Convert Written Pattern to Chart - Part I
posted in Knit-witted |There is no debate over which patterns are best, written or charted. It’s simply a matter of preference.
When I started knitting I was intimidated by charts. The symbols used in charts can vary. For instance, one may leave a blank space to indicate “knit” and others may use a vertical dash for the same thing. There is no wrong or right way, but it can be overwhelming for a new knitter.
Over the Christmas holiday I knitted up several gifts using lace patterns. Initially, I read each line, muddling through, until I made several mistakes, after putting the project down. For me, it was difficult to come back to the pattern and figure out where I was.
I decided to take a few moments to chart the patter and I am so glad that I did. I appreciated the written pattern, because each line of the pattern was spelled out - nothing left to interpretation. However, once I charted out the 25 row pattern, I would actually see the pattern before my eyes.
I own the first two knitting treasuries by Barbara G. Walker. Both of these books contains hundreds of patterns that are all written out. I’m not turned off by the black-and-white images, but find that it’s difficult to follow some of the very long, complicated patterns. Even some of the less complicated, but wordy patterns seemed to be frustrating for me. Yet, I would probably feel like something was missing if I had only the chart. I’d second guess myself and spend way more time testing, rather than producing.
That’s when I decided that I’m not an either/or gal, I’m a “both” type of knitter. I need the logic of the written word AND the visual of the charts.
I thought I had pattern converting all figured out, until I ran into one that shifted a little,
Taken from A Second Treasure of Knitting Patterns
Multiple of 6 sts plus 1
Row 1: (Wrong side) and all other wrong-side rows - Purl.
Rows 2, 4, and 6 - K1, *yo, skk, k1, k2 tog, yo, k1; rep from *
Row 8 - k2, *yo, sl 1-k2 tog-psso, yo, k3; rep from *, end last repeat k2
Row 10 - K1, *k2 tog, yo, k1, yo, ssk, k1; rep from *
Row 12 - K2 tog, *yo, k3, yo, sl 1-k2tog-psso; rep from *, end yo, k3, yo, ssk.
Here is what you get when you chart the same pattern.
The orange box represents the repeated section.
* NOTE - This is what the last repeat looks like on the 8th row. You will follow the repeat “yo, sl 1-k2 tog-psso, yo, k3″, but the last 6 stitches will be slightly different.
** NOTE - The same applies to the 12th row. In order to maintain the same amount of stitches and to keep the pattern aligned, after your first lead in stitch, you repeat the stitches in the orange box until you get to your last repeat and then “end yo, k3, yo, ssk”.
This is a very basic example, but you can actually see the pattern in a chart. This is very useful when you are working with a complicated lace, or aran pattern, in my opinion.