Stitch chart numbering, settings and chart types

Stitch chart numbering, settings and chart types

How a chart's rows are read and numbered, how the grid and symbols are drawn, and the chart types beyond a plain grid. Drawing and the palette are in Stitch charts.

Numbering and direction

Open Settings in the chart editor to choose how rows are read and numbered:

• Flat, start on the right side: row 1 is read right to left and numbered on the right; row 2 left to right on the left.
• Flat, start on the wrong side: row 1 is a wrong-side row.
• In the round: every round is read right to left.
• Right-side rows only: only the right-side rows are charted and the labels go 1, 3, 5. Say what the wrong-side rows do in What to do on wrong-side rows, for example "Purl all WS stitches".
• Corner to corner (Pro): numbered by diagonal from the start corner you choose, the way C2C crochet is worked. Each diagonal is numbered once. The corner is the longest diagonal, the last increase row, and it has a small diamond beside its number; from the next row the diagonals get shorter. A chart that is not square has two corners: at the first, one edge stops increasing and the rows keep their length; the second is the last increase row. Hovering a corner and the written instructions say "corner" on the same rows, with what it means. Gauge and size are in tiles (tiles across and tiles up), and the cells show color only; turn on Show stitch symbols on colored cells in Settings to see the dc symbol. Corner to corner is for colorwork: a chart of stitch symbols (cables, decreases) cannot be switched to it, and Settings says why.
• Two passes per row (Pro): each row number covers two grid rows, labeled 1 LC and 1 DC (two-color brioche), 1F and 1R (Tunisian forward and return passes), 1 RS and 1 WS, or 1a and 1b.
• Numbered from the center (Pro): columns count out from the middle on both sides and rows are numbered on both edges, as on a machine punch card.

Row numbers can sit on either side, both or none; column numbers go top, bottom, both or none; and the starting numbers are yours to set, on every plan.

Making a chart smaller in Settings takes rows off the top and columns off the left. Before you apply, Settings says how many stitches that deletes, and the button says it too.

Grid lines and symbol set

Grid lines in Settings sets how the grid is drawn: Standard (thin lines, every 5th and 10th stronger), Print-friendly (lighter lines that use less ink), High contrast (dark, heavier lines that are easier to follow) or Hidden (no lines, just the cells), and a Thin, Normal or Thick weight. The chart on your page and every export draw it the same way. For a chart with colors, Hide color fills (symbols only) leaves the cells white and shows every symbol: a print-friendly copy that saves ink and photocopies well.

For knitting charts, Settings has a Symbol set choice: Craft Yarn Council, its alternative drawings, or Japanese (JIS), where knit is a vertical bar and purl a horizontal one. The JIS symbols are drawn from Marnen Laibow-Koser's knitting_symbols (MIT License). A stitch JIS does not draw keeps its Craft Yarn Council symbol, and the legend then carries both credit lines.

Special chart types (Pro)

• Two-color brioche starts as two-color brioche rib: on each row, a light (LC) pass of brk and sl1yo, then a dark (DC) pass of sl1yo and brp. Every second pair of passes is worked from the wrong side, so the written instructions read those stitches from the back (a brk cell is a brp there). Each pass is written in one color: "Row 1 LC: With LC: brk1, sl1yo...".
• Mosaic knitting (slip-stitch mosaic) is drawn in two colors. Each chart row is a right-side row and the wrong-side row that repeats it, in one color, alternating A and B; the row numbers carry the letter ("3 B"). A cell in the other color is a slipped stitch, and the written row says so: "With Color B: k4, sl1 wyib, k4". The Mosaic tool (M) slips the stitch you click, or knits it again.
• Overlay mosaic crochet is drawn in two colors too. Every row is worked from the right side in one color, alternating A and B. A cell in the other color is covered by a double crochet from the row above, worked into the front loop two rows below; the software works out where those go and marks each one X. The Mosaic tool (M) works the other way round: click a cell to put an X there, and the cell below takes that row's color. Remove the X and it gets its own color back. Written rows read "With Color A: sc4, dc, sc4" (in UK terms, "dc4, tr, dc4").
• In both mosaic charts the Mosaic check under the legend outlines in red any cell that cannot be worked as drawn: a slip or a covered stitch on the first row, a covered stitch on the last row, two covered stitches on top of each other, or a border stitch in the other color. Border columns (Settings) are plain stitches at both edges, one by default.
• Tunisian crochet has a forward and a return pass for every row, numbered 1F and 1R. It starts with Tunisian simple stitches and standard returns, and a standard return pass is written out in words. Tunisian stitches (tss, tks, tps, tfs and more) are in the palette.
• Machine punch card is 24 stitches wide, numbered from the center, in two colors: punched and not punched. If you change the width, the chart tells you that 24-stitch machines need 24 columns.

Free-form crochet diagrams

Choose Free-form crochet diagram in New stitch chart to draw doilies, motifs and round charts, where stitches sit on circles rather than in rows. It is not a grid: you place symbols anywhere.

• Place (P) puts the chosen symbol where you click. With Snap to the guides on, it lands on the nearest ring and spoke, turned to point outward.
• Select (S) picks symbols; Shift adds to the selection. Drag to move them, [ and ] to turn them, + and − to size them, Ctrl+D to duplicate and Delete to remove.
• Repeat around the center: draw one repeat of a round, select it, and set how many copies: 8 makes 8 evenly spaced repeats, the selection included.
• Place a ring puts a number of the chosen symbol evenly around the center at the distance you give.
• Guides (rings and spokes) help you place symbols and show only in the editor, never on the page or in an export. The diagram's size is set there too.

The palette, legend, export and sharing work as they do for a grid chart. A diagram holds up to 3,000 symbols. Free-form diagrams are free.