Knitting Discovery: Deciphering a Japanese knitting symbol I have never seen before...
It's not always straight forward to interpret Japanese knitting patterns.
This was I encountered...
Recently, I was stumped when I saw a new symbol which I have never seen before. I didn't understand the pattern, and tried to figure it out with trial-and-error... and I did! I was very happy and learned something new which I will remember for a long time...
It also gave me a confidence boost that I can understand knitting patterns on my own.
If you are wondering how I did it... Well in reality it is like a code-breaking game.
You do have to match each symbols with the knitting "action", So I will them out on another piece of paper what the "Action is"
The thing I stumbled on was this knitting symbol (as shown above) circled in RED.
Turns out it was a group of action.. which I Have to use Google Translate to understand the whole series of knitting actions over 3 rows. And that's how technology has been really helpful to us when we know how to use it correctly. 😉
Usually what I do when encountering knitting in symbols;
1) I will go slow in knitting them.
2) The other methods will be write out in English
(Do take note if you are knitting flat/in round, cos the interpretation of the chart will be different. When knitting flat, there is a Wrong side to take note and the direction of odd rows read from (R)ight to (L)eft; even rows is from L to R. When knitting in round, it is always from R to L)
The knitting actions for each symbols on a piece of paper, hence in this way, you will know what to knit in each stitch. Especially the knit 2 together (knit2tog) and Slip Slip Knit (SSK) symbols may look confusing, and if done in wrong manner, the out come will be wrong, due to the angle slant of the stitch.
3) try out a smaller Japanese Knitting symbol project first and get use to this way of knitting before jumping into a big project like this. Practice, practice and practice until you get a hang of it. 😉
I'll leave you with these tips. Wishing you success and joy in finding out another way of knitting besides using the English Instructions.
For more products on Japanese books and magazines for pattern, find them here
