The first time you look at a knitting chart, it can feel like a crossword in a language you don't speak: rows of squares, dots, slashes, and circles, with no obvious starting point. But a chart isn't a code to crack so much as a map. Every square is a stitch, and every symbol tells your hands exactly what to do with it. Once that logic clicks, many knitters find charts easier to follow than written instructions, because you can see the pattern take shape as you go.
This guide sticks to the visual side of chart reading — which direction to follow the rows, what the grid represents, and what the most common symbols mean. If you also want a refresher on written shorthand like "k2tog" or "ssk," that lives in our companion guide to reading knitting patterns.
What a Knitting Chart Actually Is
A knitting chart is a grid in which each square represents one stitch. The symbol inside a square tells you what to do with that stitch, and symbols are usually drawn to hint at what the finished stitch looks like — a blank square for the smoothest, plainest stitch, a dot or bar for something with more texture.
Every chart comes with a key (or legend) spelling out what each symbol means in that specific pattern. Symbols aren't fully standardized across the knitting world, so a symbol in one designer's chart can differ slightly from the same shape in another's. The upside is that a small set of symbols shows up constantly, so once you know the common ones, reading a new key is mostly quick recognition rather than starting over.
Charts are especially popular for lace and cables because they let you see a motif's shape at a glance — a cable panel that takes several lines of written abbreviations becomes one picture you can visually match to your knitting.
Which Way Do You Read a Chart?
This is the part that trips up most beginners, and it's consistent enough to be worth memorizing.
Charts are always read bottom to top. Row 1 sits at the bottom, and each row stacks above it, growing upward the same way your knitting does on the needles.
Direction across each row depends on how you're knitting:
- Flat (back and forth on straight or circular needles): right-side rows read right to left; wrong-side rows read left to right. This mirrors the yarn's actual path — you work a right-side row from right to left, turn, and now approach the same stitches from what is currently the left.
- In the round (circular or double-pointed needles): since you never turn your work, the right side always faces you, so every round reads right to left, with no alternating.
Row numbers along the chart's edges are your cue: in a flat-knitting chart, odd numbers typically sit on the right edge and even numbers on the left, showing which side each row starts from. Some charts show only right-side rows (common when wrong-side rows are just "purl across") and leave the rest for the written instructions.
One more wrinkle: on a wrong-side row, a symbol can flip meaning. A blank square might mean "knit" on the right side but "purl" on the wrong side, since purling on the wrong side produces a knit stitch on the fabric's public face. You don't need to memorize this — a good key states it directly.
Reading Repeats and Chart Sections
Many charts outline a section of stitches in a bold or shaded box, meant to be repeated across the row. Work any stitches outside the box once — these are usually edge stitches — then repeat everything inside the box as many times as instructed, then finish with any remaining stitches. Placing a stitch marker at the start of each repeat helps keep them aligned as you go.
Lace charts sometimes show grayed-out or blacked-out squares. These aren't stitches — they mark spots where the stitch count has temporarily shrunk from a decrease elsewhere in the row. Just skip over them.
Common Knitting Chart Symbols
Styles vary between designers, but these symbols are common enough to get you through most charts. Always confirm against the individual pattern's key.
| Symbol (typical appearance) | Stitch | What it looks like on your needles |
|---|---|---|
| Blank square | Knit (on RS) | A smooth "V" — the classic knit stitch |
| Dot or horizontal dash | Purl (on RS) | A small horizontal bump |
| Open circle | Yarn over (yo) | An eyelet hole; adds a stitch |
| Diagonal line leaning right ( / ) | Right-leaning decrease (e.g., k2tog) | Two stitches merged, top stitch leaning right |
| Diagonal line leaning left ( \ ) | Left-leaning decrease (e.g., ssk) | Two stitches merged, top stitch leaning left |
| Two crossing diagonal lines | Cable cross | Stitches swap position, forming a twist |
| Shaded or blacked-out square | No stitch | Skip it — stitch count shrank here |
| Bold-outlined box around squares | Repeat section | Work the boxed stitches as many times as instructed |
For cables, the symbol shows two sets of diagonal lines crossing. The lines drawn fully visible (not interrupted by the other set) cross in front; the lines that appear to duck behind cross behind. Which way the topmost lines lean — left or right — tells you the cable's twist direction, and the number of stitches gathered at the base of each pair tells you how many stitches are involved on each side, distinguishing something like a two-over-two cable from a one-over-three. Because the symbol echoes the finished cable's twist, most knitters can "read" the shape fairly quickly with practice.
Worked Example: Reading a Small Chart
Here's a simple four-row, six-stitch chart worked flat, combining knits with one yarn-over-and-decrease pair. Its key defines a blank square as knit on RS / purl on WS, a circle as yarn over, and a right-leaning slash as k2tog.
Reading bottom to top:
- Row 1 (RS): knit all 6 stitches
- Row 2 (RS): knit, knit, yarn over, k2tog, knit, knit
- Row 3 (WS): purl all 6 stitches
- Row 4 (RS): knit all 6 stitches
To work it: start Row 1 at the chart's right edge (a right-side row) and knit across. Turn. Row 2, also right-side in this example, again starts from the right: knit two, yarn over, k2tog, knit two — the yarn over and decrease balance each other so the stitch count stays at six, while a small eyelet forms. Turn. Row 3, a wrong-side row, reads left to right: purl across. Turn and knit Row 4 straight across to finish.
Notice the zigzag — right to left, then left to right, then right to left again — tracking the same back-and-forth path your needles take. That zigzag is the whole trick to flat charts. Worked in the round instead, every row of this same swatch would simply read right to left.
Tips for Getting Comfortable With Charts
- Enlarge or print your chart, so you can mark your place row by row without losing it mid-round.
- Track your row with a sticky note or magnetic strip, moving it up one row at a time as you go.
- Read a full row before knitting it, translating symbols into a mental list of actions rather than jumping between chart and needles stitch by stitch.
- Check the key for every new pattern, even a familiar-looking one — small variations between designers are a common source of chart-reading mistakes.
- Practice on a small swatch first for an intricate cable or lace chart, to build confidence before committing to a full project.
Charts reward a little patience up front. The direction rules and symbol shapes feel like new information for a project or two, then become as automatic as reading written abbreviations — and for many knitters, end up being the faster, more intuitive way to follow a pattern.