Becca J Norman

If you’ve ever admired those charming, colorful sweaters with intricate patterns and thought, “I wish I could make that,” then you’re in the right place. Fair Isle knitting is a delightful technique that brings together tradition, creativity, and a bit of patience to create stunning, cozy pieces. I’m here to walk you through everything you need to know to get started, keep going, and maybe even fall in love with this craft. Let’s dive in, shall we? Getting to Know Fair Isle Knitting Basics Before you pick up your needles and yarn, let’s break down what makes Fair Isle knitting so special. Originating from the Fair Isle, one of the Shetland Islands in Scotland, this technique is all about working with two colors per row to create beautiful, repeating patterns. It’s like painting with yarn, but instead of brushes, you have your trusty needles. Here’s what you need to know to get started: Two colors per row: You’ll carry two yarns along the row, switching between them to form the pattern. Stranding: The unused yarn floats behind your work, creating those lovely little “floats” that give Fair Isle its texture. Circular or flat knitting: You can knit Fair Isle in the round or back and forth, but circular knitting is often easier to manage the color changes. Patterns: Traditional Fair Isle patterns use geometric shapes and motifs, often inspired by nature or local culture. If you’re new to this, don’t worry. It’s not rocket science, but it does require some practice to get your tension just right. Too tight, and your fabric puckers; too loose, and the floats sag. Finding that sweet spot is part of the fun. One of my proudest accomplishments: the Kerti sweater, designed by Orlane Sucche Tools and Materials You’ll Need Now that you’re excited, let’s talk gear. You don’t need a fancy setup to start, but having the right tools makes a world of difference. Needles: Most knitters prefer circular needles for Fair Isle. A 24-inch cable is a good length for smaller projects like hats or mittens. For larger items, longer cables or magic loop techniques work well. Yarn: Choose two contrasting colors in the same weight. Wool is traditional and has great elasticity, but acrylic or blends work too. Avoid super slippery yarns when you’re starting out. Pattern: Start with a simple charted pattern. Many free and paid options are available online. Stitch markers: These help you keep track of pattern repeats. Tapestry needle: For weaving in ends neatly. Pro tip: Pick colors that you love and that make you happy to look at. You’ll be spending a lot of time with these yarns, so make it enjoyable. How difficult is Fair Isle knitting? Let’s get real for a moment. Is Fair Isle knitting hard? The short answer: it depends on your knitting experience and patience level. If you’re comfortable with basic knitting and purling, you’re halfway there. The challenge lies in managing two yarns and keeping your tension even. Here’s what trips people up: Tension control: Holding two yarns and switching between them can cause tight or loose stitches. Floats management: If you don’t catch your floats regularly, they can snag or look messy. Reading charts: Fair Isle patterns are usually charted, which can be a big change if you’re used to written instructions. Personally, I find it easier to have a chart to refer to and keep track of my progress. But here’s the good news: none of this is impossible. With a bit of practice, you’ll develop muscle memory. Start with small projects like a hat or wrist warmers to build confidence. And remember, mistakes are part of learning. Don’t be afraid to frog (rip out) and try again. If you're in the Camp Humphreys area and want a gentle introduction, check out this fair isle knitting workshop to dip your toes in with on-the-spot help and guidance from me. The floats on the inside of my Kerti sweater Tips and Tricks for Smooth Sailing I’ve been around the knitting block enough to know a few hacks that make Fair Isle knitting less of a headache: Hold your yarns consistently: Decide how you'll hold the colors and stick to it. This consistency helps with tension. If you have experience with both English and Continental style knitting, you can hold one color in each hand, but I find it's easier to keep consistent tension by using a knitting thimble to hold both in one hand. Catch your floats: Every 5-6 stitches, gently twist the yarns around each other to secure the floats and prevent snagging. Alternately, if there are large sections with gaps between color changes, you can try the ladderback jacquard technique to manage long floats. Relax your grip: Tension is king here. If you’re gripping too tight, your fabric will pucker. Practice swatches: Before diving into a big project, knit a small swatch to get comfortable with the pattern and tension. Read charts carefully: Each square represents a stitch in a specific color. Mark your place with a sticky note or magnetic board. If the colors you chose are very different from the way the chart looks, you can remake it in Stitch Fiddle with your own colors. Don’t rush: Fair Isle is a mindful craft. Slow down, enjoy the rhythm, and trust the process. Project Ideas to Get You Started Once you’ve got the basics down, it’s time to put your skills to work. Here are some beginner-friendly projects that showcase Fair Isle’s charm without overwhelming you: Simple hat: A classic starter project. Choose a pattern with a small repeat and knit in the round. Fingerless mitts: Great for practicing color changes on a smaller scale. Cowls: These let you experiment with longer repeats and different color combos. Socks: For the brave, Fair Isle socks are a cozy treat. Sweaters: When you’re ready for a challenge, a Fair Isle sweater is a real showstopper. Remember, the goal is to enjoy the process, not just the finished product. Each stitch is to be savored. Embracing the Mindful Benefits of Knitting Knitting isn’t just about making things. It’s about slowing down, focusing, and finding calm in a busy world. Fair Isle knitting, with its repetitive patterns and rhythmic motions, is especially good for this. When I knit Fair Isle, I feel like I’m telling a story with every color change. It’s a way to connect with tradition and create something uniquely mine. Plus, the sense of accomplishment when you finish a project? Priceless. If you ever feel frustrated, take a deep breath. Remember why you started. This is your time to unwind, create, and maybe even surprise yourself. Keep Going and Keep Creating So, there you have it - a no-nonsense guide to mastering Fair Isle knitting basics. It’s a journey, not a race. With patience, practice, and a bit of humor, you’ll be whipping up colorful, cozy pieces that make you proud. If you want to dive deeper, explore patterns, or just need a little encouragement, don’t hesitate to reach out to communities or resources like Becca J Norman’s fair isle knitting introduction. You’re not alone on this path. Now, grab your needles, pick your colors, and let’s make some magic happen. You’ve got this!

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!

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!

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!

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.

Starting a new hobby It’s exciting! You get to learn something new, and get a bunch of interesting gadgets that will clutter up your dresser and fill your drawers! Wait… That doesn’t sound so great, right? But it’s a trap I see far too many people fall into. When you’re learning how to knit for the first time, there are some obvious things you need, like yarn and knitting needles, some things that might be a little less obvious, and some tempting things you don’t need — at least not in the beginning. Never fear, your miserly knitting friend is here to steer you in the right direction, save you money, and keep your house tidy. Watch the video below to see my recommendations and what everything is for. Then grab your shopping list through the form below. Too long didn't watch? That's okay! I've got it all in a list for you. Interchangeable circular needles I suggest getting a set of interchangeables pretty early in your knitting journey, and that's because as you start knitting different projects, you'll end up needing lots of different sizes of needles. It can get out of hand really fast. Circular needles may seem advanced, but I promise they're not. They can be used for regular flat knitting or for knitting larger projects in the round. (You'll eventually work up the courage to make a sweater and these will work for that too!) You can use these for small or large items too. A set of interchangeable circular needles comes with a range of sizes (diameter) of needle tips that screw on to a flexible cable, of which you will have a few different lengths. The Prism Aluminum Options Interchangeable Needle Set is what I use most, and I really like it. If you tend to be a looser knitter and your stitches slid off the needles easily, you may prefer wooden tips because they have a little more grip. Try these if that's you. If you notice the "short" sets when you're shopping, those have shorter tips and cables, which makes them good for knitting sleeves in the round, but that's for when you're more advanced, so don't worry about that yet. Stitch Markers Stitch markers can be used for marking your place on your work, to signal a repeat or where to perform shaping stitches. They can also be used to help keep count of your stitches if you have a lot. Example: you place a marker every 25 stitches so you don't have to start counting from the beginning to see if you have 200 or not. These are my favorite because they're simple and thin and don't get in my way. Swatch ruler & needle gauge While you can certainly use any old ruler to measure your gauge (stitches and rows per inch or cm, in case you didn't know), one of these makes it so much easier. This one also has holes on it that you can use to check the size of your needles. Tape Measure Wait, what? Another measuring thing? Yes. A flexible tape measure is for not only measuring larger items, but also for measuring your body. Measure around your head so you can make the hat the right size, or your chest so you know what size to choose for that dream sweater! I like to have a retractable tape measure in my purse or knitting bag so I'm always ready. Check out this one from Knit Picks. Tapestry needles These can also be called darning needles . You'll use these for weaving in ends, sewing pieces together, or adding decorations to a finished objects. I like these bent-tip needles a lot. Scissors I'm sure you have scissors at home already, and unlike with fabric, any old scissors will cut yarn just fine. BUT , a small pair for your knitting bag is really nice. I've had this Fiskars pair for a long time, and they're quality. I've even taken them through security at several airports and they haven't been confiscated yet! (They have gotten flagged in the x-ray machine a few times, but after inspection, it's always been fine.)

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

What is a kitchener stitch for? Who doesn’t love warm woolen mittens, especially when they’re made by hand? Okay, maybe you’re picturing something really amazing, or maybe all you can think of are those weirdly-shaped felted old things you find once a year in your bag of winter gear. (Just me?) I don’t have a mitten pattern for you just yet, but I was making a quick pair for my son when someone in my community requested a tutorial for the kitchener stitch. Perfect timing! The kitchener stitch is a grafting technique that’s used most often for creating a seamless finish on sock toes and the ends of mittens. (The first time I used it, it was to bind off a 1x1 ribbing on a sweater. It created a fantastic finish but Jenny’s Super Stretchy has since taken the place in my heart for that purpose.) When you see the directions listed out, it might look a little bit intimidating, but I promise you’ll get the hang of it in no time. Watch the video or keep reading, and it will all make sense. Start with an equal number of stitches on 2 knitting needles. I’m using double-pointed needles here, but straight or circular will work fine too. Cut the yarn length to about 4 times the width of the area you’re grafting. Thread it onto a tapestry or darning needle. Get darning needles here. 1. P front leave it on. Which means: Insert the threaded needle purl-wise through the first stitch on the front needle but don’t slip it off. 2. K back leave it on. Thread your needle knit-wise through the first stitch on the back needle, leaving it on. 3. K front take it off. Now thread it through the front stitch again, this time knit-wise and slipping it off. 4. Repeat step 1. 5. P back take it off. Thread the needle through the back stitch purl-wise and slip it off. 6. Repeat step 2. Then repeat steps 3-6 until you have just one stitch left on each needle. Then it’s just steps 3 and 5. And you’re done! Thread the tail to the inside of your work, turn inside-out, weave it it and trim. Voila! My memory trick: I have a super easy way to remember what I’m supposed to do for each one. I simply think of the front needle as a knit needle and the back one as a purl needle. Then I tell myself that in order to remove a stitch from the needle, I need to be doing it ‘correctly.’ In other words, knit on a knit needle and purl on a purl needle. When I’m doing it backwards, it’s just a reinforcement. Does that make sense to anyone besides me? Next time you see the kitchener stitch mentioned in a pattern you want to knit, don’t let it scare you off! Just get out your darning needle, open my video, and give it a go! Don’t forget to show me your results! Tag me @becca.j.norman on Instagram and to let me know how you used it.

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.

If eyes are the window to the soul... Then don’t you want your handmade toys to have the cutest eyes possible? Today I’m going to show you 4 ways to add cute shiny eyes to your handmade stuffed animals and dolls to give them a little extra personality and life. Click here to shop for safety eyes in various sizes and colors. *A word of caution: even though these are called “safety” eyes, they can still be a choking hazard for any ferocious chewers, and that can include both human and fur babies. See what my dog did to this guy down below? Luckily this one only had embroidered eyes. Traditional Method Step 1: Prep the pieces. Sew any head pieces together, leaving an opening, but don’t stuff it yet. Check out this blog post for tips on sewing pieces together. You may want to play around with different sizes and styles of eyes to see what will give the personality you’re looking for. I got all the safety eyes I own at garage sales and flea markets a really long time ago, but you can also get them at pretty much any craft store or on Amazon. Step 2: Placement Figure out where you want the eyes to be placed and gently wiggle the tip into a space between strands of yarn. Move them around until you’re satisfied. You won’t be able to move them once the backs are on, so make sure you like the placement before you do. Step 3: Secure with a back Flip the piece at least partially inside-out and push the back onto the post of the eye, flat side first. If it’s very tight, you may need to place the eyeball onto a hard surface and really use firm pressure. Just be careful not to scratch the cornea. Ouch! The back of the safety eye Bonus Style #1 : Eyeliner For an extra eye-popping effect , you can cut a circle of felt in a contrasting color, a little bigger than the eye, to place under it. You’ll just need to cut a small hole (as small as possible, just barely big enough to get the post through) in the middle of it. Then you can gradually trim around it until you have just the right amount peeking out past the edges of the eye. Even a very thin rim looks great, but for something like a panda or racoon, you may want a more dramatic patch. Trimming black felt around a plastic eye Bonus Style #2 : Cat Eyes To give a wonderful retro cat eye lined look, simply backstitch a horizontal straight line across where the lined eye will go. That’s it! Bonus Style #3 : Eyelashes Another option is once you’ve decided where you want the eyes to be, take them out and embroider some little lashes with embroidery floss or a thinner yarn so that it peeks out from behind the eye. This can be done along with the eyeliner or on its own and would be really cute either way! Don’t be afraid to play around with it and have a little fun. I prefer not to secure the ends until I’m sure I’m satisfied, because I usually decide to take out the stitches and start again at least once. Also don’t stitch through the eye insertion point too many times or you won’t be able to get it in. See how cute it turned out? This is felt eyeliner plus embroidered eyelashes. Which look is your favorite? Leave a comment below and let me know. I love seeing your projects! If you make something using techniques you learned from me, don’t forget to tag me in your posts so I can see. I’m @becca.j.norman on Instagram and Facebook. If you’d like to make this fox, you can find the pattern here on my website .

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!