We bought the booklet shown on the JSA website: JIS L 0201: 1995 Letter Symbols for Knitting Stitch because we had a pattern that we wanted to make. Unfortunately the pattern used some unusual notation that we couldn’t figure out and we thought this booklet would help.
First, this is a 28 page pdf. You download it after paying your money. The file has your name on it to discourage illegal copying or at least identify the original owner of any “stolen” files.
The document was written to help you understand the standard definitions for knitting and crochet stitches used in manufacturing knitted sweaters in knitting factories. If you want to have an overseas factory knit some sweaters for you and you want to use standard terms and symbols to indicate the pattern, this document is a must. This was not intended for consumers who enjoy hand or home machine knitting.
We geese don’t recommend this for the general knitter for the following reasons:
Japanese knitting patterns written for hobby knitters use more symbols than are shown in the JIS standards. Unless you have prior experience with Japanese knitting symbols, you’ll need more than just this booklet to read a pattern.
The stitch explanations in this booklet are diagrammed from a machine knitting perspective. You see the stitch positions on the bed of the knitting needles. That’s different from hand knitting.
This booklet is very expensive compared to our recommended Clear and Simple Knitting Symbols or its companion Clear and Simple Crochet Symbols. Both of these books assumes that you’re doing the work by hand and show you CLEAR diagrams showing each needle/yarn motion.
Please please…save your money!!! Though, we will admit that the document solved our mystery, it’s unlikely to be of much benefit to 95% of the hand knitters who consider buying it.