I love Japanese knitting magazines and books. The stitch patterns are intricate, delicate, elegant and a challenge to knit. Luckily for me, Japanese designers use charts with international symbols to explain the stitches and schematics, read garment outline, with sets of numbers to indicate the stitch numbers to cast on, to increase and decrease as well as to cast off so no Japanese language classes are needed. I order my magazines and books from Yes Asia who offers free shipping to a large selection of countries as long as you spend more than 39 USD and that is extremely easy, believe me!

When you order, chose Japanese books and write knitting or Let’s Knit in the search window on www.yesasia.com. My favourite is the Let’s Knit series and the knitting patterns books so-called stitch bibles, both tend to include a few crochet patterns, equally stunning, as well. Estimated delivery time is usually 4 weeks but I have never waited more than 2 weeks, ever…

Another good online shop is the Canadian Needle Arts Bookshop where you can have a look at the latest magazines, both the cover and some of the designs inside. Incredibly useful is the free pdf on interpreting Japanese Knitting Patterns by Marsha White, see www.needleartsbookshop.com.

‘How to Read Japanese Graphical Knitting Charts’ is an useful article you will find among other helpful tips such as knitting graph paper on www.tata-tatao.to/knit/e-index.html. In addition you will also find numerous tips and Japanese translations as a member of the Japanese Knitting and Crochet group on Ravelry, see www.ravelry.com. Learn & Enjoy!