Japanese crochet book

Japanese crochet book and my mandala

I love Japanese crafting. Their flair for design ... it's so stylish, but it's also quirky.


Japanese craft books are usually written in Japanese (surprise! 😕). I can't read Japanese - no surprise 😖. It doesn't matter ...😅 thank goodness! 
 This book is all about motifs ... circles, squares, hexagons, triangles and flowers, and each motif has its own beautiful graph to show how the motif is made. I may not be able to read Japanese, but I can read crochet graphs 😄 and the graphs in this book are easy to follow. Each row is printed in a different colour which makes identifying each row at a glance easier. The last section in the book shows ways to join motifs together to make larger pieces for scarves, tablecloths etc. Something else I really like about the book is that each motif is shown in another two colour ways which helped me visualise other possibilities.


This book - I'm sorry I can't tell you the name of it, was given to me to play with by Mandy O'Sullivan whose work at CrochetbyREDAGAPE inspires me to the moon and back. I always come away from her Instagram feed feeling better than when I started. Mandy has a magical way of putting pretty colour combinations together. I reckon she crochets with a magic wand instead of a hook.


I don't think it matters what yarn or hook size is used to make the motifs in the book
- as long as they are kept consistent if you're doing a larger project. My go-to yarn size is DK and the label on the yarn suggested a 4.00 mm crochet hook. The yarn I chose to use is hand dyed, 100% cotton, Vinnis Colours - Nikkim which I buy here from lovely yarn-stash-enabler and super-crocheter Robyn at Yummy Yarn and Co .
Ooh, and while I was there I picked up a two new crochet hooks for my collection.
Efficient use of postage cost I think! 😉


I was dying to try a motif from the book, as well as wanting a small gift for a friend, so decided to use circular motif #17 from the book, then add rows of my own design from there to create a doiley/ mandala. And before you think I might be clever in any way, the ideas for the extra rows came from other graphs in the book that appealed to me. 
The finished mandala ... ta- da! 


I'm already imagining new projects created with another motif graph in the book, and some flowers, lots of pretty flowers! I can't wait to see the other Japanese craft books Mandy is stocking in her soon-to-be-open shop.
Would I buy another book written in a language I can't read? Absolutely yes !

Thank you for keeping me company today, it's been a treat, 
Kellie
xo


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