A Rosetta Stone to Japanese Patterns

Everyone is making unseemly noises over the Japanese pattern books I have been talking about, but most non-Japanese knitters don't much care for the fact that they are written in Japanese. So narrow-minded of them, don't you think?

The good news is that there's at least one book that was published by Nihon Vogue and translated into English. Thus, if you purchase this book, you can compare English and Japanese pattern setups and you should have a minimum of trouble figuring out how Japanese patterns in other books are presented.


Naturally, you will still have to do a little work, especially if the size you want differs from the size the Japanese pattern thinks you ought to be. But as you can see from the pictures below, the directions are really written in English! (Click on the pictures for a high-resolution view).



In the back of this book is a small, but refreshingly comprehensible, section on Japanese knitting symbols, short-rowing, and casting on/off.


If you have yen (sorry!) to dig into those Japanese books I keep posting about, you ought to invest in White Sweaters.

The patterns, as always, are elegant and attractive. Of course, the anti-boxy folks might find the lack of bust darts annoying, but you can't have everything. Japanese ladies tend to be on the slender side in all respects, so you will have to add short rows where you might need them.


There are 28 patterns, divided about equally between cables and laces. Several of them are simple enough for the advanced beginner, too.

White Sweaters is available from Lacis and Velona, among other sources such as eBay. Price is around $18.