Knitting Chart Symbol Lookup

How to Read Knitting Charts

Knitting charts are read from bottom to top, mirroring how the knitting grows. For flat knitting, RS rows are read right to left and WS rows are read left to right. For knitting in the round, all rows are read right to left.

Each square in the chart represents one stitch. The symbol in the square tells you what to do on the RS. When you turn and work the WS, the same symbol has a different meaning (e.g., a knit symbol on RS = purl on WS).

Cable Symbols

Cable symbols show multiple stitches as a group. The direction of the cable (front vs. back) indicates which way the cable twists. Cables with a "/" lean right; cables with a "\" lean left.

Knitting Chart Symbols and What They Mean

Knitting charts compress stitch instructions into a grid. Each square represents a stitch or chart position, and the symbol inside tells you what action to work. Common charts use symbols for knit and purl stitches, yarn overs, increases, decreases, slipped stitches, cables, texture stitches, and placeholders such as “no stitch.”

There is no single symbol set used by every designer or publisher. The lookup above follows common conventions, but the legend supplied with your pattern always takes priority when its symbols differ.

How to Read a Knitting Chart

Charts are normally read from the bottom upward because that matches the direction the fabric is created. When knitting flat, right-side rows are usually read from right to left and wrong-side rows from left to right. When knitting in the round, every round is normally read from right to left.

The same printed symbol can require a different action on a wrong-side row. A chart legend may therefore give both an RS meaning and a WS meaning. For example, a square that means “knit” on the right side may mean “purl” when the same stitch is encountered on the wrong side.

Common Knitting Symbol Groups

• Basic stitches: knit, purl, slipped stitches, and stitches worked through the back loop.
• Increases: yarn over, make-one increases, knit-front-and-back, and related shaping symbols.
• Decreases: k2tog, SSK, centered double decreases, and their purl-side counterparts.
• Cables: symbols that cross two or more stitches and indicate which stitches are held to the front or back.
• Texture: bobbles, nupps, garter or seed-texture instructions, and other special stitches.
• No stitch: a placeholder used to keep chart columns aligned; you do not work a stitch in that square.

Right-Leaning and Left-Leaning Decreases

A k2tog decrease generally leans to the right, while an SSK generally leans to the left. Designers use those directions intentionally so shaping mirrors cleanly around necklines, lace motifs, socks, hats, and garment edges. If the chart symbol is unfamiliar, look up both the abbreviation and the lean before substituting a decrease.

How to Use This Symbol Lookup

Search by the stitch name, abbreviation, or symbol description, then compare the result with the legend in your pattern. If the chart contains an abbreviation rather than a graphic symbol, the knitting abbreviation dictionary may be faster. For keeping your place while working a chart, use the knitting chart row counter.

For more help decoding written and charted instructions, see the pattern-reading guide or browse all knitting calculators and references.