A parcel arrived a little while ago containing some books I had ordered from Amazon in Japan.

They are all in Japanese, but have fantastically clear diagrams. I get the impression that I would probably learn even more if I actually could understand the Japanese, but the diagrams are numerous and well thought out enough that one can learn a lot just from looking at the pictures.

First, on the right is the Hand Knitting Techniques Book, which is really pretty self-explanatory. There are 80 pages, and it takes you right from how to form a knit stitch and a purl stitch, through casting on and off, decreases, increases and several fancier textured stitches. A lot of the techniques I already have descriptions of in other books, but I do find the diagrams in this book to be exceptionally clear. Also they really do illustrate every step of a stitch, with lines drawn on to show exactly where your needle or yarn should be going. There are also a few techniques, particularly some of the textured stitches that I haven’t come across in other sources. I found the approach to the cast ons very interesting. Although they only really demonstrate the tubular cast on and the long tail cast on there are lots of different variations, and how to work them in particular circumstances which I am looking forward to experimenting with.

Next is Clear & Simple Knitting Symbols. One of the nice thing about Japanese knitting patterns is that they have a standard set of symbols which every pattern uses. This book is basically a key for those symbols, along with diagrams of how to do them. There are 74 pages, and while it does cover casting on and off it is a lot briefer on the subject than Hand Knitting Techniques Book. It does show a knitted sample for lots of different stitches, along with the Japanese chart symbol for the stitch, and instructions on how to do it.

The last three are stitch dictionaries, Hand Knitting Original Patterns, Knitting Signs and Make Patterns, and 1000 Knitting Patterns Book. The 1000 Knitting Patterns Book also contains crochet. Inevitably there is some overlap between these books and ones I already own, but there are also some stitches in these that I haven’t seen before. Particularly interesting are the combined stitches, so fair isle and lace, or cables and lace. Also some interesting textures created by variations on knitting into the stitch of the row below, or of several rows below.

The postage from Japan is quite expensive, I imagine because books are quite heavy. All in all though I think these are a good addition to the knitting library. There are several stitch patterns I have earmarked already to have a play with, and I am also keen to experiment with the different variations on the tubular cast on, and on ways to close the gap on stocking stitch short rows.