Japanese Diagram Crochet Explained!

Ok, since writing my first post about Japanese Crochet Diagrams, I have had tons of requests on how to read them, try to explain them, etc. The first thing you should know is that I don't read Japanese. I have given some really awesome links on where you can find help with translation HERE.  There is also a chart with hook sizes comparing US, UK, Japanese, & steel hooks within the pages of this same link, so that you can easily use the correct size hooks for your projects.

But what seems to be a continuing issue, is the question of what all those diagram symbols mean, and what stitches do they symbolize? I have several fantastic books that go into great detail regarding stitch symbols, however, I will only cover the very most basic of them for now.

First, I reccomend the "Harmony Guide to Crochet Stitches" as it explains in detail in ENGLISH the diagrams & their symbols, and you should know ~ they do match up with the Japanese symbols. This is an older book, published in 1988, and so it may be a bit diffiucult to get ahold of. I reccomend both Amazon.com & eBay.com.

Second I reccomend this excellent Japanese book called "Basics of Crochet for Beginners".  It very clearly covers almost every single stitch you will run into with these Japanese Diagram Crochet books. 

Just a small sampling so that you can see that even though you may not be able to read Japanese,  there are so many pictures that it explains itself.  This book also covers basic alteration, pattern manipulation & construction.  If you are a visual learner, these two books alone will enable you to easily use the Japanese Diagram crochet books. 

Here is another great tip when looking for more Japanese diagram books on crochet ~ the Japanese also call crochet "knitting".  I don't know why, but they do.  So, if you look up books either on Amazon or eBay, be aware that it really doesn't matter if it says "how to knitting"... it's probably still going to be crochet.  Click on one of the pictures above to enlarge it, and see an excellent example of such ~ you can see in the top right-hand corner that it clearly says "how to knitting", and yet the instructions are just as clearly crochet. 

Also, several of the better sellers on eBay will include many pictures of the contents of the Japanese craft books, so you can tell whether or not it is a "knitting-but really crochet" book or a "knitting AND crochet" book, or even a real knitting book.  Because yes, these awesome diagram books are also for knitters!  There are symbols & stitch examples with a ton of pictures for knitting as well.  And, the Harmony Guide to Knitting Stitches is also available from both Amazon.com & ebay.com.

I hope that this helps all of you with your Japanese Diagram Crochet Quest!  I've said it before, but I think it bears saying again ~ when you have the diagram before you ( I use a printed copy so the book stays nice), and a color pencil in hand, you can sail through these projects!!  Case in point is the three (3!!, three!, THREE!) layette items that I started AND FINISHED last week, shown in my previous post.  These were done, for the most part, while watching my kids do their schoolwork ( I homeschool, for those of you that didn't know that).  The patterns are extremely easy to follow, and I can easily mark where I am at, put it down, pick it up, & regain my place in just seconds.   Kid has a question, needs a bit of "motivation" ;-D, or even just lunch break, & it's that easy! 
Good luck on your Japanese Diagram Crochet Quest, let me know if this has helped you, and above all, HAVE FUN!

Japanese Diagram Crochet......Again

This last week I finished these two little layette items.  But once again, as you can see from the lovely glossy photos of the book, and the more altruistic pics of the finished product ~ I have once again meandered from the actual pattern into some other territory.  Why do I change up the pattern?  I don't know ~ maybe it's some inherent desire to be as orginal as possible despite the fact that I am following someone else's bit of creativity.  Perhaps it's a nod to the idea that each creation is an original, simply because it is new, though created from string & sticks.  But I think maybe the real reason might be that I just get bored.  By the end of the pattern, I am starting to think that I might never finish it if I don't change up SOMETHING. 
It's strange, really ~ because at the beginning I am so drawn to the adorable little item in the pretty book ~ my eyes glaze over as I try to imagine what yarn, what size hook, what colors ....In fact, sometimes I am so enchanted with the tempting photo that I even use the same color scheme, hook size & yarn as the pattern suggests! 
But then, invariably, half-way through, I become disallusioned, disoriented, and disinterested.  So much Dissing.

Oh how cute the picture is ~ look, they even have examples in TWO colors.... funny thing is ~ that hoody was the main attractant of this particular pattern in the beginning.   But then... well, I got almost half-way through the hood ( yes, yes, yes, it WAS the last part of the project......) & I folded down that hood, and Lo & Behold ~ check it out ~ it made a pretty cute collar.  SOOOO.... in the interest of just ending it right there, I did.  Unfortunately, the second cutest thing about that little hoody sweater was the pom pom buttons, which no longer looked right with just a collar.  And so, once again, I hold up my finished piece and sigh ~ yah, not quite what I had in mind.  On the other hand, it's not like the arm is sewn onto the collar, so there's that.

And here is a little layette set, again, in the colors shown in the lovely tempting glossy... unfortunately, not just like it, though.  I did booties instead of a hat ( which is silly, cuz I KNOW how to do hats... I just didn't have the fortitude to muggle through another hat, i guess), I did buttons instead of ties....

And quite honestly, at the end, I wasn't all that happy with the turn-out.  Again.  Big surprise.  I know ~ heart-stopping really.  On the other hand, it's one more item done. 

What I really need around here is an actual baby to try stuff on.  ( Ang, that hint was special for you ~;-D )
Isn't it the babies that just grab your heart & make you want to make those adorable things?  And since I can't read Japanese, I never know who the photographer is, but they choose the CUTEST little people! 

I think I'm done working in yellow & white for quite a long time ~ besides which, I ran out of most of the cheapo acrylic baby weight yarn.  I still have some pink & blue, though.  So, in an effort to use it up, I am now working on a little pink pineapple kimono.  Probably with a white bodice.  And I want to do a little dress in pink with a rusty orange cape & a red hat & gloves.  My kids are a bit shocked at the color combo's, but I like to remind them that I was a 70's child & have a right to certain ~hippy-ish~ moments.

On a more fun note ~ my two daughters & I are going to Women's Conference this weekend!  We are going to be spending 3 or 4 days in Provo.  I am looking forward to lots of crochet time.  They usually have projects that they hand out & then you return them finished, & they get sent off to the Humanitarian Center.  

They get thousands of finished projects this way, & it's so much fun to participate in!

Japanese Diagram Crochet Mania

Can you say OCD?  But I LOOOVVEEE them!!

Ok, so I've been on a bit of a crochet mania jag. But I have to hand it all to those fantastic Japanese diagram crochet craft books. If you've ever thought that there MUST be an easier way to follow a pattern than all those horrible little rows of abbreviated hch dc yo ch sch's ~ in fact if you've ever PRAYED that there is some alternative ~ well sister, I know the answer to that prayer! It is crochet ( and knitting too!!) diagrams. And you don't even have to read Japanese!

This is a little 0 to 3 months sweater / jacket, done in Caron rhapsody, with a 6mm hook. The entire thing is done in single crochet, so it is super easy to adjust for sizing, and the single crochet makes for a nice firm-ish fabric. Plus, I finished it in 5 hours!!!

This is a little kimono from another one of those Japanese diagrams, done up in fingering /DK weight yarn ( actually, yarn for my knitting machine ~ works perfectly for baby stuff!), with a size 3 ( or 1.8mm) steel hook.

And this little ( hah!) vest is actually supposed to be for a baby, but since I did it in worsted weight cotton with a 3.75mm hook, it will actually fit up to 8 yrs comfortably. Remember the lessons on gauge? Yah, me neither, hence the larger size! I know, I know, I am a lazy crocheter ~ a non-swatch maker. (Yah, I wing it ~ don't be takin' away my wingin'-it priveleges!) Some 7 yr old will like this! Just maybe none that I know of... right now...

HOWEVER< if you need help figuring out the Japanese Crochet or Knitting books, here is the most AWESOME LINK ever!!!  It will help you with:

How to interpret a Japanese book
Needle sizes
Name of body parts
Name of items
Materials
How to knit
HAVE FUN!!!

Knitting Machine Woes & Triumphs

Ok ~ so I bet you can't guess what I did? huh ~ huh ~ huh ~ bet yah can't .... well, all right, maybe the title DID give it away! Yes, it's true, I DID buy a knitting machine. ok, ok, I'll be honest. I bought three. No, wait, I only bought two, the nice lady at the garage sale threw the other one in ~for Good Measure~.



Yes, it's true ~ I can now knit at LIGHTNING SPEED!!! MWWAHAHAHAHA And guess how much $$?? ( Cuz you know it's not really a deal until you can brag to all your friends & acquaintances about what a DEAL it was...;-D) $25 bucks each!!! Yup, $50 bucks for the two, and third one thrown in for free!

AND....wait, there's more! If you ask now, I'll ALSO include the model #'s AND let you know how much they are worth on the current eBay market!!

:-D (that's a cheeser, in case you were wondering)


Well, twist my arm! Ok, so the OLDEST FREE-BEE is a KnitKing Auto KK98 punchcard. And there is a Brother ( Brother & Knit King are one & the same) on eBay right now just like it going for $1499.00!!!



WOO-double HOOOOO! And I tried that baby out, and it makes lace, and does these funky tuck stitches and slip stitches and stuff BEAUTIFULLY! Plus, it wasn't that hard to figure out. ( it took me all of 2 days....but I admit it, I was a bit obsessive about it...nevertheless... hah! 2 days!)








The next one is a KnitKing Compuknit IV (essentially a Brother KH940). It is basically like this one on eBay. Please note the $2500.00 price tag. (Mine was $25 too, hehehehe, minus about 4 zero's!!!) Mine came with all of those gadgets too, even two G-carriage's, an intarsia carriage, and all sorts of pattern disks & this garter bar thingy ( haven't used that yet), and a color changer doo-hickey, and even a funky old square disk reader.






The instructions from that were SO funny:

"An introduction to the floppy disk ~ .....there is also another quite separate memory in your machine called "RAM", which allows you to program your own stitch pattern designs.....the disk will accept information from the knitting machine quite happily."

We all know what a quite sad disk will do ~ or what we will do to it, ( didn't they used to sell sledge hammers with Win95 ??)

Yes, this one took me three or four days to figure out... it was a doozy,

BUT

I have played around on it and produced some REALLY pretty tuck stitch patterns, a funky lot of slip stitch examples and some cool thread yarn knitting that looks so fine I am gonna use it for baby clothes!!


AHAHAHA ~ all of that size 10, 20 & 30 bedspread crochet thread that I have been hoarding will actually get USED.
So eat THAT, Wood Genius! HAH! ( I may now have to get more... wouldn't want to run out... colors, this could go beyond Christening layettes....hmmmmm)
























And lastly, but certainly not leastly, I ALSO got ( for a measley $25, might I remind you all ... hehehe my bargain diva prowess is PROCLAIMED!!) a KnitKing CompuKnit Bulky (again, the same as a Brother Electronic KH270).



Which, there is also one of THOSE on Ebay as well, going for... guess it.. guess it...

$3145.00!!!

WOO HOOO!! doing the happy dance~ arm pump, butt wiggle, neck jive HAPPY DANCE!

So yah. And so it goes. In fact, I am going to have to haiku this. Sorry, you know me, those haiku just sorta roll on out ~

Three knitting machines
five days of intense study
a lifetime of yarn.

Oh that's so appropo. I just hope Wood Genius doesn't see it. He might regret handing me that $45 cash out of his pocket last Saturday at the garage sale. ( I only had $5 on me) Of course, if he hadn't, I might have had a heart attack right then & there. And then he'd be stuck doing his own laundry and making light conversation with total strangers..... sympathetic to the sad ordeal of cleaning out my ~Stash~...es. ( I have multiple stashes... but let's not discuss this right here & now, eh?)

Crocheted Baby Blankie and Layette thingy ma doo ee

Ok, I bet all of you homeschoolers are wondering if I even homeschool anymore. The answer is yes ~ in fact, I absolutely DO! The dealio is, though, I just don’t have time to post it all,

However, in the spirit of bending to my current whims & obsessions, I amazingly DID have time to photograph a couple of crochet projects I did for my sister-in-law’s new baby. (If little Lucy turns into a boy at the last minute, I’m sorta toast, because I just sent these off, and she (Lucy) isn’t quite born yet.) It helps that I specifically posted these so that my mother in law could see them first. :-D (We love you guys & miss you SO Much!)

Any way here are the goodies.



This is my stitch sampler blanket ~ or I like to call it my Jacob’s Blanket of many colors/ stitches. It is made of hand-dyed cotton yarn. The cotton yarn has a nice little rayon thread running through it which gives it a pretty baby shine.








This is the layette, which hopefully fits little Lucy. It should fit up to 3 months, but that’s if the child isn’t born weighing over 9 lbs. Which I suppose is possible. Afterall, my second oldest ( who is now ~ GULP ~ almost 17!!) weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs even. You could set her next to other babies & she looked about 3 months older/ bigger. I don’t wish that scenario on any mother! ;-D






This is just an old baby gown that I made for my 4th oldest daughter ( garsh, and that child is now.. hoo booyy! 13… whoa, where do the years go??!?) I hand-smocked it, but the funny thing is, I had no clue about how to smock, so I just did it, and that’s what turned up. I recently bought some books about smocking, and realized that there are little patterns with guidance dots, and machines that will pleat it for you, and all sorts of goodies that make it easier. As I read those books, I was like “ Ooohhh… duh… yup, THAT would’ve been nice to know!” I just posted the picture because that was what was on the dolly underneath the new crocheted outfit.




And how do you like that dolly? ~heheheh~ That is my sad attempt at putting together somebody else’s cast-off ~ found on eBay~ cheapo-deluxe ~ porcelain doll project. But hey, it’s pretty much life-size for a little older than newborn ( about 3 months) so it makes for a good try-on model, and besides which, the daughter who received her couldn’t care less that she has sorta funky arms, a tippy head, and some bad face paint..

So it’s all good.

Knit 1 Crochet 1

This is my latest knit project. I just made the pattern up ~ knit 1 purl 1, till it looks long enough, and yet leaves you enough yarn leftover to make some fringe. Easy-squeezy. It is a 6 ft shawl that I knitted out of Sensations Rainbow Boucle. Although the color is lovely, the fabric is soft, and the shawl is warm, I have to say, I DETEST this yarn! I probably will never buy it again.

It could be that I am just a very novice knitter, and used too small of needles ~ it could be that my gauge was too tight, and therefore frustrating, or it could just be that this stuff snags on a ANYthing ~ probably right up to and including a bare baby's bottom. All right, all right, I have to admit it, I didn't put it next to any bare baby bottoms, HOWEVER, it snagged on everything else. I thought I might die of frustration. Luckily, for posterity's sake ( I guess, heheh) I barely managed to eek out an existance. In fact, this yarn was so annoying, it gets its very own haiku.

Sensations Rainbow

Boucle yarn snags forever

as I curse once more

And I have also noticed that once it is made up, the purled side snags on everything I wear, picks up the slightest hint of lint, stray hairs, and anything else within a 10 ft radius so that by the end of the day, although you are toasty warm and look quite nice, you seem to have developed an odd lumpiness underneath the shawl. I think it resembles fat rolls in a way, and so I will call it Shawl Cellulose Lumps. Yes. It definitely creates a severe case of SCL.

So I don't really reccomend this yarn for knitting. Or crochet, for that matter. Because the other side of this story is that I tried to crochet this yarn before I knitted it. And ~ ah was like to die!! ~ In fact, this stuff is so grabby that I could barely rip out the snasty crochet sample, and just decided to bag it and chuck the whole thing rather than deal with it.

All right ~ I have gotten a little worked up ~ breeeaaaattthhee ~ hmmmm ~ huuuu ~ uuuhhhh ~ Flushing Water ~ Child pose ~ Stand up ~ reach for the sunshine.

Ok ~ I can go on. ;-D

This is a crochet project I just finished. I mostly used the pattern from a ~ Best Of Terry Kimbrough Baby Afghans ~ book. ( which, by the way, is an absolutely BEAUTIFULLY done book of heirloom quality baby afghans. You'll want to use your nice yarn for these. I only wish she had diagrams!!) I say mostly, because I seem to have a difficult time following a written pattern. I was doing great ( because the picture of the afghan in the book showed the stitches on the body & some of the border well enough) until I hit that last part of the border. I just couldn't tell what the heck they were up too, so I improvised.

I don't like the improv as well as the picture in the book, but I consoled myself with the fact that I don't really like the color scheme that much either, and this was really more of a test to see if I could make a complicated baby afghan without wasting expensive yarn, and I was using leftover materials, so I didn't have enough of any one color for the whole dealio, sooooo ( breathe... just breaaathheee..) I used up a bunch of baby weight scraps.

Perhaps my sister will have a little girl, though, and she will use it as a floor blanky or some such.

As for the yarn, I used Bernat Softee Baby yarn, which, although it is as acrylic as all get-out, is actually not so bad to work with. Although, I will say this, the white seems to have a little more substance than the pink or or the variagate. So it makes up just a little thicker. But for a nice soft, cheap, washable baby yarn ~ not too shabby.

My next project is a pair of socks. I am going to crochet one set & knit another. I think crochet is going to be the easier of the two, but knitting may prove more comfortable to wear. So I am going to try both.

Sadly, I have not yet dyed the final two colors for my Japanese baby granny, so I am still waiting to start that. ( I am trying to decide how to go about dying a very light cream color... if any of you know how to do that, please let me know. I managed all of the other soft colors, but cream is escaping me for the moment.) I DID, however, get all the rest of the yarn for that project balled, which is quite a little chore in itself.

I will use the left-overs from this for a little matching granny square jumper dress, and perhaps some booties & a cap or hat in a solid as well.