How to
How to make a knitting chart
A knitting chart is a grid where each cell is one stitch and its color tells you which yarn to use. This maker turns a picture into a colorwork chart shaped by your gauge, so the design keeps its proportions once it is knitted.
- Knit a swatch and measure your gauge. Count the stitches and rows in 4 inches and type them in. The sample uses 20 stitches and 28 rows; your yarn label usually suggests a gauge to start from.
- Choose a picture. Simple shapes with few colors knit best: a heart, a star, an animal silhouette, initials. Drop or paste the image, or pick a file.
- Set the width and colors. Stitches wide is how many stitches the motif spans. Keep colors low: two to four suit stranded knitting, more work in intarsia.
- Check the numbers. Rows count up from the bottom, with odd rows numbered on the right and even rows on the left, and stitches count from the right edge, the way knitting charts are read.
- Download. Save a PNG or SVG, or a PDF with the key and yarn stitch counts on the first page and the chart split across pages.
Gauge and the shape of the chart
The cells are drawn as wide as your stitches and as tall as your rows. With 20 stitches and 28 rows to 4 inches, each cell is about 0.71 times as tall as it is wide, and the chart gets more rows than a square grid would, so that a circle in the picture stays round in the knitting. The finished size is shown under the title.
Tip
The stitch count next to each color in the key helps you estimate yarn. Knit a swatch in the main color, count its stitches, weigh it, and scale up.
Crochet or cross stitch?
The same picture can become a crochet graph for tapestry or corner to corner crochet, or a cross stitch pattern with symbols for embroidery.
Questions people ask
Is there a free knitting chart maker?
Yes. This knitting chart maker is free, needs no account and runs in your browser, so your picture is not uploaded. Turn a photo, a drawing or a logo into a colorwork chart, set your gauge, and download it as PNG, SVG or a printable PDF with a color key and stitch counts.
Why does a knitting chart use rectangles instead of squares?
Because a knitted stitch is usually wider than it is tall. At 20 stitches and 28 rows to 4 inches, each stitch is about 1.4 times as wide as it is high. A chart drawn on square cells would come out squashed when knitted, so the cells here follow your gauge and the picture keeps its shape.
How do I read a knitting chart?
Start at the bottom right corner with row 1. Knitting flat, read right side rows from right to left and wrong side rows from left to right; the row numbers sit on the side where each row starts. Knitting in the round, read every row from right to left. Each square is one stitch in the color shown.
What kind of knitting is this chart for?
Colorwork where each stitch has one color: intarsia for large blocks, stranded or Fair Isle for small repeats, and duplicate stitch embroidered on finished knitting. Keep the number of colors low for stranded work, where two colors per row is the usual limit. It does not draw cables, lace or texture symbols.