Knit Kimono

by Vicki Square

From casual to formal, the kimono shape has endured for centuries as an internationally recognized icon of Japanese life and culture. With 18 original designs, each a knitted interpretation of a traditional kimono style, this handbook makes knitting homemade kimonos deceptively easy. Projects are based on rectangular forms that require very little shaping, and are ideal first-garment projects for knitters wanting to venture beyond scarves. Clever details in stitch patterns and edgings, such as the use of silk, linen, and bamboo yarns, add sophistication and elegance to even the simplest designs. The flattering drape and luxurious style of the kimono will appeal to veteran and beginning knitters alike.

Genres: Knitting, Crafts, Nonfiction, History, Fashion, Reference

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2007

Reviews

[Judi Easley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughts: The pieces are gorgeous, but looking through the instructions from strictly a beginners POV, I think there's a bit of a learning curve here. I may change my mind after trying some of them, but after just a read through, I don't see these as easy enough for beginners who've only made a scarf as the book keeps saying. I enjoyed the history part of it and would love to see that done as video with lots of pictures to illustrate what it was saying. It was fascinating about the history of the kimono.

[VJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

While there are many patterns that I want to make in this book, it is the history of kimono and how they were worn in the past and present that makes this book one for my reference shelves.

There are detailed instructions for constructing kimono, with beautiful color pictures of each design. There is a design template with basic measurements that allows the reader to custom design kimono that is worth the price of the book alone.

[Lee Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knit Kimono - Vicki Square

18 Simple Designs with simple shapes. “If you’ve only knitted scarves, you can knit a Kimono. Think of it as a few straight scarves sewn together.”
…We shall see. I’ve knitted many scarves, blankets and I’ve even started a Poncho which I need to get back to.

This book is very informative and I really enjoyed reading about the history of the Kimono. 👘 I also like the fact it has the optional instructions to design your own Kimono. Very useful 👍🏻

1. Katsuri Sodenashi - I really like the look of this pattern, it would help me with my colour work. It’s simple and stylish.
2. Dogi - The colour choice in this pattern is really nice, I think I’d have to make it slightly longer though as I prefer longer draping clothes these days.
3. Indigo Noragi - Not sure I really like the style of this one as a Kimono. I have a few patterns similar to this for a blanket/sweater. Love the colour though!
4. Waves - Now that is a beautiful design and looks great! The purple and white work together really well.
5. Reeds & Grasses - I love the shape!
6. Noragi - what a beautiful design, looks basic but comfortable.
7. Suikan - I really like the overall body shape, but I’m not so sure about the cuffs, although I’d wear it and not tighten the strings. I appreciate the style and the shape it’s very pretty.
8. Iki - love how the contrasting colours set each other off! I like the large sleeves, but I would get them caught on something and be cursing like a mofo if I ruined it after all that hard work and dedication to the project.
9. Dofuku - Not my style but again I appreciate the work of the designer.
10. Komon - My absolute favourite piece in this book! 😍 I have a newfound love for the colour red and this design is perfect in Berroco Glacé! 👌🏻 if I could make this it would be amazing, I’ve saved the pattern to my ever growing queue and intend to give it a go sometime. Although this yarn is discontinued, damn! I found a sub! 😉
11. Medallions & Scrolls - Beautiful and a lot of fun
12. Haori with crests - love the bamboo pattern and the colour combo too
13. Fantastic Kimono - 🪭 I have always loved Chinese & Japanese fan artwork and this Kimono is stunning!
14. Bold Chevron - this one is too busy looking for me although pretty funky to look at. It has 70’s vibes.
15. Water & Sky - kind of like a waterfall cardigan this looks super cute.
16. Taiko Happi - originated as a Japanese overcoat, this one looks too boxy for me but I do like the herringbone pattern.
17. Kabuki Theatre Squares - I like the shape but not the chequered squares, again too busy for my taste. If I made one I’d tone it down a bit or pick one of the bright colours and make it in larger blocks
18. Samurai Jinbaori - love the contrast of colours! The white and pink pop against the black!

Overall a great book to read even if only for inspiration. Great illustrations, the Kimonos look amazing hung up and displayed in true form and also separate photos of each piece being worn by the models to show different angles of each garment. 👘🇨🇳⭐️🪭❣️🇯🇵

[Ligaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was reading this book solely for the knit patterns and I came away not wowed. I thought there would be more inspiration taken from a kimono shape but, no, most of the garments are knitted takes of various articles of Japanese historical clothing. The next thing I realized is that there is A LOT of boring knitting going on for the long garments. Miles and miles of stockinette. I'm sure there are many out there who would love these garments.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would never have thought of knitting a kimono and I don't think I will try any of the full length projects but there is a vest, a dogi, which has a really neat "button" stitch that I have tried and am determined to use in this multicoloured project. There is historical background and good instructions for the projects as well as sources for the yarn.. An excellent read and inspiration.

[Julie Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful knitted garments presented with an equally riveting historical reference. I could cheerfully knit most of them and probably will.

[Susan Eubank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even I could do these and figure how to adapt them to my dreams.

[Cameron Toney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this, but I thought the patterns in Knit Kimono Two were more interesting.

[Lauragais · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book of very high standard: print, color and paper quality are excellent and harmonious. The photographs of the 18 Kimono designs are artful, focussed, explicatory and descriptive, showing each model at least once in full size from the back and front, flat and on the body to see the fall of the panels, plus smaller detailed views of more intricate points such as the stitch pattern itself, or details on closures, collars, cuffs.

The book is well-structured in Introduction, Kimono Basics, Design Your Own Kimono, Glossary, Resources, Bibliography and Index. Advice on adapting the designs and patterns / yarns to your own liking is also provided and is easy to follow. The drawings of the patterns are clear and easy to understand and enlarge, sizes given in inch and cm.

Although all designs are based on simple shapes, some require more knitting expertise such as for Intarsia or Fair Isle motifs. For all designs good skills, i.e. uniformity and evenness when knitting stockinette patterns are a definite plus.

The simplicity of the Kimono design makes for an eye-catching stunning result that will not be subject to the rapid changes in fashion. The author is Vicki Square. Her books are always of high quality - but the "Knit Kimono" will set the singular standard for books on modular patterns. It is worth buying even just to enjoy reading it and looking at the pictures, a collector's item in the making.
(My review, first published on Amazon)

[Abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

BOTTOM LINE: Very good pattern book for those of us who enjoy Japanese-style clothing. Simple construction, the use of easily obtained yarns, and some really nice variations on the basic kimono pattern, make this a wonderful read, only enhanced by the history of and illustrations of "real" kimonos as well.

I've had this book out from the library several times, as I love the kimono shape/comfort and would like to make at least one for myself but am not likely to do so soon. Perhaps that's colored my enjoyment of the 4th or so reread of this, as I now find myself only liking several of the patterns somewhat, not adoring nearly all of them as I did upon first reading. Whatever. It's still a nicely written well-thought out medium-sized paperback craft book that could prove very useful, especially if you like to tinker with stitch patterns and lengths, working with the basic kimono shape. And the patterns are easy enough for the begining knitter too. Sizings are fairly generous, as these garments are meant to hang very loosely; suspect extrapolating for a bit more extra room wouldn't be too difficult, as the shapes are genrally squares or rectangles, and thus it would be fairly easy to add on enough stitches for a couple more inches here and there. Will probably get this one out from the library again, but not soon.

[Rochelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stares at the 3 inches of scarf (the basic-est of basic, entirely of knit stitch) that's taken me a month to knit so far...

Anyway! This was the only nonfiction book that showed up when searching "kimono" on my library's online catalogue. AKA I'm here moreso for the kimono than the knitting, so I'm probably not the target demographic. However, I was pleasantly surprised that the beginning of the book had a few pages dedicated to fashion history! It covers the junihito of the Heian era all the way to what we now think of as kimono during modern times, so I enjoyed reading that. I also thought it was a really interesting idea to view kimono through the lens of knitting.

This book was published in 2007, and you can definitely tell it's dated when flipping through the pages - I cringed at some of the photos that I will generously describe as "tacky". One of the projects suggests using a chopstick (?!?) as a closure, which is admittedly pretty cringe. It would've been better to just leave it open or add actual snaps or ties. Or I wonder if the author thought of making a knitted obi, but perhaps that would be too scarf-like and wouldn't tie in the same way an actual obi would. As of now, I don't think I'll try any of the projects as they're currently inaccessible to me as a perpetual, 15+ year knitting beginner.

From me to this 2007 book: Thnks fr th Mmrs!

[Margot · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fun combination of knitting patterns and brief history of the kimono. Vicki Square includes a short overview of the major political periods of Japanese history and corresponding styles and fashion. The book has a surprising variety of patterns, considering the theme of kimono. Some patterns I'm excited about, some not so much, and Square also shows you how to create your own kimono pattern. In the text, she mentions several times the necessity of wearing kimono left side over right for people who are living (the opposite, right over left, is reserved only for the dead), but apparently the editor and photographers didn't read the book. Several of the photos have the pieces oriented the wrong way, most noticeably the front cover. If you're interested in finding out more of the details of wearing kimono, I recommend The Book of Kimono by Norio Yamanaka.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were gorgeous designs. I loved the flowing sleeves and tapered sides. The photographs were fantastic and featured the knitted item from several different angles so you could really get a feel for exactly what the sweater looked like. There were several designs that I liked, but none that I loved so much I wanted to knit. I would definitely recommend this book though, especially if you just wanted to see some beautiful knitted wear.

*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2010...

[Tonileg · Rating 2 out of 5]

18 patterns with a kimono Japanese-y style.
I doubt that I'll make any of these patterns for myself because it looks literally what my grandmother wears around the house and when we take her out to dinner whenever I'm in town. But the Fan Kimono pattern 'hitoe' style is cute and I could see wandering around after my ofuro around the house in this robe style jacket.
126 pages and bought used
2 stars

[Carol W · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book with patterns for various kimono style sweaters. Even though I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a pattern for a kimono-style dress I hope one day to try making one of the sweaters. I did enjoy the bits of history about the different kimono styles.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has a very good overview of the cultural background of kimonos. Each design includes a description of the traditional kimono it is based on and what/why was changed. It's not really "necessary" to be culturally sensitive when wearing another culture's garb, but I sure appreciate it.

[Aquit · Rating 1 out of 5]

You probably have to be really, really, really advance to try out these patterns. I just started flipping through the pages w/o even reading the patterns since it just turn blurry after awhile. Pretty kimonos, worth a try? Not really.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very beautiful book with varied patterns using simple shapes of knitted fabric combined into traditional kimono-style garments. I'm in the process of knitting one of the patterns and will update the review after I finish.

[Heywu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nice but difficult patterns to knit kimonos.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has some beautiful, Japanese-inspired knitting projects -- a couple of which aren't too terribly complex.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I'd like this more if I really knew how to knit, but the photos are kind of cute and I like the little bit of history it tells about what inspired each piece.

[Martha · Rating 2 out of 5]

very complex stitches to replicate weave

[Lee F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will do the cover kimono...will do the cover kimono. How beautiful!

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked these but honesty, I wouldn't wear any.