Here are 10 free Christmas knitting charts to knit from, all original and all printable as one PDF. Each chart is a single repeat with its stitch and round count, colors per round and longest float listed, so you can check it against your project before you cast on.
16-stitch repeat · 12 rounds · 2 colors per round · longest float 15 stitches
The classic Nordic reindeer in side view, for hat bands, sweater yokes and stockings. Repeated all the way around, the reindeer walk in a line; the antler and leg rounds have long gaps, so catch the cream yarn behind the red.
12-stitch repeat · 19 rounds · 2 colors per round · longest float 10 stitches
A centered tree for a hat, a cushion front or the chest of a sweater. The star, trunk and narrow top tier leave gaps, so catch the background yarn behind them.
10-stitch repeat · 10 rounds · 2 colors per round · longest float 8 stitches
A single star for the front of a hat, the chest of a sweater or a gift bag. The middle rows are solid, so catch the navy yarn behind them.
24-stitch repeat · 20 rounds · 2 colors per round · longest float 8 stitches
An allover yoke, a hat band or one large snowflake on a cushion. The snow dots between the arms are places to catch the red yarn on the open rounds.
16-stitch repeat · 10 rounds · 2 colors per round · longest float 14 stitches
Mitten backs, hat bands and the top of a stocking: three red berries above a pair of holly leaves. The berries sit above the leaves, so green and red never share a round; the berry rounds have long gaps, so catch the red yarn behind the cream.
8-stitch repeat · 8 rounds · 2 colors per round · longest float 4 stitches
Socks, hat brims and mitten cuffs. The diagonal repeat leans one way, so mirror the chart in the editor for a matching pair.
16-stitch repeat · 12 rounds · 2 colors per round · longest float 12 stitches
A present on a stocking, a gift bag or the front of a sweater: a red box split by a cream ribbon, with a gold bow on top. Bow and box never share a round, so each round uses only two colors.
16-stitch repeat · 19 rounds · 2 colors per round · longest float 10 stitches
A child's hat, a Christmas sweater or a cushion. The eyes, smile and buttons are knitted in the background color, so the gingerbread uses only one contrast color; catch the navy yarn behind the solid head and body.
16-stitch repeat · 19 rounds · 2 colors per round · longest float 12 stitches
Hat fronts, cushion covers and sweater chests. The red hat stays on its own rounds, so no round has more than two colors; catch the navy yarn behind the wide hat and body.
12-stitch repeat · 19 rounds · 2 colors per round · longest float 11 stitches
A stocking leg, a gift bag or a hat. The green cuff and red foot are separate, so each round uses two colors; catch the cream yarn behind the wide foot.
Each chart shows one repeat. Round 1 is at the bottom, stitch 1 on the right; the letters in the PDF’s written instructions name the colors, A being the main color. The charts are free to knit, change and use in your own projects and patterns.
In the round — the way these repeats are meant to be worked — every round is knitted from the right side, so read every row of the chart from right to left. Round 1 is at the bottom and stitch 1 is on the right. When you reach the left edge, start the repeat again at the right; the pattern runs on across that join, which is why the longest float is counted around the edge too. Put the start of the round at the back of a hat or under the arm of a sweater, where the one-round step is least noticeable.
Flat, right-side rows are read from right to left and knitted, wrong-side rows from left to right and purled, always using the color shown for each stitch. Keep both yarns on the wrong side on purl rows so the floats stay inside. Add a selvedge stitch at each edge if your pattern needs one. More on rows, repeats and colorwork is in how to read a knitting chart.
Every chart is drawn edge to edge as one repeat. An allover band simply repeats it around the round. For a single centered motif, look at the edge columns first: if they are background, work one repeat in the middle and knit the rest of the round in the main color. If the motif reaches the edge, open the chart in the editor and add background columns on both sides until the repeat is the width you want. Here, Holly and berries, Gift box and Snowman already have a background margin on both sides; Reindeer, Christmas tree, Star, Snowflake, Candy cane stripes, Gingerbread man and Christmas stocking reach the edge and need extra columns first.
On a sock or stocking, work the chart on the leg — before the heel on a top-down stocking, or after the cuff on a cuff-down sock. On a hat, an allover band sits above the brim and a single motif at the front; keep the crown decreases plain or work them after the chart so the motif is not cut. On a sweater, a narrow chart can run around a yoke or a hem, and a single motif can sit between the side seams. The cast-on table below tells you which repeats divide the stitch counts you are likely to cast on.
A chart only repeats evenly when its width divides the number of stitches in the round. The table checks every chart on this page against common cast-ons: a tick means it divides, and the number after it is how many times the repeat fits.
| Stitches | Typical use | Reindeer 16 sts | Christmas tree 12 sts | Star 10 sts | Snowflake 24 sts | Holly and berries 16 sts | Candy cane stripes 8 sts | Gift box 16 sts | Gingerbread man 16 sts | Snowman 16 sts | Christmas stocking 12 sts | Charts that fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 64 | Sock | ✓ ×4 | – | – | – | ✓ ×4 | ✓ ×8 | ✓ ×4 | ✓ ×4 | ✓ ×4 | – | 6/10 |
| 72 | Child hat | – | ✓ ×6 | – | ✓ ×3 | – | ✓ ×9 | – | – | – | ✓ ×6 | 4/10 |
| 80 | Teen hat | ✓ ×5 | – | ✓ ×8 | – | ✓ ×5 | ✓ ×10 | ✓ ×5 | ✓ ×5 | ✓ ×5 | – | 7/10 |
| 96 | Adult hat | ✓ ×6 | ✓ ×8 | – | ✓ ×4 | ✓ ×6 | ✓ ×12 | ✓ ×6 | ✓ ×6 | ✓ ×6 | ✓ ×8 | 9/10 |
| 104 | Adult hat | – | – | – | – | – | ✓ ×13 | – | – | – | – | 1/10 |
| 112 | Adult hat | ✓ ×7 | – | – | – | ✓ ×7 | ✓ ×14 | ✓ ×7 | ✓ ×7 | ✓ ×7 | – | 6/10 |
| 120 | Large hat or cowl | – | ✓ ×10 | ✓ ×12 | ✓ ×5 | – | ✓ ×15 | – | – | – | ✓ ×10 | 5/10 |
| 144 | Sweater hem | ✓ ×9 | ✓ ×12 | – | ✓ ×6 | ✓ ×9 | ✓ ×18 | ✓ ×9 | ✓ ×9 | ✓ ×9 | ✓ ×12 | 9/10 |
| 168 | Sweater body | – | ✓ ×14 | – | ✓ ×7 | – | ✓ ×21 | – | – | – | ✓ ×14 | 4/10 |
| 192 | Sweater body | ✓ ×12 | ✓ ×16 | – | ✓ ×8 | ✓ ×12 | ✓ ×24 | ✓ ×12 | ✓ ×12 | ✓ ×12 | ✓ ×16 | 9/10 |
| 200 | Sweater body | – | – | ✓ ×20 | – | – | ✓ ×25 | – | – | – | – | 2/10 |
| 240 | Every chart here | ✓ ×15 | ✓ ×20 | ✓ ×24 | ✓ ×10 | ✓ ×15 | ✓ ×30 | ✓ ×15 | ✓ ×15 | ✓ ×15 | ✓ ×20 | 10/10 |
The number after a tick is how many times the repeat fits around. 240 is the smallest count that every chart on this page divides evenly, so a round with 240 stitches can use all 10 of them. A dash is not a mistake: increase or decrease a few stitches evenly before the band, work it, and return to your stitch count afterwards.
The number beside each chart is the longest run of one color in any round, counted across the repeat join. That run is the strand the other color has to carry behind the work. Candy cane stripes stay at 5 stitches or fewer; every other chart has a longer float somewhere, and its use note says where to catch it. The longest in the set is 15 stitches, on the Reindeer chart.
Catch a long float by twisting the two yarns once halfway along: lay the carried yarn over the working yarn and knit the next stitch, so the two cross on the wrong side. Do not pull the catch tight — the fabric should stretch as far as the rest of the round. Turn the work inside out now and then to check that the floats are loose and even.
A float count is a maximum, not an average; many rounds will have much shorter carries. If you would rather not catch at all, choose a chart whose longest float suits you, or open it in the editor and add a single contrast stitch to break the longest run.
Every chart uses 2 colors in a round, even when the motif uses a third color in another round. That keeps the knitting simple and the back tidy: the third color waits until the next round. Across the set the palette is cream, red, green, gold and navy, so the charts sit together on one project.
What makes a motif stand out is the difference in lightness between the two colors in a round, not the hues. Photograph your yarns in black and white: if the motif and the background look like the same gray, the pattern will blur when knitted. Pair a light color with a dark one in each round, and save similar shades for separate rounds.
To change the colors, open a chart in the editor and replace the palette; the grid keeps the same stitch pattern and only the yarn colors change. If you are working from the PDF, use the letter key: A is the main color, B the next, and so on.
Every card has a button labelled Open this chart in the editor. The chart is copied into your browser’s chart list, where you can change the colors, set the width and height in stitches or rounds, choose flat or in the round, set your gauge, and download a PDF with the color key and written instructions. Nothing is uploaded; the charts are stored on your device.
To fit a different cast-on, change the number of repeats rather than redrawing the motif. For an allover band, add or remove whole repeats. For a single centered motif, add background columns on both sides. The PDF recalculates the finished size from the gauge you set, so check the gauge before you print.
Mirror ↔ makes a left and right pair for mittens or the two fronts of a cardigan; Flip ↕ turns a chart upside down for a border that mirrors itself. The free editor mirrors and flips whole charts. Selecting part of a chart to copy, flip and paste comes with Knitting Chart Pro.
To draw a chart from a picture instead, use photo to knitting chart; to sketch on paper first, print knitting graph paper at your gauge; for a name or a word, use knitting chart letters.
For snowflakes on their own, the free snowflake knitting charts go from a tiny one for duplicate stitch to a large one for a sweater front, each with its finished size and longest float.
The charts are free to knit, change and use in your own projects and patterns. There is no sign-up and no watermark on the PDF. The free editor opens every chart on this page; selecting part of a chart to copy, flip and paste comes with Knitting Chart Pro. For more colorwork bands, the free Fair Isle charts follow the same repeat-and-float rules.
Open a chart
Use the button on any card and the chart is copied into your browser’s chart list. Nothing is uploaded and there is no sign-up.
Change the colors
Swap the palette for the yarn you have. Keep one light and one dark color in each round so the motif stays clear at a distance.
Fit the repeat
Set the width to your stitch count and the height to the rounds you need, or add background columns to center a single motif. The cast-on table shows which repeats divide common counts.
Print or knit from the screen
Download a PDF with the color key and written instructions, or follow the chart on screen. The PDF uses the gauge you set in the editor.
On this page: 10 original charts, from 8-stitch repeats to a 24-stitch snowflake. Each one opens in the free editor, and the whole set is in one printable PDF. They are free to knit, change and use in your own projects.
These are charts, not full garment patterns: they give the colorwork motif, not the sock, hat or sweater shaping. Use them with a plain pattern you already like, or with the cast-on and placement notes above. Free full patterns are widely published by yarn companies and on Ravelry; check the gauge and yarn weight before you start.
A striped hat or pair of socks in the candy cane repeat, a cushion with one snowflake, a gift bag with the present, or mittens with the holly sprig. Small projects are a good way to try colorwork before a sweater; Candy cane stripes keeps every float to 5 stitches or fewer.
Download the PDF and print it at 100%. It is laid out for Letter paper; on A4, print it with “fit to page”. Each chart has its own page with the grid, color key and written instructions, and the contents list at the front gives the page number of each chart.
Yes. Pick one large motif for the chest or repeat a narrow band around the body, and use the other charts for the sleeves or a matching hat. The charts are original and free to change, so swap the colors for the loudest ones in your stash. Catch the long floats so the sweater still stretches.
Work the chart on the leg, before the heel on a top-down stocking or after the cuff on a cuff-down sock. A single motif can sit at the front of the leg; an allover repeat needs a stitch count that divides the chart width, which the cast-on table above checks. Leave the heel and foot plain or use the same colors in narrow stripes.
Open the chart maker, set the width and height, choose “in the round”, pick two colors and draw one stitch per square. The editor shows the chart in stitch proportions and exports a PDF with a color key and written rows. To draw on paper first, print the free knitting graph paper at your gauge.
Yes. Download all 10 charts as a PDF or open them in the editor, without sign-up or watermark. You can knit them, change them and use them in your own projects and patterns. Selecting part of a chart to copy, flip and paste comes with Knitting Chart Pro.
Knitting Chart