Beginner's guide to reading charts

Scared of charts? Find them confusing? Worry no more - learn how to read charts like a pro!

When I first started knitting, I wasn't a fan of charts. But that was only because I didn't know how to read one! It seemed too hard and too much to handle. But now, if a pattern doesn't have a chart, I groan and whine and I might not even knit it. I find them easier to follow anyways, since it follows your knitting exactly. With written instructions only, it can be hard to keep track of where you are in the pattern. We will go over a chart step for step later in the blog post, after the basics have been explained.

THE BASICS

Let's lay out the basics of how to read a chart. First you'll notice that there are two main boxes that contain information. One is the chart you follow for the pattern, which holds the symbols to create the stitch pattern, and the other box is the key, that shows what each symbol on the chart means. In the main chart, you can see its made up of tiny squares with symbols. Each of those squares represents one stitch.

UNDERSTANDING THE SYMBOLS

The chart key tells you what every symbol and mark in the chart stands for. If any stitches need instructions, those directions will be given somewhere else in the pattern, usually under 'Special Techniques' in the pattern.

There are four kinds of stitches in this chart that make a lace pattern. The chart key on the right hand side tells you what each symbol means, or what each stitch is. For this chart, it's really quite simple. It uses knit stitches, two kinds of common decreases, and a yarn over. We will go over this chart and break it down later in the post.

NOT ALL SYMBOLS ARE CREATED EQUAL

It is worth noting that symbols are not the same for pattern. Generally, they are similar though. In the chart above, the stitches used almost always use the symbols shown from pattern to pattern. But you should always pay attention at look at the key in every pattern to make sure you are making the correct stitch. Especially with charts in different languages, the symbols used almost are never the same such as in a Russian chart versus English chart.

KNITTING FLAT VS IN THE ROUND

You can tell how a chart is meant to be worked by looking at the numbers. For 90% of knitting charts out there, you start in the lower right corner, where you see number 1 in the stitches and in the rows. I would say that charts that are knit flat are harder to follow than charts that are knit in the round. I'll explain why later.

The chart shown below is knit flat, and we know this because the rows are labeled every other row, with odd numbers being on the one side and even numbers on the other side. So you would follow Row 1 starting from the right side of the chart and work from right to left, then turn your work, and follow Row 2 starting from the left side of the chart and work from left to right.

The chart shown below is knit in the round, and we can tell because the rows are labeled every row, with odd and even numbers on each side of the chart. You would follow Round 1 starting from the right side of the chart to beginning of round, then you would follow Round 2, also starting from the right side of the chart.

Now I'll confuse you a little. Charts that are shown to be knit in the round, can also be used to knit flat. Just because the rows are labeled every row on the side of the chart, doesn't mean it is strictly knit in the round. I used this chart in one of my patterns. At the start of the pattern, the chart is worked flat. The garment is later joined in the round, and so the chart would then also be worked in the round.

FOLLOWING THE CHART

Let's start with the easier version, one that is knit in the round.

You always start where you see stitch 1 and round 1, usually in the lower right corner. For the chart below, let's start with round 1, which when written out goes like this:

Knit 3, knit 2 together, knit 2, yarn over, knit 1, yarn over, knit 2, slip slip knit, knit 6.

Starting at stitch one, we can see it is a blank square. According the key on the right, blank squares mean it is a knit stitch. So we can say that stitches 1, 2, and 3 to be knit stitches. The next stitch is a decrease, knit two together. The next two squares are blank, so we knit them. Stitch seven is an increase stitch, so we yarn over. Next stitch we knit, then we yarn over, then we knit two more stitches. We have now finished with stitch 11 in the chart, and we have 11 stitches on our right needle. Next stitch is another decrease, slip slip knit. Then the remaining 6 squares are blank, so we knit them.

You will follow row 1 until all the stitches in that row have been completed. Now you might say, well the chart shows the pattern for 18 stitches, but I have 54 stitches on my needles! Each row is repeated until the pattern tells you to stop. So for this example, we would repeat the 18 stitches of round 1 a total of 3 times to reach our next beginning the round. Once round 1 has been completed in your knitting to beginning of round, then you will start on Round 2, and repeat that across your knitting to beginning of round. Repeat this cycle until all rows of your knitting have been completed.

Since we are working in the round, we will start working round two, following the chart from right to left again, starting with stitch one and round 2. You will see that stitches 1 through 18 are all blank - meaning we simply knit across this round until we reach beginning of round.

Once all rows of your chart have been worked, take a look at your pattern. You may either be done, or you may have to repeat the chart again, starting once more at stitch 1 & row 1, and repeating the entire chart over and over until your pattern tells you to stop.

TYPES OF CHARTS

There are two main kinds of charts - colorwork and symbol. Colorwork charts are charts that use only colors to show the pattern. Symbol charts use symbols to show the pattern. Pretty self explanatory. See the examples below of the two styles.

For colorwork charts, the steps are the same. Start at stitch 1 and round 1, repeating the round until the pattern tells you to stop. For round 4 of this colorwork chart, the instructions would look like this: knit 3 in main color, knit 5 in accent color, knit 3 in main color.

For colorwork charts, they are almost always knit in stockinette stitch and in the round, so you don't need to worry about different kinds of stitch patterns, you only focus on the colors.

CHARTS WITH REPEATS

At some point you will come across a chart that has a red box or borders around a certain set of stitches in the chart. This means, that you will repeat that little section until the pattern tells you to stop. Let's take a look at this example and break it down.

Starting with stitch 1 & round 1 and working right to left, we will follow the chart until we reach the red box outline.

Purl, knit, purl

Now we have reached the red outline. This means we will repeat the next seven stitches until we can't repeat it any more.

Knit, yarn over, knit, central double decrease, knit, yarn over, knit.

We will repeat those seven stitches over and over until we can't repeat it anymore. We will know when the repeat is finished, then there are three stitches left in the round. With those final three stitches, we will continue on with the chart outside the red outline.

Purl, knit purl

CHARTS WITH ONLY ODD/EVEN NUMBERS

You may also come across charts that skip row numbers, showing only odd or even numbers on the sides, like in the example below you can see the rows go 1, 3, 5.

This occurs most often in charts that are knit flat, where on the wrong side of the work you just purl across. So in this example, the right side starts with row 1. You follow row 1 to the end of the row, then turn your work. Row 2, you purl across to the end of the row. This is especially helpful when charts have a lot of rows and you want to save space. This can also happen with charts knit in the round. You would follow the same logic, working round 1 until you reach the end of round, then round 2 you knit across to end of round, and so on.

KEEPING ON TRACK

Especially with large charts, it can be hard to keep track of what row you are on when you are taking a few glances at it while knitting. There are a few ways to help quickly find where you are in the chart. You can use something straight like a sticky note, a ruler, or a magnet and move it according to which row you are on. You can also use apps like stitch fiddle, but only if you create your own charts as you can't import another chart into this program.

STILL GOT QUESTIONS?

If you still need help or have any questions on a chart, you can always reach out to me and ask! I would be more than happy to help you.

WHEN CHARTS GET CRAZY

These charts may look scary, but I assure you that only one of them is. Ha! Brioche charts are definitely something else, even I get confused with those ones. But take a look at these examples that you may come across in the future. They are easier than they appear to be!

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