I am Yumiko Alexander, founder of DanDoh Designs.

I was born and raised in Japan.  I got married and moved to America in my late 20’s.  I have really enjoyed my time in the US and I am so happy I have been able to share my knitting and crochet designs through individual patterns and books.

I have enjoyed communicating with people and expressing myself through my design work, and I have met many wonderful friends through knitting and crochet.  Knitting and crochet have made my life in the U.S. very beautiful.  

I learned to knit and crochet at age 11 from a “how-to-knit” book. My technique improved and I began making clothing for myself, family and friends.

I am larger (5’5”) than the average Japanese woman and at that time, all Japanese patterns were written for one size only, so I had to modify the patterns to fit me. I was interested in different stitch patterns and began to incorporate them in the patterns. My design life began.

At age 22 I met a knitwear designer who offered to teach me the design process, and I studied with her for 2 years. I began selling some of my finished designs to Japanese shops, but because I did not have a degree in design, the shops were hesitant to sell them.

Five years later I moved to America. I was in a new country, learning a new language and a new culture, and gave birth to twin boys. My design career was put on hold.

However, I never forgot my dream and when my twins went to elementary school I convinced my husband to invest in my design business and DanDoh Designs was born.

I have designed hundreds of individual knit and crochet patterns and published eight books and expanded my business to include four different plant-based yarns, better suited for my designs.

My design style has evolved over the years incorporating more influence from my Japanese heritage, featuring simpler shapes with lots of texture and unique stitch patterns. The inspiration for my designs come from many facets of my life, but mostly I design things I would like to have in my closet.

Yumiko Alexander