Symbols on Charts
Most knitting charts will be accompanied by a key showing what each symbol or color represents. I am not going to give any general guidelines because there are so many different “normal” symbols. You must read the key for your specific chart to know what each symbol means.
This chart in Cari Luna’s Tussie Mussie pattern was created by Knitty’s tech editor Mandy Moore. This chart illustrates a common way of expressing stitches.
Notice the first two symbols: a white block means “K on RS, P on WS” and a grey block means “P on RS, K on WS”. This issue is the most confusing to many knitters working with charts for the first time. Why does a symbol have different meaning depending on the side of the work? Remember the most basic rule of knitting: Knit and Purl stitches are the reverse of each other. A knit on the front is a purl on the back.
Let’s say you wanted to chart stockinette stitch. If you are working stockinette flat, you knit all stitches on the right side, then purl all the stitches on the wrong side. If threw out the rules of charts and wanted white blocks to be knit stitches and grey blocks to be purl stitches, this is your chart:
But remember that charts are supposed to be visual. And that doesn’t look like stockinette. That looks like garter stitch! If you want to create a visual showing that you are supposed to be working stockinette, this is the chart:
Now that looks like stockinette. And if you apply the key from above, where a white block means that you knit on the right side, and that you purl on the wrong side, this chart is the correct one for stockinette.
Let’s look at some other stitch patterns. What about ribbing? When you work ribbing flat, you knit 1, purl 1, across, then on the wrong side you knit into the purl stitches and purl into the knit stitches. If you were to chart that with each symbol having only one meaning, 1×1 ribbing would look like this:
That certainly doesn’t look like ribbing. Looks like seed stitch to me. And interestingly enough, if we chart seed stitch according to “one symbol, one stitch”, it would look like:
Ribbing!
Charts are not meant to be the same as written out instructions. They express the same information in a different way. Yes, it takes a little time to read the key, look over the chart, and visualize what you are trying to create. But once you can see the pattern and relationships between the stitches, the chart lets you knit along as fast as you can, without reading instructions line by line.
Hopefully now you can see that there is a reason that each symbol has a different meaning on each “side” of the chart. Charts are visual.
A chart is designed to show you the right side of your work at all times, even though half the time you are working on the wrong side. It’s a fact of knitting, and if you check the key and pay attention to what you are trying to produce, you will be able to use chart quickly and easily.
Charts Worked in the Round vs. Charts Worked Flat
One of the absolute best times to use a knitting chart is when you are working in the round. Why? Because when you work in the round, you are always looking at the right side of the work! And so everything we just discussed about symbols having different meanings on the wrong side of the work can just be thrown out the window. Every row is a right side row!
Later in this series we will look at adapting charts to be worked in the round, but for now you should learn how to recognize a chart that is intended to be worked in the round.
The Fake Isle Hat is worked in the round, and the chart, shown below, indicates this. Notice that in every chart we have looked at so far, the row numbers bounce back and forth from the right to the left side of the chart. But in this chart, each row is numbered on the right. This is because each row starts on the right side and is worked towards the left, since every row is a right side row.
This chart is for a colorwork pattern and so all stitches are knitted. There is no reason for this chart to have to show that these stitches are “purled on the wrong side” because there is no wrong side to be worked! This is the reason that most fair-isle colorwork is done in the round.
Always look at the chart to see where those row numbers are located. If they are all on one side, the chart is intended to be worked in the round.
Repeats Within a Chart
Now for the last little lesson for today. Occasionally you will come across a chart that has a repeat within it. Typically these repeats are set apart with bold colored yarns. The gorgeous Jeanie shawl uses a repeat in the third chart, set apart by red lines. The key does indicate that these bold lines are the repeat area, and the bottom of the chart reads “Work this section 6 times”.
To work a repeat within a chart, you work the stitches within the bold lines, then go back to the beginning of the bolded area (the light blue box in this case) and work across again, and again, until you have completed the number of repeats necessary.
This is just like a repeat in written directions. In this case the instructions would read:
*K1, K1 tbl, P1, K1, P1 tbl, K1 tbl, P1, K1, P1 tbl* repeat between * * 6 times
Chart repeats are very simple once you realize what is being asked of you. Since charts are visual, I have created a visual for what this chart would look like with the repeat “spelled out” for you.
I’m sure glad I don’t have to work from that! Using repeats makes it much easier to keep track of your place in a chart, especially if you use stitch markers to set off each repeat. Rather than slogging through 54 stitches and checking the chart all the time, you are working 9 stitches, then 9 stitches, then 9 stitches….
Hopefully charts are making more sense. You now have all of the basic information you need to use nearly any chart. Next I will look at cables and lace in charts and some of the specific issues that they bring up. Please leave a comment or send me a message on Ravelry if you have any questions on charts or ideas on how to make this tutorial better!
shornsheep said
Gosh so much info here. Thank you
Knitting Charts 201 « GorlitsaKnits said
[...] worked flat have numbers bouncing back and forth from right side to left side, while items worked in the round have all the rows numbered up the right side. Lace adds another wrinkle to this [...]