Japanese vs. American Stitches

[diamond]

OK...I can completely understand Symbol Crochet. I'm not very good at it yet but I can understand it. Japanese books have some awesome patterns in them and I have several. I know that American stitches and British stitches are different as are American vs. Australian. I have all Jenny King's (Australian) books and make the adjustment accordingly. My question is.....are Japanese and American stitches the same or are the Japanese like British or Austalian? And when it comes to Symbol Crochet, are the symbols universal or are they different like UK, Australian & American patterns? In other words, if a UK symbol pattern calls for a DC, I would do an American SC. So if I were doing a Japanese symbol pattern and only using the symbol graph, when it calls for a DC, would I do a American DC or American SC? Do my questions make sense? I just want to get the patterns right.

For a comparison of stitches you can see them here: Stitch Conversion Chart (http://www.crochetnmore.com/123basics.htm#Stitch%20Conversion%20Chart)

[natalie058]

I'm not sure about a difference in Japanese vs. US stitches, but I do know that the symbols are universal. The symbols are what they are to represent the stitch, if that makes any sense. That's why *our* dc has the slash across it - the represent the 2 yos.

So, when you see the symbol that is the US sc, you'd make the British dc. Not sure what the Japanese would call that stitch, but the symbol still wants you to do the same thing. :hook

[diamond]

As long as the symbols are universal, I can work with it. Thanx for the info.