My office has moved from Chicago to Arlington Heights. While I am still adjusting to this transition I was pleased to discover when we first looked at the space, that the building we were considering renting in was across the street from Mitsuwa, a large Japanese market that includes a reasonably sized bookstore.
I'm a newcomer to Japanese craft books, but the more of them I see, the more inspired I get. The first time I visited this store, it was clear that knitting was a big theme of many of the books. But on this trip, if number of books represented is any evidence, crochet is taking off big with Japanese crafters. The crochet edging on Lotus has gotten me thinking more and more about how the craft can be used. I realized that I'm not really interested in crocheting garments, but I am interested in housewares and accessories. And I found three books that really knocked my socks off. Since I wanted to share a few pictures of the contents, I'm going to divide my "review" of these books into three parts.
The first book that I picked up and really got me inspired was this one, subtitled in English "Crochet Lace Doily" (ISBN 978-4-529-04590). Frankly, doily patterns were just about the last thing I thought I'd be inspired by, until I started paging through the book and saw some very contemporary lacy doily stylings in some very contemporary contexts. While there are some more traditional patterns, these definitely aren't what you'd expect to find on your grandmother's dresser.
This doily would show itself extremely well around Danish modern furniture. All the color comes from the use of variagated thread. It would be easy to imagine a set of these used as fancy dress up placemats for a special occasion as well.
This is one of my absolute favorite designs in the book -- styled for use as a curtain. I could see this hanging in my kitchen window and I think it would pair well with the stainless steel and granite in our modern looking kitchen. This one is definitely on my "want to try" list.
While I didn't take any photos of the pattern pages (I don't want to do harm to anyone's copy right) I will say that I don't think you need to know any Japanese to work from them. Instead of written out instructions, these patterns are illustrated using the standard symbols that you see in Interweave Crochet and other US crochet publications -- and the back contains a complete pictoral dictionary of the crochet stitches. The illustrations are excellent, so with this book in hand, you probably wouldn't need to tote around another book, if, you, like me, are still working on building your crochet stitch memory banks up.
I've been thinking about how I want to travel light on my coming vacation. This book, a couple of small crochet hooks and some fine cotton thread could be a perfect recipe for that.
I'm a newcomer to Japanese craft books, but the more of them I see, the more inspired I get. The first time I visited this store, it was clear that knitting was a big theme of many of the books. But on this trip, if number of books represented is any evidence, crochet is taking off big with Japanese crafters. The crochet edging on Lotus has gotten me thinking more and more about how the craft can be used. I realized that I'm not really interested in crocheting garments, but I am interested in housewares and accessories. And I found three books that really knocked my socks off. Since I wanted to share a few pictures of the contents, I'm going to divide my "review" of these books into three parts.
The first book that I picked up and really got me inspired was this one, subtitled in English "Crochet Lace Doily" (ISBN 978-4-529-04590). Frankly, doily patterns were just about the last thing I thought I'd be inspired by, until I started paging through the book and saw some very contemporary lacy doily stylings in some very contemporary contexts. While there are some more traditional patterns, these definitely aren't what you'd expect to find on your grandmother's dresser.This doily would show itself extremely well around Danish modern furniture. All the color comes from the use of variagated thread. It would be easy to imagine a set of these used as fancy dress up placemats for a special occasion as well.This is one of my absolute favorite designs in the book -- styled for use as a curtain. I could see this hanging in my kitchen window and I think it would pair well with the stainless steel and granite in our modern looking kitchen. This one is definitely on my "want to try" list.While I didn't take any photos of the pattern pages (I don't want to do harm to anyone's copy right) I will say that I don't think you need to know any Japanese to work from them. Instead of written out instructions, these patterns are illustrated using the standard symbols that you see in Interweave Crochet and other US crochet publications -- and the back contains a complete pictoral dictionary of the crochet stitches. The illustrations are excellent, so with this book in hand, you probably wouldn't need to tote around another book, if, you, like me, are still working on building your crochet stitch memory banks up.
I've been thinking about how I want to travel light on my coming vacation. This book, a couple of small crochet hooks and some fine cotton thread could be a perfect recipe for that.
Wow - great book. I especially like the bottom picture. It looks like in the left picture they're using the piece as a window treatment. That is so cool. I need to work on my nonexistent crochet skills.
I'll probably make more comments on this later, but every time I pick up a Japanese craft book, I wonder why I can't find more English-language craft books like them. It takes more effort to work through the patterns, but this book contains a ton of things that I would consider making for my own home and as gifts for others. Assuming of course I can learn to become one with the tiny crochet hooks.
My grandmother was an excellent crocheter. That last picture looks a lot like some placemats that she made for me before she died. Thanks for inspiring me to look more into crochet again.
Must be some commute for you! I live near there. The sushi is good, but I haven't tried the restaurants. I buy lots of different noodles and such. Asian markets are much fun!
I love my Japanese craft books. Even if I never make the garments that are in a lot of them, it is a great way to learn stitch patterns and similar things. I love the graphic representation as an alternative to words.
Of course, I have enough Japanese to be dangerous but not useful.
I have crocheted several dozen lace doilies and centerpieces through the years. I used to buy a magazine called Magic Crochet that featured patterns from Asian designers and enjoyed crocheting from symbols. The patterns that you picked out are quite lovely, but I would not crochet them due to the fact that you have to break off the thread for each of the motifs and color changes only to reattach them together later. Then, tuck in all the threads too. I gave up size 20 and 30 thread as well. I will only crochet with size 10 thread and #7 steel hook. I find that smaller thread and hook are too hard to see. When I have to struggle to see, I don't enjoy the project. You seem to like challenges, so GO GIRL! I enjoy your blog and all your projects, as well as your pictures of Chicago. I wish you a nice safe and relaxing vacation.
Lucky girl! I love Mitsuwa, I'd eat noodles in their foodcourt every day. Do they have the candy/sweet shop in your Mitsuwa too? I adore the cuteness of the Japanese sweets.
Wow - isn't that a really long commute for you? I will have to find Mitsuwa & see if we can stop off there when I go to the Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair in a few weeks. (Arlington Heights is close to Crystal Lake isn't it? As someone who spent the first 43 years of her life living east of Ashland & the time since in Oak Park, i tend to kind of lump all NW suburbs together.) Knitting has always been my first love but I also crochet & love those patterns. I've been thining about makeing knitted curtains for the dining room & maybe the kitchen - but crochet would be less likely to stretch out & look weird.