Triple Diamond Link (Sanjū Hishi Tsunagi)
Meaning
Hishi means diamond. The shape is often linked to the water caltrop, a fast-spreading aquatic plant whose leaf gave diamond motifs a reading of prosperity and vitality. The same diamond shape appears in hishimochi, the rice cake served at Hinamatsuri as a wish for children's healthy growth.
Sanjū means threefold or triple-layered. Here it names the construction: one diamond nested inside the next, linked into a checkerboard lattice.
History
Hishi is an old pattern family, named among the yūsoku monyō codified for Heian-period court costume and carried forward through Edo-period kimono, obi, and crest use.
Sanjū Hishi Tsunagi is the diamond lattice itself: threefold-nested and tied corner to corner. That is what separates it from Hishi Shippō, which layers diamonds onto the shippō grid, and Hishi Seigaiha, which turns wave arcs into diamonds.
The chart lineage traces to Susan Briscoe's *Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook*, and the name also appears with other sashiko retailers.
Stitching notes
Sanjū Hishi Tsunagi sets a diamond at the center of every open space in a checkerboard lattice. Each diamond’s corners land on its neighbors, so the shapes link edge to edge instead of sitting separately.
Inside each diamond is a smaller nested diamond. Four short arms reach from its corners back into the surrounding lattice, making an eight-way junction wherever the pattern meets itself.
Stitch order runs largest to smallest: the long diagonal lines that form the outer lattice first, then each diamond and its connecting arms worked in turn. The running stitch carries cleanly along the diagonals.
The repeat is simple to read once the first few diamonds are in place. The lattice does most of the visual work.
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