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Having fun learning to decipher Japanese amigurumi patterns!

Having fun learning to decipher Japanese amigurumi patterns!

How to read Japanese patterns like a pro in 90min

Our lovely ladies from Tiny Rabbit Hole are finally certified! They have completed “How to read Japanese patterns like a pro in 90min“! Woohoo! It was meant to be 90min, but yeah, we like to bitch and crochet and we took half a day instead hahaha! Look at all their tired and smiley faces. They’re still not pretty much done yet, because the next step is to do homework to prove that they fully understood. Better be strict with them =D

Tiny Rabbit Hole Japanese Pattern Reading Workshop Amigurumi Crochet Singapore
L-R: Vivien, Juliet, Karen, Angie, Eve, Lily, Lydia

Why we decided to teach Japanese?

We have been running this workshop for almost 6 months already! We received many requests from students, customers and friends who wants to make their favourite disney characters and other cute animals from the Japanese books. However when they opened up the book, they told me that their heads felt heavy and put the book back.

Tiny Rabbit Hole Amigurumi Japanese Pattern Disney Amazon Hachette Workshop Singapore Tsum Tsum Mickey Mouse Minnie Piglet Daisy Duck Pluto Winnie the Pooh Donald Olaf
Image credit: Amazon. Some books that my students want to master reading on.

But the characters in the Japanese books are simply irresistible! So I decided to brave myself to teach a language that I’m very bad in, breaking wall of texts and diagrams down to something understandable and readable.

Our secret manual

Although my Japanese has become rusty since I learned it almost 10 years ago with 0 practice (other than my regular anime bingeging), I’m very confident to tell you that you don’t require any Japanese knowledge to learn how to read the Japanese pattern.

Not convinced?

Nikki from @ohdangcrochet, who came from the States stumbled into our humble rabbit hole one day for holiday and shared with me her desire to read the Japanese pattern book she bought ages ago but she couldn’t decipher it. She was reluctant to give it all up since she had already invested in buying the book. Upon hearing her concerns, I decided to offer her an impromptu crash course the next day since she’s only here for a few days. I really hope that she could pick up the book once again and tell herself this is an easy feat!

Tiny Rabbit Hole Japanese Pattern Reading Workshop Amigurumi Crochet Singapore
L-R: Angie, Yuni Chan, Merleon, Nikki, Otah, Shahidah, Currypuff

And tada! Nikki completed it with no qualms at all! Although Nikki cheated a little. She has learned Chinese before so she could actually recognise some of the kanji characters in my secret manual! Nevertheless, a non-Chinese or non-Japanese reader is not a problem at all =D

Having some real Singaporean snack with Eliz being our food guide! – Tutu Kueh

Experiencing the magical burrow

Nikki shared about her experience with us!

 

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I’m back home, but I’m still thinking about a really awesome part of my time while in Singapore, which was visiting @tinyrabbithole’s adorable shop! ๐ŸŒŸ๐Ÿฐ On my second visit I took a one-on-one class to learn how to read Japanese crochet patterns with Angie, the great mind behind Tiny Rabbit Hole. ๐ŸŽ€ She was able to break down the approach to reading these patterns in a super clear manner and I now feel confident to actually pull the Japanese pattern books I have off the shelf and get them a try! ๐Ÿต After the class, I got to hang out with Angie and Shahidah to discuss lots of local Singaporean treats, many of which they had crocheted such as the tutu kuehs and otah. After snagging some cute pictures together (which included me holding the Merlion Angie designed and crocheted…I love how much Angie celebrates Singapore’s culture with her designs!!), Angie and Elizabeth took me out for an impromptu tasting field trip to try several local dishes. It was absolutely the best afternoon. ๐Ÿฅฐ I am so grateful to people like Angie, Shahidah, and Elizabeth for being so welcoming and also just wonderful, hilarious people. I hope our paths cross again some day soon! ๐Ÿ’•๐Ÿ’•๐Ÿ’•

A post shared by Nikki (@ohdangcrochet) on

It’s super awesome to meet up with Nikki and talk about crochet and our countries and stuff! It’s definitely an interesting experience to meet crochet lovers from other parts of the world in real life! Do check out her cute little crafts popping all over her instagram. Her post below has totally tickled me =DD

Sneak Peek

Tiny Rabbit Hole Japanese Pattern Reading Workshop Amigurumi Crochet Singapore
Karen is helping Eve to do her Chinese homework.

Look at them, so stressed. This is the last page of the manual, just for those curious cats out there who wants to take a peek. I’ve included how to read Chinese symbols and understanding Chinese crochet terms too as many Japanese books have been translated to Chinese. Is it time to brush up your mother tongue?

We have learned a little bit more about Juliet

tiny rabbit hole - crochet workshops amigurumi singapore unicorn rainbow handicraft crafts handmade

Juliet gives us surprises time to time. From our occasional Thursday #TRHExperiments meetup with these ladies, we learn a little more about everyone. We just found out that Juliet majored in Japanese Studies during her uni days for 4 years and she is super good with her Japanese! Although she said that she is rusty now, her level is too high to be compared with. Read up about Juliet, our student turned crochet trainer here!

Join us for a Japanese pattern reading crash course

Hope you enjoyed this little sharing! If you’re interested in our workshop, you may find out more here!

We also hope to meet more crochet lovers from all over the world if you came to visit Singapore, or let us know that you want to meet with us by dropping a comment below ๐Ÿ™‚

Mata ne~

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