Knitting: Reading Charts

Welcome to another informative and entertaining episode of Tips & Tricks! Today we're talking about reading charts in knitting. Some knitters love charts, some avoid them at all costs. This video approaches the topics of charts and a few of the "subcategories" that can arise: colorwork charts, symbol charts, knitting in the round, and knitting flat. All can affect how a chart is interpreted, but the biggest ideas to keep in mind are these, also spelled out on the drawings in the video: Charts are in essence a visual representation or picture of what the work will look like from the "right side" or the "outside" of the finished piece. Each square on the grid or chart represents one stitch in your work. Look for a key to help you interpret what each color or symbol on the chart means. Charts are pretty much *always* worked from the bottom up, starting at the bottom row and working up. That again reflects the picture of your work, as you complete more rows, what you did first will be at the bottom of your piece, and what you knit most recently will be at the top. The direction you work across the rows depends on the type of knitting you are doing. If you are knitting in the round, knitting in a circle, like with many a hat or sweater, you will always be working the chart from right to left, just as you work the stitches on your needle. You will be moving in the same direction. If you are knitting flat, where when you reach the end of the row you must turn the work around to knit back across the row, your right side rows (when the outside of the work is facing you) are worked by following the chart right to left, and the wrong side rows (when the outside is not facing you) are worked left to right, so that everything lines up correctly. A good pattern will have numbers marked in for each row with not only the row number, but where you start the row, at the right edge or the left edge. Please let me know what you think of the video, if you have questions, and what else you might like to see a video about! Consider subscribing to my channel and sharing this video with others! I also offer Zoom lessons for extra one-on-one help, $15 a session (usually we limit these to 2 hours), or consider the more formal classes for instruction and projects at $25. Current lessons rates can be found here, and you can prepay on the site, later we can coordinate our schedules! https://sun-dragon-art-fiber.shoplightspeed.com/lessons/