How to Read a Knitting Chart

Reading a chart in 5 steps

1. Read the key first. It tells you what each symbol and color means. An empty square is usually a knit stitch and a dot a purl; the knitting chart symbols page explains the rest.
2. Find row 1. It is the bottom row. Stitch 1 is on the right, because that is where your working needle starts a right-side row.
3. Check whether the chart is flat or in the round. The row numbers show it: numbers on both sides (odd on the right, even on the left) mean flat; all numbers on the right mean in the round.
4. Work across the row in its direction. Right-side rows go right to left. Wrong-side rows go left to right, and on them you work the opposite stitch: an empty square means purl, a dot means knit.
5. Move up one row and repeat. Keep your place with a ruler or sticky note placed above the row you are working, so you can see the finished rows below it — they should match your knitting.

Every example on this page was drawn by the same code as our free knitting chart maker, and the written rows next to each chart were generated from it, so you can check your reading against them. Open any example in the editor to change it.

How to read a knitting chart flat

Worked flat, you turn the work after every row. Odd rows are right-side (RS) rows, read from right to left. Even rows are wrong-side (WS) rows, read from left to right — the same direction your needle travels across the back of the fabric. Because the chart shows the fabric from the front, you work every stitch on a wrong-side row as its opposite.

How to read a knitting chart in the round

In the round you never turn the work: the right side always faces you. Every round is read from right to left and every symbol is worked exactly as drawn. Here is the same chart as above, worked in the round. Round 2 now reads k2, p2, k2 instead of p2, k2, p2.

A chart drawn for the round can be knitted flat, and the other way round: only the way you work the even rows changes. In the chart maker, the “Worked: Flat / In the round” buttons switch the row numbers and the written instructions for you.

How to read a pattern repeat

Most stitch patterns are charted only once. A red (or bold) box marks the stitches you repeat across the row; stitches outside the box are worked once, at the start or end of the row. In this double moss stitch chart, the box holds 4 stitches and there is 1 edge stitch on each side, so you cast on a multiple of 4 stitches plus 2 — for example 22 stitches for 5 repeats.

To read row 1 across 22 stitches: knit the edge stitch, work the 4 stitches in the box (p2, k2) five times, then knit the last edge stitch. When you reach the top of the chart, start again at row 1. Some patterns also mark a vertical repeat — a block of rows you work several times before moving up.

How to read a knitting chart with increases

When a pattern adds stitches, the chart has to be wider at the top than at the bottom. The missing squares are drawn as “no stitch” squares, usually gray: they are placeholders, not stitches. Skip them and go on to the next real stitch. In this chart, each right-side row from row 3 adds a yarn over (an eyelet increase) at both ends.

Count the stitches after every shaped row and compare them with the chart: the number at the end of each written row above is the stitch count you should have on your needle.

How to read a knitting chart with decreases

A decrease symbol fills one square but uses two stitches from the row below: k2tog (a line leaning right) and ssk (a line leaning left). Below, the ssk sits at the start of each right-side row and the k2tog at the end, so both lean toward the center and the piece narrows from 9 stitches to 5.

How to read a colorwork chart

In a colorwork chart (Fair Isle or stranded knitting) the color of each square is the color of yarn for that stitch, and the symbols are usually left out because every stitch is knit. The key names the colors with letters: A is the main color, B the contrast. Read it exactly like any other chart — right to left in the round.

Look at the longest run of one color in each row before you start: the other yarn floats behind that many stitches. Runs of more than about 5 stitches (roughly 2.5 cm at a DK gauge) usually need the float caught halfway. To chart your own colorwork, draw it in the chart maker orturn a photo into a knitting chart.

Tips for beginners

• Compare with the written row. If a pattern gives both, read the first row of the chart and check it against the words before you knit it. The chart maker writes the instructions for every chart you draw.
• Use the thick lines. Charts usually have a bold line every 10 stitches and rows. Count from the nearest one instead of from the edge.
• Place stitch markers at each repeat so a mistake shows up within 4 or 8 stitches, not at the end of the row.
• Print it large. The printable symbol key (PDF) includes a short version of these rules, and any chart you draw downloads as a PDF with its own key and written rows.

Prefer pencil and paper? Print knitting graph paper sized to your gauge and chart your own pattern.