Knitting tutorials

Read the knitting pattern and pattern sketch

In this free video from the Gründl Knitting School, learn step by step how to easily read a knitting chart and pattern sketch.

Gründl Knitting School

Knitting for Beginners: Reading Knitting Charts and Schematics

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Now it's time for graphics. In this video, we'll show you step-by-step how to read knitting charts and use schematics correctly. We'll also answer why knitting charts are used and for which knitting projects you need them. Are you ready?

What is a knitting chart?

A knitting chart is a part of a knitting pattern that serves to simplify the representation of complex stitch patterns. It is often used for lace or cable patterns to make their complexity more clear.

A knitting chart consists of several symbols that represent different knitting techniques. The meaning of each symbol is explained in the chart's legend, which is usually found below the chart.

How do you read a knitting chart?

When you first hold a knitting chart, it might seem very confusing at first glance. But it's actually meant to do the opposite: a knitting chart is supposed to help you get an overview of complex patterns and understand them.

In principle, the structure of all knitting charts is identical: As described above, the knitting chart is shown in the pattern along with its corresponding legend.

It is very important when reading a knitting chart not to look at it separately – but to understand it together with the entire pattern. As in our example, it can happen that only right-side rows are shown in the knitting chart. In the pattern, you will find additional information on how to knit the wrong-side rows: In our example, these are knitted as they appear. Yarn overs are knitted purl. You can learn how to read a knitting pattern in one of our other Gründl Knitting School videos.

Since we work from right to left when knitting right-side rows, the knitting chart for the right-side rows is also read from right to left. If wrong-side rows are drawn in, they are read from left to right.

Most of the time, the knitting chart represents a repeat. This means that the sequence of stitches and rows on your knitted piece will repeat over and over again. This has the advantage that, especially for larger projects like blankets, you don't have to specify the entire knitting chart of hundreds of stitches, but only the repeat.

Reading a knitting chart using an example:

Let's take the example of our sweater, which is also used in the video, and proceed as follows:

We read the first right-side row from right to left. Accordingly, four purl stitches are knitted first. This is followed by a cable pattern that extends over six stitches. According to the legend, this cable is crossed to the right. After the cable pattern, four more purl stitches are knitted before we reach a lace pattern that extends over a total of 13 stitches. It starts and ends with a yarn over – knit stitches are knitted in between. In two places, two stitches are knitted together right or slipped, knitted, passed over. The first wrong-side row is completed with four purl stitches. Then the work is turned, and a wrong-side row is knitted.

Since only right-side rows are drawn in the knitting chart, we look in the pattern to verify how the wrong-side rows should be knitted. It states that the stitches in the wrong-side rows should be knitted as they appear. Yarn overs are knitted purl. This means you will knit knit stitches as knit and purl stitches as purl.

Explanation of the stitches

PS: If you want to know how to knit the various stitches listed in the legend, feel free to check out our other videos in the Gründl Knitting School. Here we explain many basic knitting patterns.

Knitting knit stitches

Knitting purl stitches

What are schematics?

Schematics are technical drawings of knitting projects. They serve to clarify measurements and provide a detailed overview of the shape and size of the finished knitted piece. For sweaters, for example, information on sleeve shape and length, as well as the neckline and the width and length of the entire sweater, are combined in a schematic.

How do you read pattern diagrams?

Pattern diagrams – also called schematics – are usually only printed in half for symmetrical knitting projects. In our example of the sweater, only half of the front panel was sketched. The sleeve sketch was also halved along the axis of symmetry.

Because – as in our case – only half of the sweater was specified, it must be ensured that the sweater will be twice as wide as indicated. Specifically, this means: For a sweater in size 36 / 38, you can expect a width of 2 x 24 cm = 48 cm. If you knit the larger size (40 / 42), your sweater will be 2 x 27.5 cm = 55 cm wide.

Schematics also clarify where individual elements are sewn together. In our example, you can see exactly where the sleeve is attached to the sweater body based on the measurements.

Regarding size specifications, the general rule is: The units of measurement refer to the legend. As in our case, all specifications are calculated so that the sweater will ultimately be in size 36 / 38. All larger measurements in parentheses refer to the larger size (40 / 42). If only one measurement is shown, it applies to both sizes.

Can I adjust schematics myself?

Are you wondering if the measurements on the schematic fit your body? Do you want to make adjustments to your knitted piece? In principle, schematics with their dimensions are used to help you estimate in advance whether the final knitted project will match your desired measurements. If you want to make changes, we recommend adjusting only the ribbing area for complicated patterns to avoid altering the main pattern.

If you want to resize a knitting or crochet project, we recommend this blog post. Here you will learn step-by-step how to adapt a pattern to your desired measurements.

Practice reading knitting charts and schematics

Since practice makes perfect, we recommend putting your newly acquired knowledge directly into practice. Here we have listed three wonderful patterns with schematics or knitting charts that you can download for free from the Gründl online shop and start practicing right away.