Being a part of knitting community is wonderful because everyone is always kind and we help each other. It is very similar to my own personal experience living in the UK because without the help of so many friends and even people that I didn’t even know, I wouldn’t be here today.
I do spend majority of my time designing and patterning my own stuff, but I think being a part of society, it is important to do something for others. So today I want to talk about a project I have been working with The Knitter mag since last year. The project is about bringing Japanese designers to the West!
There are many beautiful designs created by Japanese designers but not many are published in English. There is an obvious language barrier and it’s a real shame. I think it would be really nice that more Japanese patterns, and not just my own, are accessible in English for everyone to enjoy!
So this is where I come in. I am an English and Japanese “knitting” bilingual (LOL). I do write and speak both languages pretty well. So why not use this skill for others? The Knitter team made this possible. I have been the go between person to organise the Japanese designers and have their Japanese patterns translated and graded to English. So together, we were able to publish Japanese high profile designers’ work in English.
Mitsuharu Hirose and Hitomi Shida were our very first choice. They are the Japan’s most well-known and loved professional designers. They are true knitting artist. Working with them is just amazing. Now that this project is coming to fruition, with Mitsuharu’s beautiful design called Sanmyaku being published this month, I want to talk about a little bit about the work I did for Mitsuharu, The Prince of Knitting.
Mitsuharu is a pioneer in every aspect of Japanese knitting. On top of all the beautiful designs that he creates, he has published countless books, he teaches all over Japan and appears regularly on TV. This meant that he also became a pioneer to work with me and my clumsy communications (I was so nervous!). But you know what? He was just so superbly professional throughout. He was so nice and was spot-on with the designs, never late to reply, always to the point. I admire and respect him so much!!!
So his design for issue 43 is called Sanmyaku which means mountain range in Japanese. His love of beautiful Japanese mountain views and nature is so well presented in the design. It has a decorative zig-zag motifs with delicate lace collar pattern which is shaped by differing needle sizes.When I first saw the design, I loved it and it gave me goosebumps (LOL).
When I received the pattern files from him for me to translate and grade sizes, I was even more impressed by his precise description. The gauges and measurements were bang-on and it was just a thrill and honour to work on his work.
I was eager to see how the pattern will be published. The Knitter team has really done an amazing work on the photography, technical editing (thank you Melanie!) and putting them together. I felt so happy to be a part of a great teamwork. And I think it is a real success! Thank you so much Mitsuharu for your amazing work.
It’s a great and fun pattern to knit. Do please check it out 
Happy weekend!
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I saw that you had done the translation work for this. At first glance I wasn’t that enamoured of this pattern as I didn’t think it would suit my body shape (I’m very busty), but as I looked at more I loved it. I wish I had someone petite to make this for as I think it would suit someone of that build. It has lots of lovely details, but like I said, I don’t think it would suit me, sadly. However, it is great that The Knitter is utilizing your very unique skill set
Hi Chrissy!
For me, a darker colours might suit me better! It was really fun to be a part of the team to work on something unique from Japan!
It’s a lovely delicate design
Are you enjoying the beautiful sun? I am so knitting alfresco on my balcony. Strangely it is much cooler over in Japan – people are skiing there!
Hope you have a fab weekend
x
Kyoko
Hello, I really love your knitting designs and was delighted to hear that you helped translate a Japanese knitting pattern as I really love the attention to detail and the style of Japanese knitting designs. As soon as I saw Sanmyaku I knew I had to knit it, so I rushed out to buy the yarn. However, I am really struggling to work the three loop stitch and am wondering if you could provide any advise or know a tutorial on how to work this stitch. Thankyou for helping bring Japanese patterns to us “western” knitters.
Hi Kerry,
Thank you so much for your lovely comment! Since I may not be able to do a video tutorial very soon, here is how you work the loop stitches in words.
On chart A, when you work to the position where there is a little triangle (i.e. the first loop stitch), insert the needle 3 rows below where 3 lines meet, draw a loop.
Then (knit 1, draw a loop in the same way) twice.
On the next row, when you reach the first loop, purl this loop, then p1, then p the second loop together with the next stitch, p1, then p the final loop.
You will notice that 2 sts are increased (but stitch number remain the same because you have decreased the same amount of sts on the loop row.
If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me. I am here to help
x
Kyoko
Thank you for the reply and the clear explanation of the technique but I have one more query. When you pick up the first stitch is it picked up from the front or the back also when you come to pick up the second stitch do you pick it up next to where you have picked up the first. It’s a bit hard to explain so I hope you understand.
Kerry
Hi! I am looking for a way to translate knitting patterns FROM English to Japanese for a friend. Do you know of any websites or other resources than can help with this?
Thanks!
Holly
I think translating ENG to JPN requires some compromise in terms of how each languages present the patterns. But if it was someting that you are doing for your friend, you could possibly use online translator (like google translator) to translate the main English section. Many of the knitting terms in English can be explained using keys, so may be you could do that too.
Hope this helps!
x
Kyoko