Crochet guide
How to read a crochet graph
A crochet graph is a picture drawn on a grid. Each square is one stitch, and its color says which yarn to use. Start at the bottom right corner, read row 1 from right to left and row 2 from left to right, and go on up the graph in the same way.
On this page 9 parts
What a graph shows
A graph is a grid of colored squares, with a key that says which yarn each color stands for. In a graph worked in rows of single crochet (double crochet in United Kingdom patterns), one square is one stitch. In a corner-to-corner graph, one square is one small block of stitches.
The squares tell you only the color. The pattern's text says which stitch a square stands for.
Where to start, and which way to read
For a graph worked back and forth in rows:
- Start at the bottom right corner. The bottom row of squares is row 1. The starting chain is not drawn.
- Read row 1 from right to left.
- Turn, and read row 2 from left to right.
- Go on to the top in the same way: odd rows from right to left, even rows from left to right.
| Rows | Side facing you | Read the squares |
|---|---|---|
| 1, 3, 5 and so on | Right side | Right to left |
| 2, 4, 6 and so on | Wrong side | Left to right |
The reason is the turn. You always work in the same direction, but on every other row the back of the picture is facing you, so those rows run the other way across the graph.
Counting the squares
Read along the row and count how many squares in a line have the same color. Work that many stitches in that yarn, then change to the next color. In the graph above, row 1 is four pale squares, one colored square and four pale squares.
On this site a graph pattern also writes every row out in the order you work it, with the direction in its label. Rows 1 and 2 of the graph above:
Row 1 (RS, read right to left): 4 A, 1 B, 4 A (9 sts).
Row 2 (WS, read left to right): 3 A, 3 B, 3 A (9 sts).
"4 A" is four stitches in yarn A. The number at the end is the width of the row, which is the same for every row of the graph.
To keep your place, print the graph and mark where you are: lay a ruler under the row you are working, or put a line through each row that is done.
Changing color
A new color begins one stitch early. Work the last stitch of the old color until only its final yarn over is left, pick up the new yarn, and finish the stitch with it. The loop on the hook is now the new color, ready for the next stitch. Changing colors shows it step by step.
The yarn you are not using is handled in one of two ways. You can lay it along the top of the row and work over it, so that it is hidden inside the stitches. Or you can give each area of color its own small ball, drop the yarn where its color ends, and pick it up again on the next row. Carrying yarn covers both.
Corner-to-corner graphs
Corner to corner is worked on the diagonal, and each square of its graph is one block of stitches. You begin with one block in a corner, and each row is a diagonal line of squares. You turn after every row, so one row runs down the diagonal and the next runs back up.
On this site every corner-to-corner graph is read the same way. Row 1 is the block in the bottom right corner of the graph. Rows run on the diagonal to the top left corner. Odd rows are read from the right edge, later the top edge, down to the bottom edge, later the left edge; even rows are read back up. Each row's label names its two edges.
The rows grow by one block each until they reach a far corner of the graph, and then they shrink again to a single block in the opposite corner. On a graph that is not square, the piece goes on growing along one edge while it shrinks along the other. Corner to corner shows how a block is made.
If you are left-handed
A left-handed maker works each row in the other direction. Take the written rows of a graph in single crochet. Worked left-handed, these rows give a mirror image of the picture. To get the picture as drawn, read each row's runs in reverse order. On the graph itself that means starting at the bottom left corner and reading right-side rows from left to right and wrong-side rows from right to left.
For a corner-to-corner graph, see corner to corner.
Graphs worked in the round
When a graph is worked in rounds, you do not turn, so every round is read the same way: from right to left for a right-handed maker.
Why the picture can look squashed or stretched
The squares of a graph are square, but stitches come in different heights. A graph meant for single crochet comes out much taller if it is worked in a taller stitch, so use the stitch the pattern names.
Common mistakes
- Reading every row from the right. In rows, every other row is read from the left. If the picture comes out scrambled, this is the first thing to check.
- Counting the starting chain as row 1. The chain is not on the graph. Row 1 is the first row of stitches.
- Changing color one stitch late. The new yarn comes in on the last pull of the stitch before.
Next, changing colors is the one technique every graph needs, and corner to corner teaches the block that a corner-to-corner graph is made of. For charts made of stitch symbols instead of colored squares, see how to read crochet charts.