binding off double knitting, the 3 stitches you are knitting together are: the first cast-on stitch, and 1 each right- and wrong-side stitch. Step 4 Slip all 3 stitches purlwise from your right needle back to the left needle. This how we get the i-cord in the i-cord bind off. Put these 3 stitches onto the left needle Repeat steps 2-4 until you have reached the end of the round, but this time leave the 3 live stitches on your right needle. End of round! If you're knitting a Duotone And you used my double knitting modification, you will have this sequence of stitches: purl stitch, 3 i-cord stitches, purl stitch, knit stitch. At this point, work k2tog tbl 3 times, then switch back to k3tog tbl to catch the next purl stitch along with the last i-cord stitch. Continue as established above. How to finish Cut the yarn, leaving enough to weave in, plus a little extra. Turn the work 90 degrees counter-clockwise and switch hands with the needles. Insert a knitting needle into the 3 stitches you made at the very beginning. I find it easier to use a tapestry needle to find them, and then slide them onto a knitting needle. Double pointed needles are great here. Long circulars can feel a bit unweildly at this point. You will graft the 3 live stitches to the 3 picked up stitches using the kitchener stitch technique. Visit this blog post for a full tutorial. Once the stitches are grafted, use the working yarn to neaten up any loose or untidy stitches, and then weave it in and trim it off. If you are working on double knitting, you can thread it through the hollow space, pull it taut, and trim. It will disappear into the inside like magic! Finished!

Don't skip it! Back in the old days, when I would finish knitting something, I would go straight to wearing it without pausing to block it. If I could go back in time, I would slap my hand and say “Stop it!” Why does it matter so much? Think of it kind of like ironing, without the iron, and more passive. Maybe that’s a bad example. I almost never iron, even though I know it makes clothes look so much better. Anyway, much like how ironing smooths out wrinkles and gives a nice crispness to the fabric, blocking your knits makes the stitches look more even, filled in, and just makes it feel better. Before blocking This is my Clarke Pullover before I blocked it. It’s a nice sweater but see how it just looks kinda… lumpy? The underarms are weird, the sleeves are a little short, and the fit at the waist and hips is all wrong. (The hip thing is partly due to me adding hip increases that weren’t called for in the pattern and not spacing them out enough. But watch to see what happens there…) The blocking method I’m teaching you today is “wet blocking” It’s not the only method, but it’s pretty basic and works well for most yarns. We’ll get into the other methods another time. For today, I want you to know that the yarn I used for the sweater I’m showing you is a wool blend and I measured my gauge swatch before and after blocking (as per pattern instructions) so I knew what to expect as far as how much it would grow lengthwise. Another thing to remember is that a whole sweater will be heavier than a little gauge swatch, especially when wet, so expect a little more growth in the length. Put that baby in a tub. Fill a (clean) sink, bucket, or bathtub with lukewarm water and place your finished knitted object into it, gently pressing it under the surface of the water. Let it soak for about 15 minutes. You can add a wool soak if you want, but to be honest, I just used plain old water here. after 15 minutes of soaking Squeeze Drain the sink or whatever you’re using, and gently squeeze the excess water out of the fabric. Don’t twist or wring! Easy peasy sweater squeezy Towel burrito Next, you’ll roll it up in a clean dry towel like a burrito or sushi and squeeze it again. Press out as much water as you can, and if the towel feels really wet, do it again with another fresh towel. It's probably more like sushi than a burrito... Or should I say gimbap? Spread it out Carefully lay it out flat on foam blocking mats or yet another clean towel. I like blocking mats because they don’t absorb the moisture, which allows the sweater to dry faster, and you can move it around without messing anything up. You can also pin into it if you’re blocking something with a precise shape or needs to be held in place. I got these mats from KnitPicks. Gently smooth out wrinkles with your hands and smooth the edges. Shape it Shape it into the desired shape and size, gently. For this one, I knew I needed the sleeves and body to be a little longer, and that the gauge swatch did grow lengthwise so I didn’t need to force anything. I did a little work on the hips, shaping them more like the shape of my body and coaxing out the lump I accidentally created when I graded up to a larger size below the waist. (This is the beauty of making your own clothes. You get to make the garment work for you instead of feeling like it’s your body that’s wrong.) The hardest part is waiting for it to dry. Pat it to get all the ripples out and make sure the side seams aren't crooked. If you have a small fan, place it nearby overnight. Once it’s completely dry, it’s done! Now you can wear it proudly. Don't I look proud? It feels so good. External links to things mentioned in this post: Clarke Pullover knitting pattern Foam blocking mats* My Ravelry project page for this sweater *affiliate link. When you use my affiliate links, you help support me so I can keep creating free content for you!

Mystery Yarn We all have some , whether we inherited it from a grandparent, found it at a garage sale, or it’s been in our stash so long the label fell off and we have no memory of where it came from. So what are you supposed to do with this unlabeled yarn of mystery? Cast on a sweater and pray it turns out? Um… Make 10 different gauge swatches? Lord no. Let it stay in stash purgatory for eternity? How about not. There’s a better way! You can identify the yarn weight even without a label by measuring wraps per inch (henceforth referred to as WPI ) If you’re unfamiliar with yarn weights, check out this old old video about how to identify them based on clues the labels offer. Supplies Mystery yarn Cheat Sheet Ruler That’s it! Get a printable version of the cheat sheet here or by filling out the form above. How to Measure: Carefully begin winding the yarn around the ruler, starting at an inch line. Continue wrapping the yarn around and around, keeping the strands as vertical as you can, and making sure they’re not overlapping or spaced apart from each other. The idea is for them to be just touching. Rubbing shoulders but not hugging. Don’t be intimidated. I promise it’s easy! Once a whole inch is covered, count how many revolutions the yarn made. Or count as you’re wrapping. That’s easier but sometimes I get lost in thought and forget. Repeat this process 2 more times, and average out the results. WPI isn’t really very precise, but this will help you find a more accurate measurement. (WPI + WPI + WPI) ÷ 3 = average WPI in case you weren’t paying attention in math class Consult the chart Find the matching number on the right side of the cheat sheet and see which weight it corresponds with. If it’s somewhere in between two of them, don’t sweat it. At least now you know where it falls on the yarn thickness spectrum and can more easily choose the knitting project that would be a good fit for this yarn. And besides, you know I’m never going to give you permission to skip the gauge swatch anyway. For more tough love, follow me on Instagram . Now What? Now, you take a picture of the yarn and add it to your Ravelry stash with all the known details. I’ve got another oldie for you here , explaining how to do that. It’s how I search through my stash without actually pulling everything out of the bin every time. Better yet, you can make a new label for the yarn and make sure it won’t fall off this time!

Right Round Baby Knitting in the round on circular needles is pretty easy, but it doesn't work for small circumference knitting; for that, you have two options: magic loop, and double-pointed needles. I favor double-pointed needles, and for very small circumference knitting, it's really the only option. I’m casting on for a toy football pattern, which you can get for free via the form below. Begin Simply It starts out with only 8 stitches and they’re worked in the round! Cast them on all at once to one double-pointed needle. (Henceforth referred to as a DPN .) Divide and Conquer *Jazz hands optional To start dividing onto DPNs, all you'll do is transfer an equal (or close to it) number of stitches onto 3 or 4 needles. In this case, 4. Make sure you have one extra to knit with. As you get the stitches on each one, let it fall, and kind of rotate them clockwise so that they go into an array. Slide the stitches to the middle of each one so you don't have to worry about them falling off. If you’re careful, all of the stitches will be facing outward. If you weren’t careful, or perhaps someone jumped on you when you were trying to be careful, you can still sort it out without having to undo everything. Take a deep breath and find the bottom of each stitch. If you look closely, you can see a purl bump for each one. Just get them all in order again, turn them so they’re all aimed down, and you’re set! Now We Knit The first stitch you’ll knit into is the first one you cast on. This will join everything into a circle. For that first stitch, you want to give it a tug afterwards to tighten up any gap that's going to form where the join is. You don't have to worry about them getting twisted anymore! After knitting all the stitches on one needle, grab the empty needle with your right hand and move on to the next one. It’s usually a good idea to keep track of where the end of the round is, but if you try to use a stitch marker, it will fall right off the end of the needle. I tend to live dangerously and not mark it at all… but the tail of the yarn is always coming out from the last stitch of the round, so that acts as a marker of sorts also. The first round is complete! And that’s all there is to it! Don’t forget to snag that football pattern and try out what you learned today.

There are a bunch of different ways to bind off. Some are fancy, some are invisible, some are stiff and some are stretchy. Today I’m focusing on one of the stretchy ones. I like Jenny’s Super Stretchy Bind Off to finish off ribbing on sleeve cuffs, neckbands, and anywhere else I need a lot of stretch. It’s surprisingly simple, and if you already know how to do a basic bind-off you’ll pick it up in no time. To start, get a needle that’s a few sizes smaller than you’ve been using to knit with. Trust me . I know normally the challenge is to make sure you’re not binding off too tight, but for this one, you want it nice and tight for that stretch recovery. In the video, I’m demonstrating on a k1p1 rib, but it will work on any other combination too. Start by knitting (or purling) the first stitch like normal, then do a yarn over before working the next stitch, sticking with the pattern already established. This is the yarn over you’ll do before a purl. End with the yarn in front. The part where it’s a little funny is that before a knit, you’ll do a backwards yarn over , and a regular one before a purl. A backwards yarn over, which you’ll do before a knit, ending with the yarn in back. Then you slip those 2 stitches over the last stitch and keep going. Pass 2 stitches over by inserting your left needle into them like this and lifting them over that last stitch. Then drop them. See? Easy. If you give it a try, please share your results with me! You can tag me on Instagram @becca.j.norman

It's that sinking feeling... You know the one, when you’re knitting along and everything’s going great, or so you think. Then you notice that a few (or a lot) rows ago, there’s one little stitch that was knit instead of purled, or vice versa. But wait! Before you rip everything out, there’s a simpler way! Watch the video and read on. You’ll soon be fixing mistakes like a pro. Because even pros make mistakes. 1. Without a Crochet Hook When all you have are the knitting needles you’re already using, don’t despair! You don’t have to wait to get a crochet hook or anything else. You can fix that mistake right then and there. The sample swatch I’m using to demonstrate is seed stitch , so I’m doing alternating knits and purls. To knit, without a crochet hook: 1. Once you’ve dropped the stitches all the way to the mistake, 2. place the live stitch and bottom-most leg onto the left needle. 3. Knit, picking up the leg and 4. pull it through. To purl, without a crochet hook: To purl one of the dropped stitches, get the coordinating leg and bring it to the front of the active stitch. Then bring the stitch up to the left-hand needle and simply purl it , picking up that loose leg as the new stitch. With a Crochet Hook: If you do have a crochet hook handy, you’re really in luck, because the crochet hook method is even easier and faster. Start the same way, by carefully dropping the stitches down until you reach the stitch in question.

How to do it properly: One of the most crucial steps in making a stuffed animal is the stuffing! There’s a big difference between an overstuffed, under-stuffed, or lumpy toy and one that’s juuust right. But never fear! I am here to show you how to find that sweet Goldilocks zone for a perfectly huggable plushie. Evaluate and mold into shape If there are any pointy or protruding parts like this guy’s nose, fill those first. Roughly shape the fiber fill into the shape you want, but 2-3 times larger. It will compress once it’s in there. Before you stuff the larger main part, make sure the stuffing here isn’t so far down that there will be a gap later. When you’re ready to stuff the round parts, use that same technique of shaping the fluff before you stick it in. This will ensure that it’s squishy and not lumpy . If you don’t get enough and you can tell it will look deflated, take it out and add more to it rather than shoving little bits in at a time. That’s where the lumps come from! Don't skimp on the neck The point at which the body meets the head is very important. If you don’t stuff that opening enough, the poor guy won’t be able to hold his head up and he’ll look so sad! You want him to have a nice strong neck so he can hold that head up high. This time it’s okay to add a small bit of extra fluff while you’re sewing it together if you can tell it’s needed. Arms, legs, and tail: Firm vs. Flabby For the appendages, you may want to take the opposite approach. Stuff the arms and legs too firmly and they’ll stick straight out from the body. You can see the difference between old Felix and Felici. Felici’s arms I stuffed pretty firmly and then tried to stitch them down but her right arm keeps floating up. Felix’s arms I stuffed more on the paw ends but left the shoulders pretty limp and I think it’s cute. For these narrow pieces, using a pencil is helpful for getting it all the way down there. It’s kind of like a ramrod, but don’t get too zealous about shoving it all in at once. Take your time and use the eraser end of the pencil to slide in beside the stuffing to ease it down a little at a time. Same with their tails. I wanted nice fluffy fox tails but left them flatter at the base so it can flop around some rather that always sticking straight out. These legs are designed to be more structured and will be fully closed up before you attach them to the body, so we’ll stuff them more firmly. Have fun! The beauty of handmade toys is that no two are exactly alike . They’ll each have their own little personalities, so why not get to know them a little while you’re filling them with life? I won’t tell anybody I caught you playing with toys. (wink) There you have it! Now you can stuff with confidence. If you want to make these same little foxes, you can find the pattern here or on Ravelry. I absolutely love getting to see what you do with the things you learn from me. If you try out any of my tips, give me a I so I can see! If you post it on IG or FB, tag me @becca.j.norman If you don’t do social media, you can just send me an email. becca@beccajnorman.com

Korean Alphabet Birthday Hangeul Day is October 9th and my blog post about it last year was really popular, so I thought this year I would share some of my personal experiences with learning to read Korean: the advantages and a few tips for getting it to stick. Advantages: Aside from the obvious fact that it’s not ideal to be illiterate, I found some other extra perks that I think you should get excited about too. 1. "Konglish" Words “Konglish” refers to English loanwords that have been converted into Korean. When I first started learning Hangeul, I feared that it would serve me no purpose for a very long time, since I didn’t understand the words I was learning to sound out , but then when I got here, I was surprised how many turned out to be English words in disguise! This epiphany occurred, of course, in the grocery store . When I could go by myself, I would take lots of time and just stand there in the aisle and stare at labels until I could say the word in my head (or quietly under my breath like a creep…) I must have looked like an idiot because I would stare and stare and then all of the sudden have this AHA! And realize all it said was caramel macchiato , or americano , or something like that. (Iced coffes were my favorite practice subject.) 2. Improved Pronunciation As kind as it was of Korea to Romanize street names and such for us foreigners, it’s not a great indicator of how to actually say things. Because even with letters that we recognize, it can be hard to figure out how they’re pronounced. I think the worst for this is the vowel 어 which is Romanized as “eo.” Most Americans would instinctively pronounce that like “ay-o” or “ee-o” when in reality it’s somewhere between “uh” and “ah” 3. Expanded Vocabulary Have you ever taught a child to read, or spent a lot of time with them when they’re in the process of learning? It’s amazing to see how many connections they make once they realize they can read the words on things. Well, when you learn a new alphabet system and suddenly look around to see words pop out at you that previously looked like just weird shapes, you get to have that feeling too! You’ll start to see the same words or parts of words over and over again, and soon you’ll automatically know what they mean by associative reasoning. Which leads me to my next example: The Gochu Connection! 고추연결 Gochujang was something I kept in the fridge long before coming to Korea, although I wasn’t sure how to pronounce it. One day I was trying a new recipe that called for sil GOCHU (실고추), which are hot pepper threads, and GOCHU garu 고추가루), red pepper powder. Can you guess what 고추 means? Yep! It’s a pepper! (very spicy, by the way.) Jumping off from the gochu connection, are all the words attached to 고추. Jang (장) means sauce or paste, Sil (실) means thread. Garu (가루) means flour or powder or something that has been ground up. You see where I’m going with this. Who knew you could have a language explosion later in life! How to Learn: 1. Charts, workbooks, and videos In my other Hangeul Day blog post , I covered a little of how I started learning, which was not very efficient. I would recommend printing out some charts like the one in that post, getting a workbook so you can practice writing, and watching videos so you can hear how it sounds. Hangeul Master from Talk to Me in Korean is excellent and I wish I had it when I was getting started. Click here to buy it on Coupang. I had my daughter use this book, and it helped her a lot. 2. Add a Korean keyboard to your phone. This might seem silly, but I started manually typing words I didn’t know into Google translate because it was getting really embarrassing to hold the phone up to everything for the instant translate. But what started out as vanity and pride turned out to be helpful for me to not only remember more words , but to see how the characters fit together into syllables , which in turn helped with learning how to spell . (I’m still learning though…) Side note: the visual translation does not work for words that are written vertically or with a calligraphic font, so there will be times you’ll need to type it out if you want to know what it means. 3. Read everything you see. That might sound daunting. Try reading all the large words on labels. You don’t have to understand or translate everything. The idea is to practice, practice, practice . I started trying to learn months before moving here but once I was finally here and seeing a whole lot of Korean everywhere, I was surprised how much I improved over a short period of time. If you’re not in Korea yet, find a Korean market and go read all the labels there. (We even had one by Fort Polk in Louisiana, so I’m sure you have one somewhere nearby.) 4. Try Korean recipes. For a more focused approach, I like to find a traditional Korean recipe that sounds good and add the less familiar ingredients to my list in Hangeul. Then going to the store is more like a treasure hunt than a chore. My favorite Korean food blogs are Kimchi Mari and Korean Bapsang. They’re great at explaining things and sharing a little of the history and traditions behind the dishes, so even if you’re not familiar with Korean cuisine, you’ll be able to make really authentic dishes! Are you excited about it yet? Let me know in the comments if you’ve had any AHA moments or if you have any other tricks up your sleeves!

I originally planned for this to be a small bonus tucked in along with the stuffing tutorial, but as I was editing the video, I decided this deserved its own post. I’m of course demonstrating once again on my fox pattern , but there will be other times you’ll need to attach a cast-on end to a bound-off end, sometimes in the underarm of a sweater sleeve. So even if you’re not making a stuffed animal, save this one for when you need it! Smooth Seam For this particular project, in order to close up the head once it’s been stuffed, I need to create a smooth seam connecting a bound-off edge and a cast-on edge. Since it’s going to be attached to the body at the center point of this seam, I stitch from the corners to the middle, allowing myself to then use the loose threads to attach the head to the neck opening on the body. I’m all about having less loose yarn tails to deal with at the end. First, make sure your corners are secure or your edges are lined up. You will insert the needle horizontally through both sides of the “V” that is a stitch, as close to the edge as you can get. Then you will insert the needle horizontally through a stitch on the opposite side, starting at the exit point the yarn came out before, and catching an upside-down “V” this time. Then keep working across like this, always inserting the needle through the previous yarn exit point and alternating upside-down and right-side-up Vs. Just the right tension You can pull it pull it fairly tight; you'll be able to feel when you've got it just right: not so tight that it's puckered, but not so loose that that you can see extra large stitches. It should look about like the picture above. If you’re making the fox or something similar, don’t forget to stop at the middle and start again from the other side! Then you can tie the ends in a knot in the middle and continue with the rest of the animal. That’s really all there is to it. As always, tag me @becca.j.norman in your projects that I helped you with!

Cute and Simple Facial Features I'm back, continuing our stuffed animal series, and today I'm going to show you a couple of different ideas for how to embroider on facial details. You may remember my safety eyes tutorial , and if you decided not to do those or you just don't have any, this one is for you. If you have ears to add, go ahead and attach those first. I find that helps me with placing the eyes. If you need some guidance on how to do that, check out this blog post. Supplies: (The pattern I’m demonstrating on can be found right here on this site.) Yarn or Embroidery Floss You're going to need some yarn in a color of your choice, DK weight or lighter. Embroidery floss is also a good choice if you only have bulkier weight yarns available. You'll need a pretty long piece. I used KnitPicks CotLin in Clementine, Swan, and Black. Tapestry Needle That’s obvious at this point, right? These are nice ones. Begin with the end in mind. The secret sauce for all of this is that our yarn is going to enter at the base of the head, right where it's going to be hidden when you sew it into the body. You can knot it there, or you can live life on the edge like me and just pinch it in place until you’ve taken a few stitches and it’s not moving. So insert your needle there at the base and bring it out through where you want the top edge of the nose to be. Pointy Nose 1. Make Vertical Spokes For this pointy fox nose, make several vertical spoke-like stitches, all going back through the pointed end of the nose. Do as many of these stitches as you need, until there are no more big gaps in between. I ended up doing one extra on each side, below the nose, which turned into a cute little mouth. 2. Weave Through the Spokes To fill it in the rest of the way, we're going to just weave it in and out of all of these spokes. Over, under, over, under, just like those potholders you used to make with the the loops on a loom. After each row of weaving, push the yarn down to the tip of the nose, and do another, making sure to go under the strands you went over last time, and vice versa. Do this until the whole nose is filled in. The last row should be a little tight. Moving on to the Eyes When you’re satisfied, insert the needle into the corner of the nose right where the yarn end is, and direct it to where you want the corner of the eye to be, on the opposite side of the face. For the eyes, you can get as creative as you want, but I always like the results the best when I keep it really simple. Play Around! I'm kind of woo and I like to just let their personalities develop as I'm making them. I always start in the corner of the eye and play around with the next stitch length and angle by simply sticking the needle in where I’m thinking about going, and stretch the yarn around it to see if I like it, and if I want to do a single straight stitch, or 2, like a bent line. Play around with it like this until you decide what you like the best. In this case, I made one small stitch up from the corner, and then a longer one for the length of the eye. So up from the inner corner, out through the outer corner. Then insert your needle into the upper part of the inner corner, and out though the exact same spot on the other side. What Lies Beneath I want you to look carefully and see what I did here. In order for the eyes to look symmetrical, you have to think about what the yarn is doing under the surface. If the outer corner is folded under, it will appear slightly shorter. The inner corner is extending out in the same direction under the surface, so it appears slightly elongated. You want the eyes to mirror each other. The devil is in the details, and paying attention to things like this will really elevate your projects. If you’re having a hard time picturing how this works, watch the video below . If you ever take a stitch and you don't like the way it looks, that's okay. Just pull it out and then you can re-thread your needle and start again. Secure the Ends After the last eye stitch is placed, bring that needle back out through the base of the head where we started and tie both ends in a knot together. When kids play with these, sometimes the thread gets picked and comes loose, so you do want to make sure it’s fairly secure. Show Me! I am from the Show-Me State after all, so if you make something using this tutorial, I would really love to see it! Make sure you tag me in your pictures. I'm @becca.j.norman on Instagram . Check out the next post , where we’ll be sewing on the ears. A good way to make sure you don’t miss it is to subscribe to my YouTube channel and turn on notifications, or get on my email list via the form below.