How to Read a Chart

A chart is a picture of your knitting or crochet drawn on a grid — every square stands for one stitch, and the picture builds up row by row as you work. In our shop the charted patterns are everywhere, from the drop bear worked stitch by stitch from a full colour chart to the filet doilies and the angels whose wings are drawn as stitch charts right beside their written rows.

Step by step

Find the starting corner before you pick up your hook or needles. Charts are drawn as the finished piece will look, and work begins at the bottom — our patterns always tell you where row 1 starts, and the first written row confirms it if you’re unsure.
Read flat pieces in a zigzag: knit-side and odd rows right to left, then turn and read the next row left to right, because that’s the path your yarn actually travels. In knitting charts, odd rows are the front of the work and even rows are the back.
Read work in the round straight across, right to left, every single round — there’s no turning, so you start again at the right-hand edge each time and the picture grows evenly.
Learn the key before you start. Every chart in our patterns comes with a key or stitch guide that says what each symbol or colour means — one square might be a single crochet, another an empty filet mesh, another simply the next colour.
Count squares to count stitches. If a row of the chart has 33 squares, you should finish that row with 33 stitches — the road sign coasters are charted at exactly 33 stitches wide, and counting catches a mistake while it’s still small enough to fix happily.
Keep your place with a ruler, a strip of sticky notes or a magnetic board resting under the row you’re working, and move it up one row every time you finish. Charts punish daydreaming, and a marker is cheaper than unpicking.
Tick off each row on paper as you complete it, especially on a big colour chart like the drop bear’s 92 rows — if you get interrupted mid-picture, you’ll know exactly where you stopped.
Cross-check with the written rows whenever they’re given. Many of our charted patterns write out every row in full as well, so if a chart square looks odd, read the written row — and if your stitch count disagrees with both, trust the count and recount the row.
Take the chart one row at a time and don’t peek ahead. A hundred-row chart is just row 1 done calmly a hundred times — and watching the picture grow out of the grid is the very best part.

Patterns that use it

Drop Bear Warning Sign Crochet Pattern | Funny Aussie Tapestry Wall Hanging, Dowel Sleeve & Fringe PDF

Kangaroo Road Sign Coasters & Mug Rugs Crochet Patterns | Aussie Tapestry Table Set PDF

Aussie Fauna Filet Doilies Crochet Patterns Kangaroo Koala Kookaburra Thread Crochet Lace Table Decor PDF

Guardian Angel Dolls Crochet Pattern | Three Amigurumi Angels 25cm 18cm 12cm, Halo & Wings PDF

Seated Cherub Angels Crochet Pattern | 3 Amigurumi Angel Dolls PDF | Sleeping Cherub, Storytime Book, Nursery Keepsake

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Common mistakes

Reading every row from right to left on a flat piece. Flat charts zigzag — odd rows right to left, even rows back the other way — and reading them all one way mirrors the picture, so your motif comes out backwards.
Starting at the top of the chart. Charts are drawn as the finished piece will look, but work begins at the bottom with row 1; starting at the top builds the whole picture upside down.
Skipping the key and guessing what the squares mean. A square might be a stitch, an empty space or simply the next colour, and it can change from pattern to pattern — two minutes with the key at the start saves an evening of unpicking.

Tina’s tips

Rest a ruler, a strip of sticky notes or a magnetic board under the row you’re working and move it up one row every time you finish. Charts punish daydreaming, and a marker is cheaper than unpicking.
Tick off each row on paper as you complete it, and count squares to count stitches — if the chart row has 33 squares, you should finish with 33 stitches. On a big colour chart that little habit tells you exactly where you stopped when life interrupts.