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Chart maker

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What are you making?
How big?

Your gauge and yarn use Optional

Filled in from the yarn weight. Measure a swatch and enter your own for a closer yarn estimate — unravel one square or ten stitches and measure the yarn.

Colours
Clean up lone stitches
    Chart
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    Finished
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    Colours
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    Yarn, approx.
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    Add a photo to start. Nothing is uploaded.

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    Every template is checked by a person before it appears. Only the title, the chart, the tags and the name you give are sent.

    Nothing uploaded

    Crochet pattern from photo — graphghan chart with written rows

    Turn a photo into a single-crochet graphghan chart that keeps its shape — crochet stitches are not square, and the chart allows for it — with every row written out, yarn per colour, and a tracker for your phone.

    Nothing uploadedTrue stitch shapeWritten rowsYarn per colour

    The short answer

    To turn a photo into a crochet pattern, add the photo, choose single crochet or C2C, set the width in stitches and the number of colours (5–10 is usual), then clean up any lone stitches. The tool writes every row in words, Row 1 at the bottom, estimates the yarn for each colour, and makes a printable PDF. Nothing is uploaded.

    How it works

    Photo to pattern in four steps

    1. Step 1: Add a photo

      Anything with a clear subject. Busy backgrounds become busy charts, so crop close.

    2. Step 2: Pick the stitch

      Single crochet for a tapestry-style graphghan, or C2C for squares worked on the diagonal.

    3. Step 3: Set size and colours

      Width in stitches or cm. Your gauge keeps the finished piece the photo's shape.

    4. Step 4: Print or stitch

      Download the chart, key and written rows as a PDF, or open the tracker on your phone.

    Then stitch it row by row on your phone

    Start stitching opens the tracker: the current row in big words, a close-up of the chart, one tap per colour block, and a count of how many before the next colour change. It remembers your row every evening, keeps the screen awake, and never shows an ad.

    Open the trackerJust a row counter
    Size and yarn guide

    C2C blankets: squares, and yarn to buy

    Squares for common blanket sizes, and yarn including 15% for tails and joins. Worked out by the same figures the tool uses — one square is about 2 cm in DK, 2.5 cm in worsted and 3.3 cm in chunky.

    Squares and yarn for C2C blankets by yarn weight
    BlanketDK / light (3)Worsted / aran (4)Chunky / bulky (5)
    Baby blanket30 × 36 in · 76 × 91 cm38 × 46≈ 1,709 yd30 × 37≈ 1,532 yd23 × 27≈ 1,286 yd
    Lap throw50 × 60 in · 127 × 152 cm64 × 76≈ 4,755 yd51 × 61≈ 4,294 yd38 × 46≈ 3,619 yd
    Twin66 × 90 in · 168 × 229 cm84 × 114≈ 9,361 yd67 × 91≈ 8,414 yd50 × 69≈ 7,142 yd
    Queen90 × 90 in · 229 × 229 cm114 × 114≈ 12,704 yd91 × 91≈ 11,428 yd69 × 69≈ 9,856 yd

    The yardage assumes about 0.85, 1.2 and 1.8 yards per square in DK, worsted and chunky — mid-range figures, and tension changes them a lot. Make one square, unravel it and measure the yarn, then enter your own figure in the tool before you buy.

    Why charts look stretched

    Stitches aren't square

    A chart with square cells only works for C2C, where every square is a block of stitches. A knit stitch is about 1.4 times as wide as it is tall, and single crochet about 1.1, so a square-cell chart knits up tall and thin. This tool shapes each cell by your gauge and adds rows to match.

    Typical stitches and rows per 10 cm, and rows needed per stitch across
    YarnKnit stockinetteSingle crochetC2C squares
    DK / light (3)22 sts × 30 rows1.36 rows per stitch18 sts × 20 rows1.11 rows per stitch5 × 51.00, square
    Worsted / aran (4)20 sts × 28 rows1.40 rows per stitch15 sts × 17 rows1.13 rows per stitch4 × 41.00, square
    Chunky / bulky (5)14 sts × 19 rows1.36 rows per stitch11 sts × 12 rows1.09 rows per stitch3 × 31.00, square

    Per 10 cm (4 in), from the middle of the ranges on standard yarn labels. Your own swatch beats any table — enter it under "Your gauge" and the chart reshapes.

    Ideas

    What people stitch from photos

    • A graphghan for a wedding gift

      A couple's initials or a line drawing of the venue, worked in single crochet, 100–120 stitches across.

    • Tapestry bags and cushions

      Small charts of 30–50 stitches work up fast in tapestry crochet and make good first projects.

    • A memory blanket

      A favourite family photo at 6–8 colours, as a keepsake that can't be bought.

    • Sell your own patterns

      Chart your own artwork and write it out row by row — a clean pattern PDF in minutes.

    Your photo never leaves your device

    The photo of your dog, your children or your wedding is opened and turned into a chart by your own browser. There is no upload, because there is no server for it to go to. Patterns and your progress are kept on this device, and a link sent to your phone carries only the chart, after the "#" — the part of an address browsers never send to a server.

    • No upload, no account, no email
    • No watermark on your pattern
    • No ads in the tracker, the chart or the PDF
    • Progress saved on this device only
    • The photo is never in a shared link
    FAQ

    Questions crafters ask

    Anything we've missed?

    Tell us

    Why does my crochet chart need to be taller than the photo?

    Because a single crochet stitch is wider than it is tall — at a typical worsted gauge, about 15 stitches and 17 rows make 10 cm. A chart with square cells would come out squashed. The tool uses your gauge to add the right number of rows, and shows the chart in true proportions.

    Which way do I read the rows?

    Row 1 is the bottom row of the chart. Right-handed, odd rows are read right to left and even rows left to right, because that is the way the work travels. The written rows and the tracker show the direction on every row.

    Single crochet or C2C?

    Single crochet (tapestry or graphghan) gives the finest detail per inch, and suits smaller pieces and faces. C2C is faster, has no carried yarn, and suits big blankets. Switch between them in the tool and compare.

    Can I use the chart for mosaic crochet?

    Not as it is. Mosaic crochet works one colour per row and builds the picture with dropped stitches, so it needs its own kind of chart. This tool makes colour-per-stitch graphs, which suit tapestry single crochet, graphghans and C2C.

    Is my photo uploaded?

    No. The photo is read and turned into a chart by your own browser, and there is no server it could be sent to. When you send a pattern to your phone, the link carries the finished chart — never the photo — and it sits after the "#" in the address, a part browsers never send to any server.

    How many colours should a photo blanket have?

    Usually 5 to 10. Every colour is another yarn to buy and more changes to weave in, and past about 10 the extra shades mostly add scattered single stitches rather than detail. Start at 8, then merge any colour with only a handful of stitches into its neighbour. Turning clean-up on removes the lone stitches for you.

    How do I follow the pattern on my phone?

    Choose Start stitching. On this device it opens the tracker straight away; to move it to your phone or tablet, use Send to my phone, which shares a private link, or save the pattern file and open it in the tracker there. The tracker shows the current row in words, moves on when you tap, and remembers where you stopped.

    Is it free?

    Yes — the chart, the written rows, the PDF and the tracker, with no account and no watermark. Ads appear on these pages but never in the tracker, the chart or the PDF.

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