Design your own knitting chart – from idea to colourwork chart

Knitting from someone else’s pattern is fun, but knitting your own is something else entirely. It could be a pair of mittens with your children’s initials, a hat with your favourite animal or a Christmas sweater that nobody else has. All you need is a grid and a little knowledge of what works in knitting. Here we go through the process, from idea to finished chart.

What you need

Traditionally, knitting charts are drawn on graph paper with coloured pencils. That works perfectly well, but it is time-consuming to erase and redraw, and the squares on ordinary graph paper are square – which doesn’t match the shape of stitches.

A digital tool makes it easier to experiment: you can copy a repeat across the whole round, change colours in an instant and see how it will look knitted. In KnitGrid’s pattern editor you draw directly in your browser or in the app and see a knitted preview as you draw. You can also start from one of the templates and change it.

Whatever tool you use, the design follows the same steps.

Step 1: Decide on the garment and the stitch count

Before you draw a single square, you need to know how many stitches the pattern will be spread over. That is determined by:

• The garment’s measurements. For example the head circumference for a hat or the hand circumference for a mitten.
• Your gauge in colourwork – how many stitches you get over 10 cm.

Example: You get 28 stitches per 10 cm and the hat should measure 50 cm around. 50 × 2.8 = 140 stitches. You can read how to calculate gauge and choose the fit in how to calculate knitting gauge.

Step 2: Choose the width of the repeat

A repeat is the section of the pattern that is repeated around the round. The stitch count should be a multiple of the repeat.

With 140 stitches, repeats of 4, 5, 7, 10, 14, 20, 28, 35 or 70 stitches work. If you want a motif that is 16 stitches wide, you will need to adjust the stitch count to 144 (9 repeats) – and check that the hat still gets the right measurements.

Tip: It is often easier to choose the stitch count to suit the repeat than the other way round. Garment measurements usually have a few centimetres of leeway.

Small repeats (4–8 stitches) are easy to knit and remember. Large repeats (20+ stitches) leave room for detailed motifs such as Reindeer but require more concentration.

Step 3: Draw the motif

Start with the main motif. A few basic rules for motifs that work in colourwork:

Think in stitches, not lines

Each square is one stitch and can only have one colour. Diagonals become steps and curves become jagged. That is part of the charm – but it means that very small details disappear. A face of 5 × 5 stitches is rarely recognisable; a heart of 7 × 6 stitches works perfectly.

Symmetry makes it easier

Mirrored motifs are both more beautiful and easier to knit, because you can “read” the pattern in your knitting. Many classic Nordic motifs are symmetrical around a centre stitch – see, for example, Selbu Star and Diamonds. To have a centre stitch, the motif needs an odd number of stitches.

Break it up with narrow borders

A design usually benefits from one main motif and one or two narrow borders a few rounds high above and below. Zigzags, dots and small checks work well. See Waves and Classic Fair Isle for inspiration.

Step 4: Check the floats

This is the step that separates a pattern that is pleasant to knit from one that is frustrating.

Go through each round and look for stretches where the same colour continues for a long time. That is where long strands form at the back. A common rule of thumb is to keep them to no more than about five to seven stitches, or around 2.5 cm.

If you have longer stretches, you can:

• Add a single dot in the other colour in the middle of the stretch. That is exactly what Norwegian lusekofte sweaters do with their “lice” (small scattered dots).
• Change the motif slightly, for example by making a long straight edge more stepped.
• Accept it and plan to catch the strand as you knit – but that makes the pattern harder to knit.

There is more on floats and tension in colourwork knitting for beginners.

Step 5: Choose colours with contrast

The pattern only shows if the colours differ in lightness, not just in hue. A simple test is to photograph the yarn in black and white or look at your chart in greyscale. Two colours that turn into roughly the same grey will blur together in the knitting.

For a classic Nordic look: two colours with strong contrast. For a Fair Isle look: change colours between borders and use several closely related shades. Read more in Fair Isle and Nordic patterns.

Step 6: Allow for the shape of the stitches

A knitted stitch is wider than it is tall. With 24 stitches and 30 rows over 10 cm, each stitch is about 4.2 mm wide and 3.3 mm tall. This means that a motif drawn on square boxes comes out shorter and wider in the knitting.

For geometric patterns it often matters less. For figures such as animals and letters, the difference can be obvious. The solution is to draw the motif slightly taller than you want it to look, or to use a tool that shows the preview in the right proportions. In KnitGrid’s editor you see how the chart turns out as real stitches, so you notice straight away if your reindeer’s legs have become too short.

Step 7: Knit a swatch

Before you start on a whole garment, knit a small swatch or a tube with one or two repeats of the pattern. It shows you:

• whether the colours have enough contrast,
• whether the floats are manageable,
• whether the motif looks the way you imagined,
• and what gauge you get in colourwork.

Adjust the chart based on the swatch. It is normal to make a few versions.

Step 8: Save and share

When you are happy with it, save the pattern so that you have the chart to hand while you knit. In KnitGrid you can save patterns to your account and share them in the community if you like. It is also a good way to get ideas – see how others have used the same template in different ways.

Ideas to start with

• Initials on mittens – letters drawn in a box on the back of the hand.
• A repeating heart around a hat – see Hearts.
• Your own Christmas sweater with reindeer or Christmas trees – more ideas in the guide to Christmas knitting patterns.
• Your pet – cats and dogs work well as silhouettes.

If you are unsure how to follow your chart afterwards, read how to read a knitting chart. And when you are ready: create your own pattern.

Frequently asked questions

Can you design knitting charts for free?

Yes. Graph paper and coloured pencils always work. There are also digital tools; in KnitGrid you can draw patterns in your browser and see a knitted preview.

How big should a knitting chart be?

As wide as one repeat and as tall as the motif. The chart itself only needs to show what is repeated; you work out the stitch count for the garment separately so that it is a multiple of the repeat.

Why does my motif look squashed when I knit it?

Stitches are wider than they are tall, while the chart’s squares are square. Draw figurative motifs a little taller, or use a preview with realistic proportions.

How many colours can you use?

As many as you like in the garment as a whole, but it is easiest to knit with no more than two colours per round.

Can I use the same chart for crochet?

Partly. Grid charts are also used in, for example, tapestry crochet, but crocheted stitches have different proportions from knitted ones and the technique differs, so expect to make a swatch and adjust.