Reading knitting charts: rows, rounds, symbols, and repeats

Read the symbols

A chart shows the fabric from the right side. Read its own key first: a square can mean a different action on a wrong-side row. These six symbols are common, not universal.

1. Empty square: knit on the right side, purl on the wrong side.
2. Horizontal dash: purl on the right side, knit on the wrong side.
3. Circle: yarn over; place the yarn over the right needle to create one new loop. It consumes no existing stitch and makes an eyelet.
4. Right-leaning slash: knit two together on the right side; two old stitches become one (−1).
5. Left-leaning slash: SSK on the right side; slip two stitches knitwise one at a time, then knit those two together through their back loops (−1).
6. Shaded no-stitch cell: skip the cell on paper. Do not knit, purl or slip a real stitch for it. Follow the key for wrong-side decreases and special symbols.

Try this example

1. Cast on 6 stitches. Start at the bottom-right arrow for row 1. Read right to left: knit 1 edge stitch, [knit 1, purl 1] twice, knit 1 edge stitch.
2. Turn. Row 2 reads left to right: purl 1, [knit 1, purl 1] twice, purl 1. Work rows 3 and 4 like rows 1 and 2. The same chart symbols require opposite actions on the two faces.
3. For a chart worked in rounds without turning, read every round in its stated direction, commonly right to left, and use the right-side meanings throughout. Follow the row numbers if a chart omits plain rows.

Check your result

There must still be 6 live stitches after every practice row. Count only the four center stitches inside the repeat; the edges occur once each. In lace, one yarn-over (+1) balances one single decrease (−1). Check both stitches consumed and stitches produced before repeating a shaping row.

Sources

• www.craftyarncouncil.com: knit chart symbols
• www.craftyarncouncil.com: decrease_k2tog.html
• www.craftyarncouncil.com: how to read knitting pattern

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