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The grid of symbols that represents a knitted fabric one stitch per square.
Also known as: Knitting chart, Stitch chart, Knitting symbols, Grid of symbols in a knitting pattern
A knitting chart is a picture of the fabric: one square per stitch, read from the bottom up, right to left on right-side rows and left to right on wrong-side rows. Learning the reading direction matters more than learning any individual symbol, because the pattern's own key defines those.
A grid in which each square represents one stitch and each row of squares one row of knitting, with a symbol in each square specifying which stitch to work.
Read from the bottom up, following the order the fabric is made. Right-side rows are read right to left and wrong-side rows left to right, which mirrors the direction the knitter is actually working.
A chart shows the fabric as it appears from the right side, so a symbol means one thing when worked on a right-side row and its opposite on a wrong-side row. This is the single most common source of confusion for a new chart reader.
The chart depicts the result, not the action. A blank square is a knit stitch seen from the front, which means purling it on a wrong-side row.
Symbols are defined by the pattern's own key. The Craft Yarn Council publishes a standard set that is widely followed and not universal, and independent designers frequently define their own.
Always read the key. A chart symbol means what that pattern says it means.
A rectangular grid of small squares, each containing a simple mark — a blank, a dot, a slash or a curve — with numbers along the edges.
The chart is composed of individual stitch symbols.