How to read a knitting chart: a step-by-step guide

A knitting chart looks complicated the first time you see one, but once you understand the logic, it is often quicker to follow than written instructions. The chart is a picture of the finished knitted pattern, square by square. This guide covers everything you need to follow a colourwork chart – and the most common pitfalls.

The basics: one square is one stitch

A knitting chart is a grid:

• Each square represents one stitch.
• Each horizontal row of squares represents one round (or one row, if you are knitting flat).
• The chart normally shows the work as seen from the right side, that is, the way it will look when it is finished.

In a colourwork chart, the squares are filled with colours or symbols that stand for different yarn colours. In a texture or lace chart, the symbols instead stand for different kinds of stitches, such as knit, purl, yarn overs or decreases. What each symbol means is always given in the pattern’s key (or legend). Symbols are not fully standardised between designers and yarn companies, so read the key even if you have knitted plenty of charts before.

Reading direction

This is the most important thing to understand, and it depends on how you knit.

From bottom to top

Knitting grows from the bottom up, so the chart is also read from bottom to top. Round 1 is the bottom row. The round numbers are often shown along the edge of the chart.

Knitting in the round: always right to left

When you knit in the round, on a circular needle or double-pointed needles, the right side faces you the whole time. That is why you read every round from right to left. When you reach the left edge of the chart, you start again on the same row from the right (if the pattern repeats), and when the round is finished you move up one row in the chart.

This is one of the reasons why most colourwork garments, such as hats, mittens, socks and yokes, are knitted in the round.

Knitting flat: alternate directions

When you knit flat, you turn the work after every row:

• Right-side rows are read from right to left.
• Wrong-side rows are read from left to right.

Row 1 is usually a right-side row, but check the pattern – sometimes you start with a wrong-side row. Also remember that the chart shows the right side. If a symbol means “knit as seen from the right side”, you purl it on a wrong-side row, because it has to appear as a knit stitch on the front. Good keys spell this out (“knit on RS, purl on WS”).

Repeats: the part that is repeated

Most patterns are built from a repeat, a section that is repeated all the way around the round. In the chart, the repeat is often marked with a thicker frame, a coloured line or the word “repeat”. Sometimes the chart shows only a single repeat.

Two things to keep an eye on:

1. The stitch count must be a multiple of the repeat. If the repeat is 8 stitches wide and you have 120 stitches on the needle, you get 15 repeats around. With 124 stitches it does not divide evenly and the pattern shifts at the beginning of the round. Read more about working out stitch counts in the guide on calculating gauge.
2. The repeat can have a height too. A pattern such as Diamonds or Waves repeats both across and upwards. When you have knitted the top row of the chart, you start again from row 1.

Sometimes there are stitches outside the repeat, for example an edge stitch or a centre stitch that makes the pattern symmetrical. These are knitted only once per round or row.

Sizes and starting points

In garment patterns with several sizes, the chart sometimes marks where to start and stop depending on the size, with arrows or lines along the bottom edge. Read the pattern text carefully before you start – the starting point determines whether the motif ends up centred on the front.

Colourwork charts

In colourwork charts it is common that:

• an empty or white square means the background colour,
• a filled square or a particular symbol means the pattern colour,
• charts with more colours use one coloured square or symbol per colour.

Each square is still an ordinary knit stitch in stockinette – only the colour differs. You knit with the colours the round calls for and let the colour you are not using run loosely along the back. How to handle those strands is covered in the guide colourwork knitting for beginners.

A practical tip is to look for long stretches of the same colour before you start. If you see more than about five to seven squares in a row of the same colour, the strand at the back (the float) will be long, and it is wise to catch it. If you draw your own pattern, you can adjust such stretches in the chart itself.

Symbols you will often come across

Texture charts have some common symbols, but their appearance varies:

• Empty square – often knit on the right side.
• Dot or horizontal dash – often purl on the right side.
• Circle – often a yarn over.
• Slash to the right or left – often decreases that lean in that direction.
• Grey or crossed-out square – “no stitch”. It is used when the stitch count changes within the chart, so that the grid stays straight. Skip the square and move on to the next.

Once again: the key always takes precedence over everything else.

Practical tricks to keep your place

• Mark the row you are knitting. Place a ruler, a piece of paper or a magnetic strip above the row you are knitting. That way you can see the rows you have already knitted and compare them with your knitting.
• Use stitch markers between each repeat. If something goes wrong, you will notice within one repeat instead of a whole round later.
• Tick off rounds. Print the chart or use a digital version where you can mark finished rounds.
• Enlarge the chart. Small squares in a densely printed pattern are easy to misread. Enlarge it when you print.
• Read your knitting. After a few rounds you can see the pattern emerge. Check that the pattern colour sits above the right stitches from the previous round – it is the quickest way to find mistakes.

The chart is not always in the right proportions

A knitted stitch is usually wider than it is tall, but charts are mostly drawn with square boxes. This means a motif often comes out slightly shorter and wider in the knitting than it looks on paper. A reindeer or a heart that looks perfect in the chart can end up a little squashed. How much depends on your gauge – more rows per 10 cm relative to stitches gives less distortion.

This is one of the reasons why we show a knitted preview in KnitGrid. When you open a template, such as Reindeer or Classic Fair Isle, you see how the chart turns out in stitches, not just in squares.

From chart to your own pattern

Once you can read a knitting chart, it is not a big step to drawing your own. Start with a simple border with a 4–8 stitch repeat, knit a swatch and adjust. Our guide design your own knitting chart shows you how, and in the editor you can try it straight away.

Frequently asked questions

Do you read a knitting chart from right to left or left to right?

Right-side rounds and rows are read from right to left. When knitting in the round, that applies to every round. When knitting flat, the wrong-side rows are read from left to right.

Do you start at the bottom or the top of the chart?

At the bottom. Round 1 is the bottom row and you work your way up, just as the knitting grows.

What does the thick frame in the chart mean?

It usually marks the repeat, that is, the part that is repeated across the round. Check the pattern text or the key.

What do I do if the stitch count is not a multiple of the repeat?

Adjust the stitch count with a few increases or decreases on the round before the pattern, so that it becomes an even multiple of the repeat width. At the same time, check that the measurements still match your gauge.

Why does my motif look squashed compared with the chart?

Because stitches are usually wider than they are tall, while the chart’s squares are square. That is normal. If you want correct proportions, you can draw the motif slightly taller than you want it to look.