Stitch Library
This book presents 300 knitting stitch patterns arranged according to their main design elements (see table of content below). I love the samples in all sorts of shapes: triangles, circles, stars and more. They seem to be finished with a round of crochet to keep the edges from curling up. Entirely in Japanese apart from the section titles.
透かし模様300―棒針あみ模様別決定版
300 Knitting Patterns (?)
128 pages
ISBN 4529020711
300 stitch patterns divided as follows:
- Leaf 1-30
- Diamond 31-60
- Stripe:
- Horizontal 61-72
- Vertical 73-90
- Diagonal 91-102
- Wave 103-114
- Small 115-144
- Check 145-168
- Pyramid 169-180
- Zigzag 181-204
- Herringbone 205-228
- Bobbles 229-240
- Flowers 241-258
- Lace 259-282
- Lace cable 283-300
The stitch library is followed by an explanation of the symbols used in the charts and the technique for each symbol is clearly illustrated in several steps.
Comments
This book is very pretty, and it sounds like it has the instructions you're looking for. How beautiful.
Wow I'm finally caught up with you but I'll be falling behind again as I head to Arizona in 3 days for a week.
Take care.
Posted by: Barbp | February 17, 2007 3:25 PM
That overlapping leaf pattern is especially nice. Definitely adding this one to the wish list.
Posted by: Sylvia | February 19, 2007 1:17 AM
I covet your knittling library. :D
Posted by: j a r e d | February 20, 2007 10:07 AM
Love your blog, you have an amazing bookcollection ;)
Posted by: Bente B | February 21, 2007 8:06 AM
do you find that the japanese stitch books have a lot of patterns that are not in the barbara walker or harmony guide books? i have been thinking about adding to my (extensive) stitch book library, and wondering if it is worth the cost.
Posted by: anne hanson | March 4, 2007 9:15 PM
I love your reviews of the Japanese pattern books - thank you! I would like to 2nd Anne's question about the Japanese stitch pattern books compared to the BW or Harmony's. Are there more/different ones sufficient to make the investment? (I know that it's a bit subjective, but I would value your opinion)
Posted by: Wannietta | March 7, 2007 10:57 AM
Anne + Wannietta: I can't compare the Japanese stitch collections to the Barbara Walker or Harmony guides because I don't have those books (blushing). If you have an extensive library, my guess is that you already have most of the stitches in this book. In my case, I bought it because I liked the way the patterns are arranged and there were a few I didn't have. I also find those triangular, round, star-shaped swatches fun to look at. Hey, I've bought books based on cover alone in more than one occasion so you shouldn't be surprised. :)
Keep in mind that many Japanese knitting collections include crochet patterns. I specifically don't buy those books because I don't care about crochet and I'd rather buy knitting-only instructions, but if you crochet, that may actually be a plus.
In terms of whether it's worth the investment, I make that judgement on an individual basis considering the book I'm leafing through and the ones I already have. I'm afraid I can't make a generalized judgement of Japanese vs. English (or other).
Posted by: Francesca | March 7, 2007 11:16 AM