Keiko Okamoto's Japanese Knitting Stitches: A Stitch Dictionary of 150 Amazing Patterns with 7 Sample Projects

About the author

If you pick up a Japanese knitting magazine or pattern collection, you’re almost certain to find the work of Keiko Okamoto. She’s one of Japan’s best—known and most prolific hand knitting designers, and she works extensively with magazines, schools and yarn companies.

Based in Kobe, she is the proprietor of the K’s K studio (http://atelier-ksk.net—Japanese only), which offers classes around Japan as well as her own line of yarn. She’s interested in collaborations between knitting and techniques such as weaving, spinning, sewing and embroidery. This is her first published collection of knitting stitches.

If you thought all Japanese knitting was delicate lace, these unusual stitches will change your mind and challenge your skills. Okamoto has developed some extraordinarily innovative stitchwork. Some of these stitches are fairly conventional, some of them are quite challenging, and some are crazy fun. The book includes a few patterns for practice, then use your imagination.

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Author’s preface

Ancient literature tells us that knitting has come down to us from the bronze age. Now it’s a familiar part of our existence. It’s thought-provoking to consider that someone thousands of years ago did exactly what we’re doing now.

Hand knitting is the process of making a surface with a single strand of yarn made into loops. Only hands and knitting needles are required. Within this simple manual work, a deep level of craft can be achieved. Knitting was born from practical necessity, and a wide variety of shapes and patterns have been added by ingenuity. Even though I repeat the same creative act, I’ve created countless patterns, and I’m very fond of them.

I’ve compiled many of my knitting patterns into this collection. It’s a complement to my collection of crochet stitches that was released in 2012. To all of you who love knitting, I’ll be truly happy if you keep this book in your hands.

Introduction

Be sure to read through this introduction before starting to knit. You’ll find important information about interpreting the charts and symbols, identifying the pattern repeats, and using the stitch patterns in a knitted fabric.

Chart basics

To begin, you should be comfortable knitting from charts. Japanese designs don’t provide stitch patterns in words. The chart-phobic knitter should probably give this book a pass.

Japanese charts normally don’t provide a key for every chart, unlike Western patterns. The symbols are standardized, and every Japanese publisher uses the same symbol set. Therefore, a Japanese knitter is expected to know them. For Western knitters, we’ve added definitions for every symbol in the book, in the Symbol Directory on pages 128-135.

Your approach to a chart depends on whether you’re working flat or in the round. If you’re knitting back and forth:

•On the right side, read the chart from right to left, in the same sequence that you work the stitches.

•On the reverse (or wrong) side, read the chart from left to right, and reverse the stitches, so that your stitches will show up correctly on the right side.

•Aside from knits and purls, not many stitches are worked on the wrong side. The Symbol Directory provides definitions for reverse side rows, if applicable. If only one definition is given, that particular symbol is only worked on right side rows.

If you’re knitting in the round, read every row from right to left. There’s no need to reverse stitches.

About the stitch symbols

The single most important thing to remember about working from charts is this: the chart shows the right side of the work. It’s a visual representation of what your work will look like when it’s done. Each symbol describes what the stitch will look like on the right side, not what you execute. For example, to create a knit stitch on the right side, you must purl on the reverse side. For these patterns, nothing too complicated is worked on the wrong side. Where appropriate, the Symbol Directory defines the wrong-side maneuvers.

As you work through the stitch patterns, you’ll notice that the symbols look a lot like the stitches they represent. Just like the overall chart, the symbols are visual representations of what the stitch should look like; they’re a sort of visual code. The symbol for knit 2 together, for instance, has two legs (two stitches are involved) and leans to the right (as the stitch does when complete). Basic stitch symbols may be combined, as well: knit 2 together with a purl dash (horizontal line) below it tells you to purl 2 together. Occasionally, a symbol may be elongated, like the k2togs at the top of pattern #85, to span a no stitch area.

Of the various stitch symbols in use around the world, the Japanese symbols look most like their corresponding stitches.