Crochet chart symbols: how to read a crochet diagram

A crochet chart is a little drawing of your fabric, seen from the right side. Each symbol is one stitch. Its height tells you how tall the stitch is, the short bars across the taller stitches count the yarn overs, and its foot points to where the hook goes. Row charts are read from the bottom up, and charts in the round from the centre out.

The three rules behind every crochet symbol

You do not need to memorise a long list. Almost every symbol you will meet is built from three simple ideas, and once you see them, new symbols mostly explain themselves.

Symbols are sometimes stretched or leaned on the page so they can reach the stitch they are worked into. That lean is only there for the drawing. Your stitches still stand up straight.

Crochet symbols chart: the key, with US and UK names

The symbols are the same whether a pattern is written in US or UK terms. Only the names change. For the main stitches, the UK name is one step up from the US name. Chain and slip stitch keep the same name. These are the shapes most English-language patterns use. The Crochets pattern designer draws its diagrams with them, and the free Pattern Decoder uses the same basic ones (chain, slip stitch, single crochet and the T family). Designers do vary a little (an x or a +, a dot or a small filled oval), so if a pattern prints its own key, that key wins.

Not sure which terms your pattern uses? See US vs UK crochet terms, or look up any abbreviation in the crochet abbreviations guide.

How to read a crochet chart in rows

Most charts for blankets, scarves and stitch patterns are worked flat, in rows, turning at the end of each one. Here is how to follow them.

1. Start at the bottom. The foundation chain is the row of flat ovals along the bottom edge. Row 1 sits on top of it, row 2 on top of that, and so on up the page.
2. Find the row number. Each number is printed on the side where that row begins, next to its turning chain. For right-handers, odd numbers are usually on the right and even numbers on the left.
3. Follow the row across. Row 1 is normally read from right to left, row 2 from left to right, and so on, because you turn your work at the end of each row. You never turn the chart itself.
4. Look straight down. Each stitch is worked into whatever is directly below its foot. A stitch in the row below with nothing pointing at it has been skipped.
5. Read the turning chain. Upright ovals at the start of a row are the turning chain. Whether they count as a stitch is up to the pattern: the usual habit is that a chain of 1 before single crochet does not count, and a chain of 3 before double crochet does.

Some charts print odd rows in black and even rows in blue so your eye can keep its place. Those colours are only there to separate the rows. They are not yarn colours unless the key says so.

A worked example: 3 rows, chart and words side by side

Here is a tiny swatch: one row of single crochet, one row of double crochet, and one more row of single crochet, on a chain of 7. Trace the chart with your finger while you read the written version.

What to notice:

• Row 1 starts on the right. The one upright oval at its right end is the chain closest to your hook, which you skip when you work into the 2nd ch from hook. That is why 7 chains give you 6 stitches.
• Row 2 starts on the left, and its 3 upright ovals stand where the first double crochet would be, because here the chain counts as a stitch. The five T shapes with one bar are the other five double crochet.
• Row 3 starts on the right again. Its single upright oval sits outside the fabric because it does not count. The last x on the left sits right on top of the 3 chains, which is why the written version says to work into the top of the ch-3.
• The number in brackets at the end of each line is the stitch count. On the chart you can check it by counting the symbols in the row: 6 every time.

How to read a crochet chart in the round

Granny squares, circles, mandalas and doilies are charted in the round. The drawing starts in the middle and grows outwards like rings on a tree.

1. Start at the centre. A small spiral or circle is a magic ring. A ring of chain ovals closed with a dot means chain a few and join them into a ring.
2. Work one ring at a time. Round 1 is the ring of symbols nearest the middle. Each round after it is the next ring out.
3. Find the start of each round. It is usually a short stack of upright chains with the round number beside it. A dot on top of that chain is the slip stitch that joins the round at the end.
4. Go anticlockwise. Unless the pattern tells you to turn, every round is worked with the right side facing you, so right-handers go anticlockwise (counter-clockwise) every round.
5. Let the symbols point outwards. Each symbol is turned so its foot faces the stitch it goes into and its top faces out. At the bottom of the circle they look upside down. That is normal.

Two stitches with their feet together, like the pairs in round 2 above, are an increase. A flat circle in single crochet typically grows by 6 stitches every round (6, 12, 18 and so on), but taller stitches and lace follow whatever the design needs, so trust the pattern's counts over any rule of thumb.

Amigurumi worked in a spiral (no join, no starting chain) is usually written rather than charted in English patterns. If you do see a chart for it, there are usually no dots and no starting chains, just the round numbers marking where each round begins.

Reading crochet charts left-handed

Charts are drawn for right-handed crocheters. If you crochet left-handed, the stitches and the symbols are exactly the same, but everything runs as if in a mirror:

• In rows, read row 1 and the other odd rows from left to right, and even rows from right to left.
• In rounds, go clockwise instead of anticlockwise.
• A row number printed on the right still tells you which row it is. You simply start that row from the other side.

Some lefties find it easier to flip the chart image in a photo app so it matches their hands. That works well, as long as you remember any words printed on it will flip too.

Crochets was built in memory of Susi, a left-handed crocheter, so this is not an afterthought for us. Switch the Crochets pattern designer to left-handed and it draws the chart for your hand from the start: row 1 runs left to right, the row numbers move to match, and the written pattern matches it.

Common mistakes when reading crochet charts

• Starting at the top. A chart is read from the bottom up (or from the centre out), the opposite of a page of text.
• Reading every row in the same direction. In rows that are turned, the direction swaps every row. Let the row numbers guide you.
• Mixing up US and UK names. The symbol is the truth. A T with one bar is the same stitch whether the pattern calls it dc (US) or tr (UK).
• Confusing feet together with tops together. Feet together adds stitches (an increase). Tops together takes them away (a decrease).
• Working into a chain instead of the space. When a symbol's foot points at a gap under a row of chain ovals, it goes into the space under the chains, not into one particular chain.
• Getting the turning chain wrong. Check whether it counts as a stitch. If it does, your last stitch of the next row goes into the top of it, as in row 3 above.
• Copying the lean. A stretched or slanted symbol is just reaching its stitch on paper. Work it as a normal upright stitch.
• Ignoring the pattern's own key. Most symbols are standard, but puffs, bobbles and clusters vary in how many loops they use. The key says exactly.

Crochet chart questions, answered

What do the lines across crochet symbols mean?

Each short bar across the stem stands for one yarn over before the hook goes into the stitch. The half double crochet (UK half treble) is the one exception: it has one yarn over but no bar, because you finish it by pulling through all three loops at once. One bar is a double crochet (UK treble), two bars is a treble (UK double treble) and three bars is a double treble (UK triple treble).

Do you read a crochet chart from left to right or right to left?

For a right-handed crocheter, row 1 and the other odd rows are usually read from right to left, and the even rows from left to right, starting at the bottom. The row number on the side tells you where each row starts. Left-handed crocheters read the same rows in the opposite direction.

Are crochet chart symbols different in US and UK patterns?

No. The symbols are the same in both. Only the names change: the x is called single crochet in US terms and double crochet in UK terms, and the T with one bar is a double crochet in US terms and a treble in UK terms. That is why a chart is a handy check when you are not sure which terms a pattern uses.

What is the difference between the x and the + symbol in crochet?

There is no difference. Both mean single crochet (UK double crochet). Different designers and countries prefer one or the other, and the pattern key will show which one it uses.

How do you read a crochet chart in the round?

Start at the centre, at the magic ring or the ring of chains, and work outwards one round at a time. Each round usually starts at a short stack of chains with the round number beside it, goes anticlockwise for right-handers, and ends with a slip stitch dot.

How do left-handed crocheters read crochet charts?

Charts are drawn for right-handers, so a left-handed crocheter reads them mirrored: rows that a right-hander reads from right to left, you read from left to right, and rounds go clockwise instead of anticlockwise. The stitches themselves stay the same.

What does it mean when crochet symbols are joined at the bottom or the top?

Symbols that share one point at the bottom are all worked into the same stitch, which is an increase, a shell or a V-stitch. Symbols that start apart and meet at the top are worked together into one stitch, which is a decrease such as sc2tog.

Keep reading: How to read a crochet pattern · Left-handed crochet · Crochet stitches for beginners · Stitch dictionary