Free Patterns on Pierott

There are some great free Japanese knitting patterns but if you don't know Japanese then it can be hard to find them or to know what the links to the pages say.

Luckily, I've been able to find some sites through Ravelry's Japanese Knitting and Crochet group and Yahoo's Knitting In Japan group. If you are anywhere interested in Japanese knitting and crochet patterns, I highly recommend both groups. The people on the lists are so nice and there are some fluent Japanese speakers that are often willing to help with translations of parts of patterns.

One of the best places to find free Japanese knitting patterns and Japanese crochet patterns is on the Pierott (Gosyo Co.,Ltd) website. The first time I got on the site, I was a little overwhelmed because I didn't know where to click for the patterns.

I use the Google search bar with the Translate feature turned on to help me read the words on the pages that aren't images.

Here's a list of some of the them:

Fall and Winter Patterns, Volume 1:
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/fw_knit1.htm

Fall and Winter Patterns, Volume 2
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/fw_knit2.htm

Fall and Winter Patterns, Volume 3
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/fw_knit3.htm

Bags (knit and crochet):
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/bag.htm

Amigurumi (crochet)
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/amigurumi_tawashi.htm

Motifs (crochet)
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/motif.htm

Caps, Mittens, Scarves (knit and crochet)
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/cap.htm

Scarves
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/muffler.htm

Tops (knit and crochet)
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/fw_knit3.htm

Tops, vests, ponchos (mostly knit)
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/fw_knit2.htm

Tops (knit)
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/fw_knit1.htm

Kids and baby (knit and crochet)
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/baby_knit.htm

Men's (knit)
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/mens_knit.htm

Shawls and stoles, with tops and a couple of suits (mostly
knit)
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/hight_knit.htm

Short sleeve tops (knit and crochet)
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/ss_knit.htm

Shawls, Scarves (knit and crochet)
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/syole_knit.htm

Interior (Zakka)
http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/gosyo/new/interior_zakka.htm

Just click on an image and you'll be taken to the information page about the pattern. There are usually 4 sections next to the garment patterns.

The first section is the yarn information. The second section is the needle section (Be careful! These are Japanese needle sizes, not US or metric. Use the Basics of Japanese Knitting page for a conversion of needle sizes). The third section is additional items needed. And the fourth section has the link to the PDF pattern.

Unfortunately, the PDFs don't have pictures of the items. So I just print out the information page and the PDF and keep them together.

I could spend hours looking at all the patterns and I have quite a few I'd love to knit. Hope you have fun looking through them too!

Men and Women's Knit

I saw a really cute vest from a Japanese knitting book call Men and Women's Knit on Agnes's website.

I love the diamonds going across the front. Here's the link to Men and Women's Knit on YesAsia.com

Orlane also has some pictures from the book here. The hoodie vest looks great too.!

I may need to look for this book the next time I'm at Kinokuniya (where I need to stay away from right now because I need to spend money on gifts for OTHER people!)

Keito Dama Winter 2007 Magazine (#136)

I picked up a copy of the Keito Dama 2007 Winter #136 knitting magazine at Kinokuniya in Seattle today along with some other instructional knitting books that I'll write about in a later post. Three of them are about reading Japanese knitting symbols and the last one is a Japanese knitting pattern book.

I think the Keito Dama is a magazine rather then a book. From what I've read on the internet it comes out 4 times a year. It has ads and articles (which of course I can't read because they are in Japanese!) like a magazine, so that's what I'm calling it: a Japanese knitting magazine.

I paid $16.80 for my copy. YesAsia.com has it for $15.75 which isn't to bad because you get free shipping with orders over $25. But I do like flipping through the magazines at the bookstore so I can decide if I want to purchase them or not.

There are over 64 different knitting and crochet patterns. Jenny has pictures of several of the patterns in her post about this issue.

Here's a couple of pictures from the Knit Index on the back cover. Click for a bigger image.

Japanese Knitting Patterns

I fell in love with Japanese Knitting Patterns about a year ago. The patterns seem timeless and not trendy. They have a clean, classic appeal. I especially like the Aran style patterns with cables that seem popular in the Japanese knitting books.

However, when I tried to order some books from the Internet, I had difficulty getting past the language barrier. Most of the books have little to no English translations of the titles and since the descriptions of the books are in Japanese, I had no idea what was actually in the books and magazines except from the cover photo.

I did try ordering a few Japanese Knitting pattern books from Amazon Japan's English Language version website, but somehow my order didn't go through and I ended up not getting the books. And since it had been so difficult to find and order them in the first place, I just gave up.

Well, since that time more resources have popped up on the Internet regarding Japanese Knitting patterns and the book sites now include previews of some of the pages in some of the knitting pattern books.

I also moved to Seattle recently where there is a Japanese bookstore called Kinokuniya (here is a list of their overseas book stores). I was able to browse through the knitting books and I purchased 3 to start with.

Since there are still limited resources on the Internet when it comes to finding, reading, and knitting Japanese knitting patterns, I've decided to start this blog as a resource for other knitters who want to knit these wonderful patterns and to record my learning process.

I'm looking forward to my Japanese Knitting Adventure!