Japanese Stitches Unraveled: 160+ Stitch Patterns to Knit Top Down, Bottom Up, Back and Forth, and In the Round

by Wendy Bernard

Japanese stitch patterns are eye-catching and much sought after by devotees, but before now, they often seemed out of reach, whether locked behind Japanese-only instructions or tangled up in difficult-to-decipher illustrations . Japanese Stitches Unraveled offers 150 rare patterns inspired by these elusive and intricate Japanese stitch designs, along with fully illustrated charts, familiar symbols, and clear instructions for every single stitch. Each stitch pattern receives Bernard’s unique four-direction makeover—topdown, bottom-up, back-and-forth, and in-the-round. To showcase the knitting in action, Bernard also includes instructions for six garments as well as her famous formulas for knitting without a pattern.

Genres: Knitting, Nonfiction, Reference, Crafts

288 pages, Hardcover

Published May 15, 2018

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think if you're a more advanced knitter, you'll like this. I'm not quite ready for all the patterns here and I've never read charts before, but it was interesting and there are some really cool ideas in it. I'll just have to pick this up again in a few years. :)

[Doris Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book was very helpful to me because it had the stitches written both for flat as well as for the round knitting.

[Tam G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay. A bit simpler then I was expecting after reading through Hitomi Shida's exquisite stitch dictionary.

I have no idea how 'Japanese' these are. Many of them seem familiar to Westerners, but that doesn't exclude them. I wish there was more history, maybe? Something to tie this together.

Still, straightforward and easy to use as always. Bernard organizes nicely.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book of beautiful stitch patterns. I don't have a use for any of them at the moment, but it's a great resource to remember for sometime when I do! It would be a good book to own at some point (& I only purchase books that I plan to use over & over).

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first knitting book, so little to compare to. So take everything with this in mind.

This book is definitely not for beginners but I have a very experienced helper at hand to help me and there are definitely some easier patterns in this book so I definitely get something out of this book as well and learn a lot. I think it might be too hard for me to understand certain concepts if I didn't have someone help me along but for anyone who knows already some things this book has amazing patterns.

All patterns have as well a nice picture printed to it how the right side looks. Some patterns even have the wrong side as well as a picture but that is rather rare.
It's mostly patterns, very little about actually "projects" to follow like sweaters.

[Ariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing patterns, a pleasure just to read through them. This book has something for everyone, whether you are a beginner or an extremely advanced knitter. Best of all, there are two indexes: the standard alphabetical one, and another called the "Stitch Multiple Index" which lists every pattern according to how many stitches are in a repeat. I'm not sure if I'm the only one who thinks that second index is awesome, but I REALLY liked it ^.^ There is also a list of abbreviations that describes everything except for the very, very basics and happens to be one of my favorite lists I refer back to. The only think I didn't like about the book was that the Kindle edition is not searchable, but for the most part I feel the indexes make up for that.

[PATRICIA COOK · Rating 5 out of 5]

unique patterns

I have several books on stitch patterns. I’m always looking for new and different ones. This book has a nice selection that I’ve never seen this style of pattern. Always love a chart. Well organized.

[Martha]

heavy on twists & cables

[Jane Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential for knitting proficiency. Great unusual patterns. Excellent instruction in both flat and round patterns

[Karlene Gould · Rating 5 out of 5]

Japanese stitches

Great source for new knitting patterns. Add these to your library of stitches and create a garment or blanket of your choice.

[Abby Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful patterns

[Cyndi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like that this book has instructions for knitting in the round as well as having written and charted instructions. All the different options really makes it easier on my brain. Seems like I haven't seen that in other stitch dictionaries, although I haven't looked at all of them...