Category: kpop

NMIXX Fe:304 Forward Inspired Knitwear

Nmixx is a relatively new K-pop band, debuting in 2022 under the label JYP Entertainment. Comprised of six members – Lily, Haewon, Bae, Sullyoon, Jiwoo, and Kyujin, they are young but immensely talented. Nmixx had a rocky start, similar to Stray Kids, who share the same label, being panned as noisy and chaotic. As time passed, Nmixx developed its sound to a polished mix-pop with killer vocals. In 2026, they are finally getting the respect they deserve, and I am thrilled to see it!

They first came on my radar in 2023, thanks to their song ‘Love Me Like This’, but I didn’t become a fan, or NSWER as their fandom is called, until 2024 with their Fe304 album series.

Fe304: BREAK released in January 2024, with songs such as Dash, Run for Roses, and Soñar to help me get through the chaos of moving. Fe304: STICK OUT, released in August 2024, was the soundtrack of our trip up to Erie. Fe304: FORWARD hit just as we broke ground on the garden in 2025, and this album, some days, carried me through running that tiller in the mud and stubborn grass shag. From High Horse to Slingshot, this album changed something in me, lifting Nmixx to my favorite girl group (sorry, Aespa). Nmixx scratches a creative chaos in my mind that fills me with joy.

Bring a fan, I thought it would be cool to get some merch, which became quite difficult in 2025. With Nmixx being in their third year, there was a lack of offerings in the US, and those pesky tariffs from the head idiot in charge. So, I decided to get creative like I did with my Cosmic Tank.

Nmixx’s lore is based on water imagery; there is a whale on their lightstick, sea creatures, boats, and a water drop font. The font was my jumping off point. I went to Michael’s and picked up water-inspired colors – a cool purple, deep blue, and a variegated blue and white to mimic light dancing on the ocean. Three songs from the album Fe304:Forward caught my attention – Ocean, High Horse, and Know About Me, which features the girls going on an under-the-sea journey on this boat spaceship. The color palette of the album is similar to the colors I chose to knit with. I knew that for the color work, I wanted to evoke waves, incorporate ocean imagery, and feature the water drop font.

I chose to freehand a chart for the font using graph paper and an image I pulled from the internet from Nmixx promotional posts. The waves were more, see what I felt as I knit, the seahorse came from pure Pinterest roulette. The original chart was a cross-stitch seahorse that I adapted to knitting, on graph paper, later adding a stamp border to help the floats stay anchored. No pun intended. This was my first project using three colors at a time, and wow, it was brutal. On the front, I wanted the blues to create highlights and shadows, like a water drop would have. This led to some crazy tension issues and wild floats on the back.

Another issue I ran into was scale, particularly with the font. To achieve the bubbly curves, I made my scale rather large, stretching across two pieces of graph paper, and maybe this is just inexperience, or possibly I made my chart too complex, but I noticed myself ad-libbing stitches instead of following the chart due to all the mistakes I made. It turned out just fine, but it was not executed exactly how I wanted it to be. I’m pleased with the waves on the bottom and how they wrap around the tank. The back, I am lukewarm towards. I like the placement of the seahorse, for “High Horse” and the stamp for the journey they embark on, but the racer back is a little messy, since I was freehanding this pattern. But hey, the only way to get better is to practice.

Compared to my Red Velvet project, I felt confident that I could execute something to bring me joy and capture the spirit of the Fe304: Forward album. I love how this piece is one of a kind. No one else has this t-shirt or artwork, it’s a nerdy piece of knitwear for my special interest – kpop. ☺️

With this being my third merch project, I’m excited to see what speaks to me next. I’ve considered a Stray Kids Karma project and an Aespa Armageddon logo etched into a sweater. That one is going to be a big project, the logo is so intricate that when I attempted to sketch the chart last year, it was spread across four sheets pf graph paper. Maybe an Ateez project? Who knows. I do know that making your own art, and combining it with something you are passionate about, is a fantastic experience. Your passion becomes this physical object you can show off, and hopefully, bring a little sunshine to the world around you.

My Spring 2026 Soundtrack

Hammering All Day, Every Day – My Remodeling Neighbor

The Rise and Fall of Reggie Dinkins Theme

Tic Tic – Nmixx (ft. Pablo Vittar)

Off the Mask – YUTA

10th Anniversary Windchimes Singing in the Wind – My Mom

You Gotta Lose – The Black Keys

Teresa Got Me A New Pair of Pants – Teresa’s Chaotic Corner, Millennial Defense Attorney

You Never Regret a Swim – Philly and Keely

BYOB – System of A Down

Shock and Horror – The News

Kill the Noise – Spyair

Lettuce Crunching – Mia the Bunny

Swim – BTS

Pedaling sounds – Kyle

Do It – Stray Kids

Dump Trucks Driving Up and Down My Road – My Town’s Public Works Department

Twisted Paradise – YUTA

Guitar strumming – Kyle’s guitar

Divine – Stray Kids

Cardboard Chewing – Mia the Bunny

Scrubs Theme Song

Adrenaline – ATEEZ

Slinky Noises – Mia the Bunny Tossing her Slinky

404 ( New Era) – KiiiKiii

Wild Child – The Black Keys

Wadachi – Spyair

Rolling Thunder – Spring Storms

Abbot Elementary Theme

Blind – ATEEZ

Hormuz News You Can Uz – Stephen Colbert

Hooligan – BTS

Like Jennie – JENNIE

Goodbye, Adventurers! We’ll see you on the road. – The Endless Adventure

Rage of Dust – Spyair

Shaboom – ATEEZ

Thread sliding through Denim – My sewing needle

Going Under – Evanescence

FYA – BTS

Sanding and Scraping – The Rusty Subaru Seat Feet

Thickfreakness – The Black Keys

Smoothie Blending – The Magic Bullet

Cracking a Step 2 – Ellicottville Blueberry Wheat

Aliens – BTS

We’re Having a Good Time – Dusty Slay

Pivot! An Important Sewing Skill

Okay, as a millennial, I can’t hear the word pivot without thinking of this scene from Friends. But, silliness aside, Ross was correct; you have to pivot and pivot well. The longer I sew, the more agitated I get when I make foolish cutting or measuring mistakes in my garments. Like my shortalls from last year, I tried them on over the weekend because it is feeling warm and springlike here, and I was shocked by how poorly I fit the shorts. The top portion of the shorts fits excellently, but not the shorts. No one wants weird bunching when it comes to shorts, and that was exactly the problem!

At first, I went through the stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance that no matter how delusional I chose to be, these shortalls are uncomfortable. I would not wear them. This made me feel so many regrets. The pink overalls I drafted completely from scratch, using a special fabric featuring corgis and bread from a Japanese fabric brand called Kokka Fabric, sourced from my local fabric shop, Firecracker Fabrics. The second pair was cobbled together as a challenge of fabric and repurposing. The fabric was 1 yard of 59″ cotton twill from Mood Fabrics, and the pockets were sourced from a pair of shorts in my closet. I refused to scrap these. But what could I do to fix these? With all the patterns at play, adding in a new fabric sounded scary. Cutting these into bags or future quilting projects was throwing in the towel too soon for me.

My solution came to me one night, as I was washing my face; I didn’t have to make a drastic change. I had to address the problem – the way I cut the curve of the pants. I could remove the section that divided the fabric into legs, and transform the shortalls into pinafore dresses with a few cuts and stitches! It was a success! The shorts are now a skirt, by cutting away the curved line and sewing a straight seam on the back and front of the skirt. I also made a quick swap to the back bib of the brown floral pair, adjusting the square bib to the triangle shape of the pink ones. This adjusted the fit of the dress in an excellent way. The purpose of the triangle, I believe, from the fit change on my garment is to eliminate gapping between your shirt and the back bib, so the fit follows the line of your body.

Now, sewing is not the only place to pivot, obviously. Problem-solving is a fundamental part of the creative process. Projects rarely work out the way you want, from knitting to cooking to building a piece of furniture. In this fast fashion, consume and donate, culture poisoning my country’s culture, we are losing the art of problem-solving. This has been exacerbated by the rise of AI and ChatGPT. Why think at all? Why imagine, ponder, or research? Why try if you aren’t going to get “expert” results? That is what the rise of optimization culture is creating: the fear of trying. But you have to try to become an expert. AI is not an expert; it is a thief, stealing the knowledge of humans who have spent years and decades striving to know, unafraid to try and fail. It’s literally the scientific method. So if you are an impressionable person, who is growing up in this current era, don’t give up your creative ability for AI to do it for you. You will lose crucial thinking and creative skills if you don’t exercise your mind and problem-solve on your own. Just do it.

#80 – Departures in K-Pop, SKZ Haters, and Arirang

On Friday morning, I woke up to a shocking announcement as a NCTzen, Mark Lee of NCT 127, NCT Dream, and NCT U did not renew his contract with NCT and SM Entertainment, effective April 8, 2026. Just like that, everything has changed once again in NCT. For context, NCT is a very complex project with multiple subunits and a large roster of band members. The NCT sub-unit that I follow closely is NCT 127, the eight-member (used to be nine, until 2024) boy band consisting of Taeyong, Mark, Yuta, Johnny, Haechan, Jaehyun, Doyoung, and Jungwoo. Mark is one of the main rappers, a key part of the sound of these groups, a songwriter with Taeyong for NCT 127, and the leader of NCT Dream. NCT 127 is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary on April 9th – why is this happening?

As a NCTzen, nothing has felt normal in the group since 2024, when leader Taeyong began his military service. While he was gone, NCT 127 released one group comeback album and various solo projects, including Mark’s solo album in 2025. The solo projects have felt like a welcome distraction, as Jaehyun (2024), Doyoung, and Jungwoo (2025) began military enlistment. My favorite solo project so far has been Yuta’s J-Rock style albums that evoke the rock and metal music I loved in high school. Not even the solo projects could distract from the disturbing news, on August 28, 2024, that former member Taeil was no longer a member of NCT due to sexual assault allegations, with SM terminating his contract a few months later. Taeil was convicted in 2025, and is currently serving a prison sentence, a very short prison sentence, unfortunately. So in summation, NCTzens have been through a roller coaster of emotions since 2024.

With Taeyong’s return to group activities for 2026, this was supposed to be a new beginning, not another goodbye. I’m hoping that, in time, more will be revealed as to why Mark is departing so suddenly. I thought his solo album was good; inspired by his faith, it was a light shining in the darkness of 2025. I know that SM is a company with messy dynamics. Three EXO members recently went to court against SM over a contract dispute, and Red Velvet members Wendy and Yeri recently left SM, while remaining members of the band. Mark’s departure from both the band and the company is uncharted waters, and I’m sad. I hope all is well and that whatever is next for Mark, he will be blessed.

This is not the first departure in K-Pop for 2026; it has been an ever-growing list. So far, Danielle from New Jeans, Manon from Katseye (hiatus), Heeseung from Enhyphen, and JYP have departed or changed their roles, in the case of JYPapi. In tricky times such as these, the K-Pop world has one solution: direct hatred towards Stray Kids – and I am so fed up with the hate. In the wake of Mark’s announcement, I saw posts calling for Stray Kids to be next. Wishing all kinds of ills of the members and the group. Why is Stray Kids always the scapegoat? (Also, Jennie. Stop hating on Jennie.)

So, general K-Pop fans who like to dunk on Stray Kids, what has this toxic behavior accomplished for you? The AI-deep fakes have led to legal action by JYP Entertainment in two countries. Stray Kids won major awards, completed the biggest world tour, and wrote multiple hits in response to your hate. Such as God’s Menu, the entire No Easy, aka “noisy” album, S-Class, Comflex, Ceremony, and Phoenix, to name a few. As Bang Chan says in their song, 3RACHA, “They always say the same excuses. While they’re complainin’, we’re producin’.” So can everyone just hush and enjoy the variety in K-Pop?

To a more positive note, I am really enjoying the new BTS album, Arirang. Now, I became a fan of K-Pop at the start of 2022, with my introduction to BTS being Dynamite and Butter. Two songs I quite enjoy, but I didn’t get to experience the true BTS or a full band comeback experience until now, and dang, after a long military hiatus, I’m starting to get the BTS hype. See Army – Stays and Army can co-exist peacefully. Arirang has range. I appreciate the mellow beauty of Swim, and the haunting melancholy of Merry-Go-Round. Aliens, FYA, and Hooligan have been in my head for days. For me, BTS has an interesting duality to their vocal range. Compared to the “racha” subunits I am used to from Stray Kids, or the structure of an Ateez or NCT song, where the rappers and vocalists have clear parts, BTS flows. I’m still learning what each member sounds like, and I’m constantly surprised to learn who is doing what part. I’m excited for what the future holds for BTS, cause yeah, I get the hype now.

It’s a relief, actually, to see that in spite of military interruptions, BTS came back as one cohesive team. What has felt so heavy about Mark’s departure from NCT has been the military service and the removal of the evil one. Can we just get a breath? Will this band still be the same by the time everyone is reunited again, like BTS? I sure hope so.

Sewing Tips that Changed My Life

I’ve been sewing for five and a half years, and yes, it took me close to that amount of time to learn these helpful tips. The skill of taking a needle and thread to fasten pieces of fabric together is one of the most complex technologies I’ve ever learned, and yeah, some of the more obvious things can go over your head because there is so much to learn. Even with half a decade of sewing experience, I am still a rookie. Here are four things I have learned about sewing recently that have changed my sewing experience from a laborious struggle to a relaxing craft I want to do.

Needles

I knew I needed to change out my sewing machine needle consistently (which I usually forget to do), but did you know you should change out your hand needles often? Nope, I did not. I recently began changing my needles after each large project or after two small projects, and wow, the difference in hand fatigue is mind-blowing! My issue with sewing by hand has been the wear and tear on my hands, particularly some on my finger joints, which felt exhausted after hours of pushing the needle through the fabric – apparently that’s not how it is supposed to be. The needle should glide; cheap needles or needles that are dulled from use will not do this. I feel like a silly goose.

Now that I know and have experienced the difference between fresh needles and started purchasing DMC needles from my local fabric shop, I am sewing more. Most importantly, my hands are happy, my stitches are small and straighter – it’s like night and day. The needle glides into the fabric and through to the other side with minimal pressure, my thread is not getting tangled, and I am sewing with more efficiency. If you sew, go change your needles.

Shear Maintenance

Did you know you should oil and sharpen your fabric shears? I did not. It’s such a simple concept, though. Own thing, use thing, repair thing, use thing more. Repeat. What’s silly is that, in our disposable culture, I thought fabric scissors had a lifespan and had to be replaced once they dulled from wear. But regular maintenance, like a car, keeps them around and working well.

I keep my scissors crisp by cutting aluminum foil from time to time. I oil my shears with a towel, very carefully. Please don’t cut yourself like I did the first time.

Know About Me: Fabric Edition

Kill the doubt, I don’t want it, kill the fear, I don’t want it
Kill the rule, I don’t want it, kill the end, I don’t want it

Let me show you that, show you that, mm-mm
Know about me…

Let me show you that, show you that, mm-mm
Know about me (know about me, that’s that)

– Nmixx, Fe:304 Forward

Researching fabric is important, but when you are first getting started, you feel overwhelmed and like you’ll never be able to cram all this knowledge into your head. There are a lot of fabric types! With two main families – woven and knit that separate into a myriad of options that will make your head spin. But truly, what will make your head spin more is not buying the proper fabric for the project at hand, with one caveat being in the beginning. When you are truly beginning, you just gotta see what is cheap or available because you are going to mess up – don’t use the good or expensive stuff to keep yourself from heartbreak.

I’ve started researching any fabric I am looking at to know if this textile will be applicable for the idea I have in my head, and pivot based on the information I glean. I thought it would be time-consuming, but it’s not. It saves money and fabric from being wasted in the chaos of choosing an incompatible fabric for your garment plan. You don’t want a stretch when you need a structured fabric. When you need opaqueness, a sheer fabric would throw a wrench in your plans. Fabrics, like people, have their own character, attributes, and talents. It’s more of a matchmaking process than just adding to the cart.

Ask a human. Ask a reputable website. Don’t ask ChatGPT. OpenAI is a little busy now with its Department of War contract, but don’t worry, they “promise” not to do mass surveillance or help create automatic weapons.

Hand Posture

I learned this final tip from Abby Cox and Nicole Rudolph during a TikTok Sewing Tutorial Reaction video. Sewing hand posture will determine your sewing experience. Whether you can sew for hours or for half an hour before you need a break. I used to sew with a hand-straining posture that created wrist, hand, and finger discomfort. Pulling the needle to the side, horizontally, reduces strain compared to pulling upward. It uses a light wrist flicking motion. Similarly, holding the fabric to the side with your wrist loosely bent will keep your hands relaxed and reduce hand strain. I have applied this new hand posture to my sewing, and it was a game-changer. I’m not surprised that I was doing it wrong. I am self-taught, but dang, the ability to sew a pair of pants by hand without hand strain was incredible!

I hope these sewing tips help you as much as they helped me. I wish you happy sewing!

How I am Preparing to Leave Pinterest, if OpenAI Buys Them

I want to start off by pleading with Pinterest, please don’t work with OpenAI. (I know this is purely a rumor, but even so, I think using the internet to voice opinions is important.) I have been using your platform since 2012, and it is so useful! It has become less useful over time, with the “purely financial” decisions of peppering in a multitude of advertising pins and allowing AI-generated art to invade the platform. Even so, it is still a platform I use and love to escape into for inspiration.

Without Pinterest, creative writing projects like Udal Cuain, knitting colorwork projects, sewing projects, and home decor ideas would have been more difficult to source and may not have been on my radar – ever. I’ve even learned simplified versions of songs to play on the piano before I bought proper books, for free through Pinterest. Now what about fandoms? On really difficult days, my Stray Kids board is filled with memes, SKZ Code, captured moments from lives, silly edits, and STAY inside jokes that would not exist in one place to make me smile.

I don’t want to leave Pinterest at all, but there comes a time when we must make a stand for what is right – if you integrate with OpenAI, as rumors have thrown around, many other like-minded individuals, and I will leave because, as artists, we will not stand for the theft being carried out by generative AI of our work. Art is human. Generative AI is regurgitation. Art is for an audience of many; AI-generated art is for an audience of one. Human-made art has emotion; AI-generated art is the result of algorithmic decisions. AI-generated things are not new; they are not groundbreaking. They are human effort and human creativity scraped by these computers and served up as “new” all while consuming vast amounts of electricity and clean water, for nothing but perceived “innovation” that makes these tech bros wealthier. It gives nothing to humanity; it feeds the greed of the few. Alright, that’s enough of looking into the abyss for me.

How do I plan to make this change if Pinterest is bought by OpenAI?

  • Crafting Books
  • Used Books, Magazines, and Catalogs
  • Respectful Fan Accounts on Instagram
  • Physical Notebooks
  • Migrating to Milanote
  • Blogs and Research
  • Building a Creative 3rd Place Elsewhere
  • Creating Your Own Charts
  • Physical Moodboards
  • Acknowledging Frustration
  • Diving into History
  • Utilizing Libraries

Yes, we’ll be going back to analog inspirations, like going back to the 1990s and 2000s. I’ll be crafting even slower, researching longer, and spending more time digging to learn how to do new techniques like fillet crochet or how to paint using gouache paints, but that’s okay. At least it will be honest inspiration. In time, we will all come back together through a new creative community platform, and it will be a bit of a waste of time. So, Pinterest, put these rumors to bed, please, because when it comes to AI, we artists mean business, and you will be left behind.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk ❤

DIY K-Pop Band Tees Using Embroidery and Knitting

In 2025, one of my goals was to try my hand at crafting my own K-Pop Merch. Some bands are easy to find Merch for, and others, well, you are left to your own ingenuity. The bands I selected to try for this are NCT 127 and NMIXX, which I have tried and failed to find band tees for that I liked. For this project, I used two different techniques – embroidery and stranded colorwork knitting.

NCT 127 Embroidery

My first idea was to pick up a blank T-shirt from the craft section and get to work. The shirt I chose was a Gildan tee from Walmart, which I DO NOT recommend. This shirt is so freaking thin. Horrible quality compared to the blanks I have found at Michael’s, Dollar General, or even Hobby Lobby. But as I was dubious of my embroidery skills, I went ahead with the Walmart shirt as practice. That was the right call, because dang, embroidery is not as straightforward as it looks.

For this project, you will need: an embroidery hoop, embroidery floss bundles, a marker or pen to sketch your design on your shirt, and backing like embroidery interfacing or a fabric scrap that I used (because I forgot that the embroidery needed a backing).

For the design, I chose something simple. The song, the band, and a little imagery. I love their early album Cherrybomb (2017), but the song is almost 10 years old now, and it’s kinda hard to find any NCT Merch with it at this point. Seemed like the perfect option for a first try. I wasn’t expecting my stitches to be so tight; I felt like I was fighting myself across the whole piece. This was because I forgot about the backing for stability, and all this embroidery on this poor quality shirt, yeah, it wasn’t great. Afterwards, I added a backing to the embroidery with a scrap piece of another t-shirt.

Is it my best work? No. But is it a start for making better projects in the future? Yes! And I wear it anyway in the garden and as a sleep shirt.

Red Velvet Knitting

My desire for Red Velvet Merch was entirely motivated by the confusing announcement in April 2025 that members Yeri and Wendy did not renew their contracts with SM Entertainment, but Red Velvet was not disbanding. They have become one of my top girl groups after their release of Cosmic in 2024, so it seemed only appropriate to use the album Cosmic as my muse for a cotton knit tank with stranded colorwork. It’s a bit easier to find Red Velvet Merch on sites like Teepublic, from which I have bought a shirt. This project was more about expressing my love for this album, and I hope that Cosmic will not be their last release as a group.

You will need: a pencil, pen, graph paper, and stitch markers. (Along with your basic knitting supplies – needles, yarn, scissors, tapestry needle)

To start, I searched Pinterest for album artwork and a logo. I found a lot of options to use as a compass for the project, but decided the simplest option would be best. I opted for one color to keep the floats simple. To make my colorwork charts, I always use graph paper and a pencil to be able to adjust the marks that I transfer from the image. Once I am happy with my design, I trace over it in pen and use a pencil to cross out the lines of the pattern as I complete the project to mark my progress. To understand the dimensions of the image as I worked, I also marked the “canvas” with stitch markers. It is also important to note your garment construction and how that relates to your chart. I made this tank knitting bottom up, so I began working on my colorwork from the bottom of the chart.

I am thrilled with how this project turned out! As my first stranded colorwork project with this complex of a design, it was far easier than I thought to complete. You just have to plan out your image and be patient with your floats. Try not to hold too tightly and remember that blocking will help the tension relax.

All I Wanted is Golden Hour: Part 4

Last week, I shared my anticipation for Ateez’s first 2026 comeback, Golden Hour: Part 4. This album exceeded my expectations! It may be a short 5-track extended play, but it hits you like a flavor bomb. I had expressed boredom with the recent direction of their music, and I still hold this opinion of some of the music from Golden Hour: Part 2 and Part 3, but I am starting to see the vision.

Ghost

Ghost blends the traditional Ateez sound and production with the new thematic explorations of Golden Hour: Part 3 and In Your Fantasy Edition. There was an 80s sound to some of the songs in Part 3 that was okay, but not my favorite. Bringing the two artistic elements together feels like Ateez’s full circle. This song was a great opening for the album to bridge the transition of where they have been creatively and where we are going. Without it, Adrenaline and Ghost would feel jarring, in my opinion.

There’s no way out, 경고하는 메시지
Don’t say it out, 네 귀에 속삭이지
되돌리기엔 이미 늦어버렸지
Know you want it more, more than me

[Chorus:]
Now, you see that I’m a ghost
When the lights get low
네 진심의 끈을 풀어
Now, you see it in your soul
When I get so close
감촉만 새기고 가

Adrenaline

I love this song! It’s one of those title tracks that I replay, over and over, and don’t get bored – for real. Adrenaline reminds me of some of my favorite past Ateez title tracks – Wonderland, Guerrilla, Hala Hala, Say My Name. Yeosang being front and center for the chorus is what we were asking for. I love how his voice pairs with San and Yunho. This song was less formulaic. It isn’t a build just to Mingi rapping or Junho hitting an impossibly high note. Hongjoong is still captain but sprinkled in, yet because he writes their music, you can feel his presence in the tone and character, a lot like Taeyong (NCT 127) or Bang Chan (Stray Kids).

The pre-chorus is my favorite part of the song. It builds before the beat drop, with four different members and their unique styles, increasing the tension in the song like adrenaline building in your body. It was such a clever detail to make the song come to life.

[Pre-Chorus: Yeosang, Yunho, San, Seonghwa]
I can feel it go, flushin’ through my veins
시동 걸어 막 활활 타오르게
I can feel it go, runnin’ through my veins
Buzzin’ up my neck, pumpin’ adrenaline
I can feel it go, flushin’ through my veins
시동 걸어 막 활활 타오르게
I can feel it go, runnin’ through my veins
Buzzin’ up my neck, pumpin’ adrenaline (Let’s go)

I have been underwhelmed by San’s contributions in recent years, as just the dude being used as the muscle eye candy instead of utilizing his voice. Finally, his singing is back, and he kept his shirt on. This was a gimmicky part of Ice on My Teeth that I didn’t care for because I’m not into women being objectified, and I don’t want men objectified either.

NASA

Some of the lyrics of this song are a little cringe, like referencing Apple Stock, but I think that is because NASA is also an American agency, so it felt a bit US-centered, but I get it for the theme. I’m probably projecting all my current political frustration on these lyrics because this song is good. It’s a slow burn, satisfying earworm. I love the stage performance for KBS, in their space suit-inspired outfits. There is this lovely, quiet moment on a bridge with what you assume is “space” sound. I would love for them to make more music like this song. It’s unlike anything else in their discography.

[Pre-Chorus: Wooyoung, Jongho]
뱉어 난 gold and silver
만들어, masterpiece
가치는 안 변하지
It’s ’til I rest in peace
Turn up
I fly, so higher than the sky
We go
저 우주까지 올라, going up

[Chorus: Yunho, Yeosang, Wooyoung, *San*, Seonghwa]
Shoot for the stars like NASA, always going up like my stack
Ready on your mark, go faster, shoot for the stars like NASA

On The Road

This is a solid song, not my favorite, but melodically good. A breath of fresh air after two songs with big energy. It’s a song that I think will grow on me in time until I love it. It’s chill, but explores themes that they have always been good at exploring. Melodically, it reminds me of Wave, The Ring, and maybe Django.

[Pre-Chorus: Yunho, Seonghwa]
Can’t stay behind
다시 시작인 것처럼
We live our lives
‘Cause I’ma go down this road tonight

[Chorus: Wooyoung, San, Jongho]
Go left, go right
I’ma go down this road tonight
That’s right, it’s time
‘Cause, nothing won’t make me change my mind
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh
Yeah, we’re goin’ down this road tonight

This happens to me often with B-sides from K-pop. For example, when Aespa released Armageddon in 2024, my favorite songs were Supernova and Armageddon, but now in 2026, I love Bahama and Live My Life. The same with Nmixx and their Fe:304 Forward album from 2025, I loved Know About Me, and Slingshot, but now Ocean is a song I never skip.

Choose

The sentimental favorite. I recently used this song to share my ‘Melt the ICE’ hat on Instagram for the ache of this song’s emotion. I choose to stand with my neighbor, and this song excels in making me feel love. It was a great choice to end the album, a bit of a lighter production song after the EDM of Adrenaline and NASA. I believe this song was released as a single for the seventh anniversary of ATINY, the Ateez fandom.

We can be forever lost under velvet skies
Fall together closer
‘Cause I would choose you
And I’m trying, I’m trying, it’s you, nobody

We can stay forever even in quiet nights
Run together closer
‘Cause I would choose you
And I’m trying, I’m trying, it’s you, nobody

nobody
(Hoo-hoo) nobody
(Hoo-hoo) yeah, I’m trying, I’m trying, it’s you, nobody

I Feel Like A Real Atiny Again

Going into 2025, I was seriously questioning my Atiny allegiance. Like, how many albums do you have to skip to not consider yourself a fan anymore? I mean, it happened to me with TOP. Thankfully, it was really just one and a half, but it felt like a long time of being in an Ateez desert, waiting for the pirate ship to sail overhead. If you are looking for something a little different to listen to, give Golden Hour: Part 4 a try!

Bat Ear Beanie

I’ve shared several animal ear projects on the blog before, the Cat Ear Beanie, and my Loverboy re-creation Bunny Hat, but now, without further ado, may I present the Bat Ear Beanie! This was made with less than 100 grams of local spun wool I found at my farmer’s market, held double with less than 100 grams of Knit Picks Snuggle Puff yarn in Neptune. I decided to crochet this hat instead of knitting, as I did with previous projects, to have a bit more freedom in the creation. Crochet reminds me of sculpture or papier-mache. You can always add onto the stitches in ways that the tension of knit stitches does not allow, and for that, the bat ear project seemed like a great place to practice my crochet technique once again.

The hat was crocheted in the round – so much easier than knitting in the round, in my opinion, with double crochet stitches, and was knit like a normal hat. I don’t have an exact pattern for it, but you can easily make it to your measurements. The yarn I used, one strand Snuggle Puff, a heavy worsted, and one strand local wool, a DK weight, resulted in an Aran/Bulky-weight yarn. Because of this, I used a 5.5 mm hook to create my stitches. I chained the number of stitches I needed based on my head measurement and double crocheted around and around until the hat was long enough to cover my ears and most of my head, then I began my decreases. I wanted a gradual curve shape for the crown of this hat. Go slow, and remember, you can always frog and try again if the shape is not what you want. After the hat was complete, I plotted my bat ears.

What makes an animal hat special to me is the scale and placement. What I learned with my cat ear beanie was that you can make the ears too wide and too big, leading to a sloppy effect. With the bunny hat, I learned you can put them too close together, not allowing the ears to drape properly. The effect can change the entire character of the piece, so place your ears with care and think about how you want to wear it on your head so that the animal cuteness is achieved. For this hat, I was inspired by the hat Felix from Stray Kids wears at the beginning of the Creed music video from 2025.

I began my bat ears by picking up stitches on the outside of the hat. I also crocheted these in a round, to give these good structure. By crocheting these in a round, to keep the tension even across the ears, so that they would stay upward like a bat. I used single crochet stitches and tapered the ears accordingly, simply weaving in the end to the inside of the hat, with a tapestry needle.

Why did I choose a bat? To raise awareness for bats. Did you know that bats are not a nuisance, but an essential part of the ecosystem? But due to misunderstanding the nocturnal animal, mainly I would say due to vampire lore, they are seen as dangerous. Yes, they can carry rabies like many wild animals, but this is not a reason for the animal to go extinct. Their habitats are under threat, and they deserve the space to thrive. They eat pests, contribute to the pollination process, and help spread seeds.

Will Golden Hour Part Four Be the Game Changer?

On February 6, Ateez will release their fourth installment of the Golden Hour series. I am excited, after a year and some change of not loving the direction of their sound, will this bring back my hype for Ateez? I hope so!

I discovered Ateez in 2022, not long after their “Don’t Stop” single was released. I was hooked and dove head first into the lore, the sound, the vibes. From their debut Pirate King through the ebbs and flow of Hala Hala, The Wave, Wonderland, Say My Name. I was impressed by their unconventional sound. Their vocals have depth, and the dancing true rhythm. The World was my first album series release to take in.

Each part of this trilogy is a sonic treat. The World Part One drops us in a secret resistance announcing itself. Part Two, follows the members while they navigate the covert mission in the world, and Part Three is the showdown where you learn about a secret school they escaped from. Bouncy will forever be my favorite release. It was such a fun time for Kpop.

In between The World and Golden Hour, the Ateez animal plushies were released. These “Aniteez” live on a floating pitate ship, sailing the skies. All in true concept form.

Next Golden Hour Part One released with a real world flair and explored LA and Mexican flair which I loved. Work helped me process buying a house. Siren and Arriba helped me get through the endless unpacking. This, on top of all their past discography, had me on the edge of my seat for whatever was next!

That would be Golden Hour Part Two, and the disappointing “Ice on My Teeth” title track and just okay B-sides that did not grab me. This had never happened to me as an Atiny! With anticipation, I hoped the next release would be a favorite – but it wasn’t. 😵‍💫

Golden Hour Part Three, was not as bad as Part Two, but dang I just didn’t vibe with it. That is the frustrating thing about art, if a piece of art doesn’t connect with you, you feel like you are stuck on the outside looking in.

But then, Golden Hour Part Three – In Your Fantasy Edition dropped and it sparked my interest again. I gave Lemon Drop another listen, and started to get the different musical format and style. I felt less like a fake Ateez fan, because after two straight releases of not getting it, I began to wonder – am I still a fan? Did I grow out of it?

So, with all that context, when I saw the trailer for the upcoming Golden Hour Part Four, and, I am seriously excited! It sounds like old Ateez but with the new sythesized into a great offering. I think my inner Atiny, may be on its way back!

From the preview Ghost reminds me of b-sides from The World era. Adrenaline has the emotion and power of Hala Hala, Guerilla, Wonderland, etc that pulled me in initially. Nasa, is reminiscent of Wave and the Golden Hour Part One era. On the Road, seems to be the synthesis of where their music explored in Golden Hour Part Three era but in a new way that I connect with. It reminds me a bit of The World Part Three as well! Choose is something new, I’m ready to give a try. It doesn’t sound like Ateez, more like NCT or a Stray Kids Japanese release – and that’s not a bad thing. 😃

I can’t wait to hear the full album and see if this is the missing piece that connects their discography into one melodious note, instead of a stunning concerto ending in a discordant crescendo.

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