Chart maker
Or try a sample
- 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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Written rows
Knitting chart maker — colourwork chart from a photo, to gauge
Knit stitches are wider than they are tall, so a square-pixel chart knits up long and thin. This one follows your stitch and row gauge, so the finished piece looks like the photo — with RS and WS rows written out.
The short answer
To make a knitting chart from an image, add the picture, enter your gauge in stitches and rows per 10 cm (20 and 28 is typical for worsted stockinette), set the width in stitches and reduce to a few colours. The chart is drawn in true stitch proportions, each row is written out with RS and WS marked, and it prints as a PDF.
Photo to pattern in four steps
Step 1: Add a picture
Simple shapes with strong contrast chart best — motifs, lettering, animals.
Step 2: Enter your gauge
Stitches and rows per 10 cm from your swatch. The chart's cells take that shape.
Step 3: Size and colours
Set stitches across; 2–5 colours suits stranded work, more suits intarsia.
Step 4: Knit from the rows
Flat or in the round, RS rows right to left. Print the PDF or use the tracker.
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.
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.
| Blanket | DK / light (3) | Worsted / aran (4) | Chunky / bulky (5) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baby blanket30 × 36 in · 76 × 91 cm | 38 × 46≈ 1,709 yd | 30 × 37≈ 1,532 yd | 23 × 27≈ 1,286 yd |
| Lap throw50 × 60 in · 127 × 152 cm | 64 × 76≈ 4,755 yd | 51 × 61≈ 4,294 yd | 38 × 46≈ 3,619 yd |
| Twin66 × 90 in · 168 × 229 cm | 84 × 114≈ 9,361 yd | 67 × 91≈ 8,414 yd | 50 × 69≈ 7,142 yd |
| Queen90 × 90 in · 229 × 229 cm | 114 × 114≈ 12,704 yd | 91 × 91≈ 11,428 yd | 69 × 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.
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.
| Yarn | Knit stockinette | Single crochet | C2C squares |
|---|---|---|---|
| DK / light (3) | 22 sts × 30 rows1.36 rows per stitch | 18 sts × 20 rows1.11 rows per stitch | 5 × 51.00, square |
| Worsted / aran (4) | 20 sts × 28 rows1.40 rows per stitch | 15 sts × 17 rows1.13 rows per stitch | 4 × 41.00, square |
| Chunky / bulky (5) | 14 sts × 19 rows1.36 rows per stitch | 11 sts × 12 rows1.09 rows per stitch | 3 × 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.
What people stitch from photos
A pet on a sweater front
An intarsia portrait on the front of a jumper, 40–60 stitches wide, charted to your real gauge.
Fair isle motifs
Reduce a pattern to two or three colours for stranded knitting and check the float lengths on the chart.
Colourwork hats
Knit in the round: switch to in-the-round and every row reads right to left.
Names and dates
Blankets and stockings with lettering chart cleanly at two colours.
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
Questions crafters ask
Anything we've missed?
Why do knitting charts come out stretched?
Most chart makers use square cells, but a stockinette stitch is roughly 1.4 times as wide as it is tall — 20 stitches and 28 rows to 10 cm is common. Knit a square chart and the picture grows about 40% taller. This tool shapes each cell by your gauge and adds rows to match.
How do I read a knitting chart?
From the bottom up. Knitting flat, right-side rows are read right to left and wrong-side rows left to right; in the round, every row is read right to left. The written rows mark RS and WS and the direction for you.
Stranded or intarsia?
Stranded (fair isle) suits two or three colours per row with short runs, since the unused yarn is carried behind. Long runs of one colour and many colours suit intarsia. The yarn estimate assumes plain stockinette; stranded work uses more for the floats.
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.
More for crafters
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