How to make a knitting chart from a photo
- Pick a simple picture. Clear shapes, strong contrast and a plain background chart best. Crop close to the subject before uploading.
- Set the width in stitches. This is how many stitches wide the motif will be. A hat or mitten motif is often 20–60 stitches; a sweater yoke or blanket panel can be 100 or more.
- Enter your gauge. Knit a swatch in your yarn and count stitches and rows over 10 cm (4 in). The chart maker uses both numbers, so the chart has the same proportions as your knitting.
- Choose the number of colors. Two to four colors are easiest for stranded colorwork. Use more for intarsia or duplicate stitch.
- Clean up and check floats. Paint over stray stitches and fix any highlighted long floats.
- Download and knit. Save the chart as a PNG, copy the written instructions, and use the row tracker to keep your place.
Why gauge-accurate charts matter
Most knitting charts online use square cells, but knit stitches are not square. In stockinette, a stitch is usually wider than it is tall. At a gauge of 22 stitches and 30 rows per 10 cm, each stitch is about 0.45 cm wide and 0.33 cm tall. Knit a circle from a square-cell chart at that gauge and it comes out as a flattened oval.
This chart maker draws every cell in your real stitch proportions and resizes the photo to match. What you see on screen is what the finished fabric will look like.
| Yarn weight | Typical stitches per 10 cm (4 in) | Typical rows per 10 cm (4 in) |
|---|---|---|
| Fingering | 27–32 | 36–42 |
| Sport | 23–26 | 30–34 |
| DK | 21–24 | 28–32 |
| Worsted / Aran | 16–20 | 22–28 |
| Bulky | 12–15 | 16–20 |
Ranges are typical starting points. Your own swatch is what counts.
Floats in stranded colorwork
In stranded (Fair Isle style) knitting, the color you are not using travels across the back of the work as a float. Long floats snag on fingers and jewelry and can pucker the fabric. A common rule is to catch, or trap, any float that passes more than about 5 stitches, or roughly 2.5 cm (1 in).
Turn on Highlight long floats and the chart maker marks every run of one color longer than your limit. You can then break up the run with a single stitch of the other color, or note where you'll catch the float.
How to read a knitting chart
- Each square is one stitch, and each horizontal line of squares is one row or round.
- Start at the bottom. Row 1 is the bottom row of the chart.
- In the round: read every round from right to left.
- Flat: read right-side rows from right to left and wrong-side rows from left to right. Row numbers appear on the side where each row begins.
- The key, or legend, tells you which yarn each color or letter stands for.
Charted colorwork vs. written instructions
Charts show the whole picture at a glance, while written instructions are easier for some knitters to follow stitch by stitch. This tool gives you both. Open Written row-by-row instructions under the chart to get every row as text, like Row 5 (RS): 4 A, 2 B, 6 A.
Frequently asked questions
How do I turn a photo into a knitting chart?
Upload a photo, enter how many stitches wide you want the chart, add your stitch and row gauge, and choose how many colors to use. The chart maker resizes the picture to your gauge, reduces it to that many colors and shows a chart you can edit and download as a PNG.
Why does gauge matter for a knitting chart?
Knit stitches are usually wider than they are tall. A typical gauge is around 22 stitches and 30 rows per 10 cm (4 in). If a chart uses square cells, the knitted motif comes out squashed. This tool draws each cell in the same proportion as your gauge, so the chart looks like the finished knitting.
What is a float and how long can it be?
In stranded colorwork, the color you are not using is carried across the back of the work. That strand is called a float. Many knitters catch or trap floats that pass more than about 5 stitches, or roughly 2.5 cm (1 in). The chart maker highlights stitch runs longer than your limit so you can edit the chart or plan where to catch floats.
How do you read a knitting chart?
Knitting charts are read from the bottom up, starting at row 1. When knitting in the round, every round is read from right to left. When knitting flat, right-side rows are read from right to left and wrong-side rows from left to right.
Is this knitting chart maker free?
Yes. You can create, edit and download charts as PNG images for free, with no sign-up and no watermark.
Are my photos uploaded to a server?
No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser. Your photo is never sent to a server. Your latest chart is saved only in your own browser so you can come back to it.
How much yarn will I need for each color?
The legend shows a rough length per color based on stitch count and gauge, with an allowance for floats. Treat it as a planning estimate and knit a swatch, because yarn use changes with fiber, needle size and tension.