This is a stitch chart to enable you to make a Baku cushion. It comes packed in a glasine envelope, with a risograph print of my idea of what a Baku might look like and a label that reads 'Designed by Emma Carlow. Handmade by me'. All you need is your choice of fabric, some knitting wool, a needle, scissors and a little time. You can also just buy just the stitch chart as a PDF here.
 
A Baku is a curious yokai, or Japanese monster, a chimera that originated in China, consisting of the trunk and tusks of an elephant, a lion’s body, the belly of a reptile, a rhinoceros’s eyes, with tiger’s paws and the tail of a yak. The reason I’m interested in it is it’s power to devour nightmares, particularly those of children. In Japan's Edo period they believed that if you slept with the image of a Baku close by it would guard against bad dreams and nightmares. A Baku shaped cushion is a useful souvenir that I have designed to remind me of my residency in Japan. This is the perfect present to make for a baby or child you might know.