Where do you start reading a crochet chart?

On a flat (back-and-forth) chart you start at the bottom-right corner and read Row 1 from right to left. On a chart worked in the round you start at the centre and read each round outward, working counter-clockwise for right-handed crochet.

Which way do you read a crochet chart?

Flat charts zig-zag: right-side rows (usually the odd rows) are read right to left, and wrong-side rows (the even rows) are read left to right — the same order your hook actually travels. Charts in the round are read from the centre outward, one round at a time.

What is the difference between a crochet chart and a written pattern?

They describe the same stitches two ways. A written pattern spells the stitches out in abbreviations ("ch 3, dc in next 2 st"); a chart draws each stitch as a symbol in the place it sits, so you can see the shape. Good pattern designers publish both, and they must contain the same stitch sequence.

How to Read a Crochet Chart

A crochet chart is a picture of your pattern — read it in the same order you crochet.

What a crochet chart is

A crochet chart is a diagram where every symbol is one stitch, drawn in the spot that stitch occupies in the finished fabric. Instead of reading abbreviations, you follow the picture — which makes the shape of a motif, the placement of a stitch, and the count of a row obvious at a glance. The symbols are a shared standard (agreed by the Craft Yarn Council and Japanese JIS pattern books), so a chart drawn by one designer reads the same as any other.

Where to start and which way to read

Flat charts (worked back and forth in rows) start at the bottom-right corner. Read Row 1 from right to left — that is the way your hook travels on the right side of the work. At the end of the row you turn, so Row 2 is read left to right, Row 3 right to left again, and so on. The chart zig-zags because your work does. A short stack of chain symbols at the start of each row is the turning chain that lifts your hook to the height of the coming stitches.

Charts worked in the round start at the centre and grow outward. Read each round all the way around before moving to the next, working counter-clockwise if you are right-handed (clockwise if you are left-handed). A dot on the first stitch marks the slip stitch that joins the round closed.

The symbols you will meet

A handful of symbols cover most charts: an oval is a chain, a dot is a slip stitch, an X or + is a single crochet, and a T with one or more crossbars is a taller stitch (one bar = half double, then double, treble, and up). The taller the stitch, the taller its symbol, so the chart's proportions match the real fabric. For the full symbol table — including exactly where the round-end slip stitch sits — see how to read crochet chart symbols.

Starting: ring vs chain foundation

How a chart begins tells you which foundation to make. A chart that starts with a ring of chains at the centre is worked in the round — make a chain ring (or a magic ring) and work Round 1 into it. A chart whose bottom edge is a straight row of chain ovals is worked flat — crochet that many chains, then work Row 1 back across them. Count the foundation symbols before you start; that count is your starting chain.

Make your own crochet chart

The fastest way to get comfortable reading charts is to generate one and follow it stitch by stitch. CrochetPop's free chart maker turns a photo, a word, or a template into a workable crochet chart — with the written row-by-row instructions beside it, so you can check the picture against the words.

Generate your own chart for free →About the chart & graph maker →