Not Quite Right

There is something not quite right about me...

That may well come as no surprise to some, but it is true.

Part of what I enjoy about knitting is the challenge, the challenge to learn knew stitches and techniques and the challenge to conquer by doing something well.

One of my obsessions of late has been acquiring stitch dictionaries. I love to leaf through them because the possibilities are endless and I am enchanted with intricacy of some of the patterns.

A gift card from Amazon for my birthday was a delightful surprise and I picked up several titles, including Barbara Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns.

I do not know if it is my Asian background or just an appreciation for things done extremely well, but I have long been attracted Japanese pattern and stitch books. So much so, when I came across a sale today, I could not resist and ordered three titles:

No, I do not happen to read or speak Japanese, why do you ask?

At most, I can count to ten in Vietnamese, Korean, and Chinese.  Japanese did not make the cut.

What the heck am I going to do with stitch dictionaries written entirely in Japanese?

I am not quite sure; however, I understand they do have remarkable charts from which one can "read."

The 300 lace book has some sample pages here.  The 300 stitches book does, too.

I fear it is far too much to hope the Japanese use the same chart symbols as we do; however, a bit of research indicates there may be some help available.

There is a bit of a trump card, though.  There is a colleague at the office who spent 14 years in Japan.  Not only is she an attorney, but she has worked as a legal translator and also knows how to knit!