I learned (a little) Japanese by knitting a sweater

[@EngineeringKnits]

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[@gutshot4570]

Wow, I never would have guessed that you were not a native English speaker.

[@sophiewiest1493]

I always heard you chatting about your relations to german culture, but I honestly assumed that you had some grandparents or so living here in germany, it never crossed my mind that you are probably german yourself. Assuming that you are, of course. Props to your english for completely covering up all of your accent! Even your german sounds english sometimes😂

[@thehadster7043]

True story of the Second World War. There was a prisoner of war camp in the Pacific where the American families, of service men who had not been able to escape before Japan invaded, were kept. Fortunately for the women and children, it was bad but no one was tortured etc. The American Red Cross sent wool, knitting needles and patterns to the camp. The Japanese officer in charge of the camp was convinced that the patterns were actually coded messages. One of the women taught him to knit in order to prove that the code was for knitting instructions and nothing else. This woman was an avid knitter all her life and a friend of my mother.

[@Jasmine-cn4wc]

Fascinating story! thanks for sharing

[@thehadster7043]

I know! And my Great Grandmother, Dommy, and her friend, Emma, started knitting socks for the soldiers at some point and never stopped. When I was a young girl in the early 60's, I asked them what they were doing, and they said knitting socks for the soldiers. They always had knitting in their hands. The speed at which they knit was amazing. They each must have knit thousands of socks before they stopped.@@Jasmine-cn4wc

[@songindarkness]

That is an amazing story! It would be wonderful to see a display about it in a museum somewhere one day. It’s these relatable and “homey” historical details and tales that I most love finding out about.

[@thehadster7043]

I agree, and there must be millions of such stories. What is sad is that these stories aren't noticed.@@songindarkness

[@MrsBrit1]

Instead of punching the card first, use a pen or pencil to mark where you need to punch the holes!

[@Ami5Jo]

My exact thought!

[@mermaidstears4897]

My great-aunt lived with her daughter in a teeny, tiny little four room house. They were avid quilters. With nowhere to leave a quilt frame set up, but wanting to quilt nightly after supper, they employed small pulleys and cotton clotheslines to raise and lower their quilting frame over their dining table. Might something like that, with pulleys in the ceiling and clothesline attached to a piece of plywood cut to size enable you to use your ceiling for storage? The knitting machine is pretty flat and wouldn’t impinge on your headroom much. Spitballing here, but you could even attach some under cabinet lights to the bottom or edge of the plywood so it would also provide extra light to your work table when your knitting machine was stored “up”. Even if you’re renting, the pulley holes would be easy to spackle over.

[@lesleyharris525]

Brilliant idea about the rise and fall system, don't think my hubby would want me to do it, not allowed to stretch or even lift over 10 lb, 😅 drives me nuts. ❤

[@rainieraine1192]

You can put tape (both sides) over the mistake holes in your punchcards

[@IsabelLee617]

I'm a long time silent watcher but I just wanted to say thank you so much for showing your mistakes! I often have to start over or frog a lot of work and it can get very discouraging. I really appreciate you showing your process, it makes me feel so much better about my crafting process 😊❤

[@willworkinn395]

I'm norwegian and I'm so exited you're learning Norwegian! If you end up going to norway you gotta do a meet up, and go on a husflidslag tour! (The Norwegian folk arts and crafts assosiation). The local chapters have their redlisted folk craft technique and I think it would be right up your alley!

[@hiwakoo]

That sounds great, I would like to watch a vlog about that, if and when it could happen ☺️

[@christenagervais7303]

My daughter gets most of her knitting and crocheting books in Japanese. She doesn't speak Japanese either!

[@songindarkness]

Impressive of your daughter!

[@bonniecolleenpappin8807]

Oh, my goodness! That book is so scarce! I've had my copy for at least 30 years and am always looking for copies for gifts. But I've never found another one! Thanks for sharing.

[@kaytiej8311]

English isn't your first language? What?! What is your native tongue then? I really admire your skill and understanding of the machines and the patterns. It's so good to see you happy with your two loves combined.

[@resourcedragon]

Yeah, she's originally a German speaker. From time to time she'll mention German words that don't really have an English translation like gemutlichkeit. Based on the hints in her videos, I'd guess that she started having to learn/use English around about the age of 8 - 12 when her parents migrated to the US. I may, of course, be wrong and would welcome correction.

[@mylena3086]

​@@resourcedragon she said she was gonna take a Kaffee & Kuchen break and I can confirm that this is a very German thing to say 😊

[@j-dilli]

That's funny 😅 I'm from Germany and never noticed that she uses German words sometimes🤣🙈 But i didn't watch all Videos yet. Lange Rede kurzer Sinn... liebe Grüße aus Deutschland 👋🏼

[@Reuben-ny3]

Oh this is good!! So much knitting machine geekery! The language ad was well done!

[@JessicasCreativeSpot]

16:20 not only does that make sense to me, you've now described short row shaping in a way that I'm now comfortable to try it 😊

[@laurentse546]

So cool hearing you speak norwegian. Your doing great. I was knitting a mittenpattern and remembered my trick for not knitting to left or right mittens. I always knit the one that is meant to be knitted last (the mirrored one) first, and then the one that is written in the pattern. That way i dont forget that i need to make two different mittens Would love to meet you if you travel to Norway and do some fibercraft with you

[@beewa8840]

That knitting pattern picture looks like the garment is knitted yoke style. That's probably why the stripes go across the front nicely in the picture.

[@clarekrishan1597]

indeed NB @EngineeringKnits most significant error is interpreting the diagram's v-shaped opening like a sewing pattern but it *isn't a dart* to seam fabric its an opening to separate fabric: half to underarm seam and half to yoke (like in Icelandic sweaters knit in the round) so correct way to shape garment is (i) _cast-off_ to join sides at underarm, creating "sleeveless" opening ---------/ -------/

[@pshenya]

@@clarekrishan1597 Thank you for the diagram!

[@janatherton9194]

Mum used to use a chinagraph pencil, or you could use a marker to mark the dots before punching out her punch cards, you can also use tape to cover the holes that you don't want. I'm not sure if she still teaches workshops, but I took a class in understanding Japanese patterns from Takako Ukei from Habu, it was aimed at hand knitters, but it was showing how to understand the way that the patterns and graphics were laid out and the symbols. I need to dig out my notes from that class again, but I really enjoyed her workshop.

[@elfieblue3175]

I totally understand the need to knit a thing but not actually speak the language the pattern's written in. I Google Translated my way through some Swedish knitting instructions to knit a pullover sweater. It wasn't too frustrating since I already know how to read a chart and knit etc. I'm wearing the pullover now. The only other thing I got out of it was a new SFK and SFW cuss phrase: "Stickor sticka sticken stuck," for when I make mistakes. I loved the close-ups of the knitting carriage. Machinery can be hypnotic, when it works.

[@annecain3301]

The Silver Reed (Knitmaster) LC2 Lace Carriage requires different punch cards than the standard punch cards. Unlike the Brother knitting machines, the LC2 carriage knits and automatically transfers stitches . (Brother machines need two carriages, one to knit and a separate one to transfer the stitches . That is why their lace punch card lines have spaces between each line of holes). The Silver Reed lace punch cards have arrows on the right hand side to indicate which way the carriage should move. In the case of Fashion Lace there are also markers which indicate when the yarn should be removed from the carriage. The carriage is moved a number of times to complete transfer of stitches before the yarn needs to be put back to continue the next stage of the patterning.

[@racquelbaines402]

Japanese crochet charts are the best. I love them

[@ClaudiaJasalavich]

I agree about the Japanese patterns. Also, I have found many Canadian crochet patterns written as excellent charts.

[@FaerieDust]

I've got a couple of Japanese crochet books. I haven't tried learning Japanese for them (yet😅) though, I use my phone and the Google Translate app's camera function. It's not perfect, you have to kind of translate the translation sometimes, but it works!

[@lolaopal8884]

So so cute!!! As a purely hand knitter I get so jealous of how quick you can knit up a garment but I always forget how much work it is to get the pattern going!!

[@ChayatsujiKimono]

This is so cool! I recently scored what is basically an ironingmat for sewing traditional kimono. The reverse side has 12 or 15 cutting diagrams/patterns for different garments. Sadly it's writting in an older writing system (listing on Mercari mentioning grandma's attic) so Google Translate doesn't work, the guess is that it's from the early 1900's. Luckily several people I know have been helping me translate bits and pieces ^^

[@craftingweirdo6498]

Maybe Jisho, the japanese dictionary helps

[@ChayatsujiKimono]

@@craftingweirdo6498I did try! A friend from Barcelona had used one of these mats before and they were very kind to translate a bunch that I didn't recognize.

[@OddlyElly]

Google Translate does struggle with the pre-WWII stylised Japanese writing. Glad your were able to get some help translating - I can recommend Billie Matsunaga here on KZbin as she is a traditional Kimono teacher and sews with the old patterns

[@TheChroniclesOfYarnia]

You are my absolute favorite creator , I can not get enough of your content and I am a crocheter not a knitter lol but I am hooked 🧶 😂❤

[@imhottequilabrown]

Same!!!

[@Fiakajsa]

Your stamina for continuing against all the hardships is remarkable! I would have given up ..

[@sophieinspired]

That white sweater is distractingly pretty 💖

[@likeavirshin]

This is awesome! I came across some issues like that. I'm a native Spanish speaker, I've learned English and I can manage a teeny tiny bit of some other languages in the latin spectrum. But something with a different alphabet or even German I can't do anything at all but to look at the diagrams... I've found out you can translate entire PDF documents online! I'm currently knitting a hooded scarf (yes, a scarf whit a hood attached in the middle) that I've found in revelry in German. I've translated to Spanish or English (I don't remember) and I'm doing it! 😊 Oh, I would've redone the top part of the front piece. I don't like to patch things like that, I always found it's faster to redo the work and do it how it's supposed to be instead of spending days troubleshooting on top of my errors 😂

[@VanK782]

It seems the sides of the T were supposed to be seamed straight perpendicular to the stripes so that the top ends up curving into a neckline

[@karatstixraw]

Just discovered you and was excited to see the same Japanese knitting machine books I have in my own collection! I have made a few things from them back in the day and loved the challenge of interpreting the symbols. I also have learned enough Norwegian to read knitting patterns and have knit Norwegian patterns doing that so I can really relate to so much! Haha, even with the challenge of not having space to set up all my things, loom, knitting machines, spinning wheels in one room at one time. But after many many years of wishing, by the end of summer, at last I will have the space. I have subscribed and look forward to following your journey.

[@heidiclarke2333]

I think Japanese clothing sizes are known for being tiny, so the arm hole is probably correct. That was a fun project to watch though.

[@pammonty6240]

I'm living in Korea, and I'm trying to understand knitting terms by watching KZbin or following korean Instagrams 😅. About the sleeve: I think there's no short rows, just decreases that are part of the underarm, no sewing there. The cast on horizontal line after that is the border of the sleeve, it goes around the arm. The vertical part is the shoulder, sew front and back. The cast of should be the neck portion with a lot of stiches gathered. I've seen garments like this but with fabric. I hope it's useful and understandable 😂

[@marit_nor]

(Know that from the norwegian i heard from the app here, it is a distinct dialect of norwegian, and not the "standard" that people usually start with when learning it) This comes from a norwegian speaking another dialect 😉 you sounded pretty good tho

[@JustSaralius]

As a Swede, I thought it sounded like "that other dialect I forget the name of" lol 😅

[@Skallanni]

I’m part Norwegian but wasn’t taught the language growing up (raised in the states). I use Babbel, speaking with my family, and reading Norwegian knitting patterns. :) it really does help! In fact, I learned to knit because I was gifted my grandmother’s traditional Norwegian knit wool cardigan with beautiful pewter buttons which was given to her as her wedding gift from my grandfather. I wanted to learn how to make knitwear like it! :D I’ll be going to Norway next year and hope to visit the Gammelsau (old Norwegian sheep) farm I get my surname from!

[@Dianestitchcraftrelax]

closeup knitting machine footage was beautiful and interesting. THanks for the video. Your new machinge is amazing.

[@lesleyharris525]

So many useful comments, thank you all for sharing your thoughts, ❤

[@drewadrawing]

I really have no words for how impressive this is! I love learning about all these different knitting machines too. So so neat!

[@Jasmine-cn4wc]

The combination of the off-white and green yarn creates a lovely contrast😍

[@nancymoore8949]

I read that you can just use clear tape to cover mistakes on the punch card. It works, I have done it a lot!

[@clawtooth35]

yeah I've seen people use masking tape

[@tammihackley4349]

I have the same goal of reading a Norwegian knitting pattern! Thumbs up to you

[@melahatali2104]

Hello, I have narrow sticky tape, especially to correct mistakes on punch cards. You cut small piece and stick over the hole on both sides of the punch card. I love my linker specially sewing 4ply garmets. Well done you ❤

[@dees3179]

Totally off topic, but I’m very impressed with your spectacle frames. I must get something similar. I barely have eyebrows (long story) and can’t be bothered to draw them in so that might be a solution.

[@anonymousperson4214]

I always figured you'd grown up bilingual, guess I was wrong! Thanks for mentioning the difficulty learning English thing, I "learned" Spanish pretty well in school and I'm now trying to learn German, but the sticking point for me has always been the speaking part. I have enough social anxiety that small talk (the first stuff you get taught) is hell in any language, and with a language barrier in general, I get so flustered that I loose all language skills. So I end up avoiding using my foreign languages with people because I'm just too awkward. And there's only so far you can go with a language if you don't use it in conversation. Gotta come up with a solution for that. I'm sure study abroad would have helped a lot, but that's never been an option for me. Side note, I think it's really cool that there was such a thriving knitting machine community in Japan

[@starfirebird3099]

I do the same thing! I learned French in school and am decent at it (took literature classes in French in college), and am studying Spanish, Italian, and Russian, but am too shy to actually try to speak with people when I'm in a situation where I could.

[@QuentinWes]

I do not know any japanese that can help in reading the instructions, but just based on the images I think you interpreted short rows into a shape without them. The pattern looks to be literally just the flat piece as you would cut it out when sewing, and then the pieces are seamed up to the point the decreases start (which creates a scooped under arm) and up the side of the T shape. The sleeve opening is created by leaving the decrease portion open, and casting on a bunch of stitches to create the sleeve. Its just a rectangle (half torso width), then a trapezoid (decreasing to the point where you want tohe opening to start, then a wider rectangle (half the width around your upper body including your arms). The top of the T is the opening, which seems to be gathered really sharply for a few rows to make it a normal width for a neck opening You can also do lace by hand, its more tedious than patterning it but unlike colourwork which requires the punchcard on singer machines, you can just hand transfer the stitches and then plain knit over all the stitches back and forth once for each row of eyelets

[@werelemur1138]

The punch cards remind me of my mother's stories of the computer she used in college. I really like the chevron on the sleeves.

[@soberanobrasil9370]

Very interesting! Lovely work too. Japanese knitting is so delicate. ❤

[@willychrispin1093]

Bra jobber! Jeg elsker videoene dine og jeg kan hjelpe deg litt med norsk hvis du ønsker å snakke med noen. A knitting trip to Norway sounds amazing. I am very excited for you

[@MichelleSMV]

It’s so cool you’re learning Norwegian! I’m hoping to learn sewing and knitting in Spanish lol but I already speak/read Japanese 😆 I do have a Japanese knitting book (not an old one though) but I actually haven’t looked into it yet. Now I wonder if it’s any different? The blouse is really cute but I’d definitely love to know if it works better after blocking!

[@katinkasirena]

I would love to see this sweater again after you made your modifications and blocked it. I really like the striped design.

[@resourcedragon]

My paternal grandmother was never much of a knitter. At one stage, however, she decided that knitting garments at home would help the family to save money, and so she bought a knitting machine. If I remember the story correctly, she made one garment on the knitting machine. To be fair, using a knitting machine does involve a bit of shoulder work. Fortunately my grandfather was more inclined in that direction and I believe he made a number of garments on that machine. My mother eventually inherited one of them which she unpicked and hand knitted into a cardigan with a rather interesting raglan sleeve join detail. That cardigan was a light yellow and it became her dog walking cardigan for many years. My aunt (my father's younger sister) took after her mother in the knitting enthusiasm department. She apparently knitted one jumper once. That was two years of evenings (or two years of evenings and procrastination) she never got back. On the other hand, she was a lot better in the kitchen than I am.

[@nunyabusiness5614]

I have that same reaction when I use language apps. I get so excited to have pronounced it right 😂

[@kimdegener3854]

I love your videos. And Nutella❤. Maybe go through and mark your holes with pencil first?

[@tynebaker]

It might help to pencil mark the punch-holes before you punch them? That way mistakes are eraseable? Not sure if that would slow you down too much though. Hope the patterning jig issue is resolvable for ya.

[@eleonorahof1001]

So many creative ideas. They never end!

[@Teerae11]

Great try at it , you did great , I love watching the needles knit the yarn so cool , thank you for another great video !!

[@aksez2u]

Interesting! So specific and amazing that this book exists. And the tie-in to the sponsor? Top tier 😁!

[@VanK782]

It shows commitment that you purchased books in Japanese before you even had that resource

[@Siennaflower]

What is your native language? I'm shocked that English is not your first language! I have studied or learned some French, Spanish, Italian, & Russian, and I am currently working on Korean. I learned a little Japanese, but I don't remember it. However, my daughter-in-law is Japanese, and my two grandchildren are learning to speak it, so I will probably work on it when they move to the US this year with my son. ❤

[@craftingweirdo6498]

If I remember correctly, she is born in germany

[@colettemoolman4410]

I have some vintage machine knitting patterns from the 50s that I can scan and email to you.

[@linmol17]

what about adding some gussets on the upper side of the sleeve?

[@jamiethrogmorton2540]

I admire you so much for your affinity with tools and machines! I avoid them totally, no idea how to knit by machine. Interesting, as all your videos are! 🎉. And what was your birth language?!

[@kristalburns3490]

You are allowed to write on those cards. Use a pencil and mark where you want to punch the holes.

[@jennglow4647]

Cool 😀

[@askedgeorgia17]

Hi, where did you get your glasses! They are so pretty. They remind me of a picture of my mom who passed when I was two. I’m 66, so it’s been a while. 🥰

[@tammihackley4349]

Where did you find the knitting machine & what kind is it

[@bekytg9393]

I am impressed you are trying to learn Norwegian. You said you had to learn English, if you don't mind me asking, what is your native language?

[@jamiethrogmorton2540]

I wonder if you’ve connected with the podcaster behind Retro Claude, she also likes vintage knits.

[@ethanpschwartz]

(Nice Warbys)

[@doris1826]

Why not mark the punch spaces with a pencil? Would save sheets. . .

[@avivagodfrey]

If you ever want help with one of your patterns, I freelance translate Japanese from time to time~.

[@Luckytaylor1117]

Fiber craft transformers is so real 😭😂

[@lakritzeslena]

Kaffee und Kuchen Break. 😊

[@OrigamiMarie]

I bet you could use a Cricut (or similar) machine to make punch cards.

[@TarotLadyLissa]

next time color in where you are going to punch before punching! That was funny, I would have done that probably too honestly

[@talitasmit9337]

You can cellotape close your mistakes on the punchcard🎉

[@IISheireenII]

It pains me to know exactly what you did wrong with the construction and how it's supposed to go but beeing unable to describe ot in detail without holding it in my hand and showing you Dx I'll try The part you called the sleeve was the strap. Sew it together. Under that, what you interpreted as the side, you leave enough space for the conplete arm There won't be a rectangle shoulder because you are not supposed to sew up the upside. It's meant to be the neck opening The wedge you put in there also might make it weird. If you'd have done it correctly as a dart like on the front, that would have resulted in a very beutiful shape.

[@Lady_dromeda]

How old were you when you started learning English? You sound like youve always spoken English 😅

[@craftingweirdo6498]

If I remember correctly, she is partly german

[@Fiakajsa]

She said “kaffee und kuchen” witch is German for coffee break”

[@resourcedragon]

@@craftingweirdo6498: As I understand it, she was born in Germany, in a German speaking family.

[@Lisa_Flowers]

I think she said her family moved to the US when she was young. Don't remember the exact age but maybe older child/pre-teens? So probably from then.

[@jenniferbakos6913]

Before you punch, try lightly marking the card first

[@Glaleria]

No I can’t find myself in your situation… I know Japanese 😏

[@frauminidisk]

Kaffee undKuchen. Hilft ungemein.

[@murrvvmurr]

Why not darken the squares to punch BEFORE perforation? Waste not want not people!😅 I really like how mags like "lady's Boutique" diagram their patterns. No lazy Mary full size nothing here😂😂. You know that GOOGLE LENS will translate text in a picture right? I used the same technology with my Docomo phone twenty years ago when I lived in Japan (live in phone translation through the camera of my 2002 flip phone. Apple needs to shut up) and still do so when faced with a Vietnamese, mandarin, modas riga or .... Japanese pattern. It's not as precise as it should be but good enough, especially when it comes to sewing knitting Crochet or whatever it's easy to work out.

[@hollyjobitner3285]

I’m very relieved to hear that you forget when setting things up every time. I do s well. There are too many steps and projects on my mind. 🧶💙