How to Read a Knitting Chart for Colorwork

Colorwork charts look complicated at first glance — a grid of coloured or patterned squares that somehow becomes a wrist-warmer or a yoke sweater. Once you understand the logic behind the grid, charts become easier to follow than written row-by-row instructions. Here's how they work.

What a Colorwork Chart Shows

Each square on a colorwork chart represents one stitch. Each row of squares represents one round or row of knitting. The colours in the squares tell you which colour of yarn to knit with at that position.

Most colorwork charts use either:

• Coloured squares: The square is filled with the actual colour of yarn to use — blue square means knit with blue yarn.
• Symbol-filled squares: Different symbols (a dot, a cross, an empty square) each represent a different colour, keyed in a legend beside the chart.

Always read the colour key — the legend that tells you which colour corresponds to which symbol or square shade. Patterns often label colours as MC (main colour) and CC (contrast colour), or as Colour A and Colour B, rather than specifying actual colour names.

Reading Direction

This is where most beginners get confused. Charts are read differently depending on whether you're working flat or in the round.

Working in the Round (most colorwork)

When knitting in the round, you're always looking at the right side of the fabric. Read every round of the chart from right to left. The bottom row of the chart is the first round you knit; you work upward row by row.

Working Flat

When working flat (back and forth on two needles), right-side rows are read right to left, and wrong-side rows are read left to right. The pattern should note this, usually with row numbers on the sides — odd numbers on the right indicate right-side rows, even on the left indicate wrong-side rows.

Most colorwork (Fair Isle, stranded patterns) is done in the round specifically to avoid the complexity of working colourwork on wrong-side rows.

Pattern Repeats

Colorwork charts almost never show the full width of your knitting — they show a repeat section that tiles across the round. A repeat might be 6, 8, or 12 stitches wide.

The chart will usually mark the repeat with brackets, a red border, or asterisks. You work the stitches inside the repeat, then start again from the beginning of the repeat, working across the full round.

To place the repeat correctly in your round: divide your total stitch count by the repeat width. If it divides evenly, the repeat fits perfectly. If not, you may need to add or subtract a few stitches, or the pattern will specify "work [X] extra stitches" at the beginning or end.

Managing Two Yarns

Colorwork requires carrying two yarns across the back of your work simultaneously — one in each hand is the most efficient method.

Dominant Colour

The most important concept in two-colour knitting is dominance. The yarn held in your left hand (picked from below) sits slightly lower in the stitch and appears slightly larger and more prominent. This is called the dominant colour.

For most patterns, the main colour (MC) or the background colour should be dominant — held in the left hand. The contrast colour (CC) is held in the right hand. This is a convention that keeps colourwork consistent across the full piece. Switching which hand holds which colour mid-project will create visible stripes.

Keeping Floats Manageable

A float is the strand of yarn carried across the back when the other colour is being knitted. If a float spans more than 5 stitches, it needs to be caught — woven over or under the working yarn at the midpoint — to prevent long loose strands inside the garment that can snag or pucker the fabric.

Your pattern may include instructions for catching floats. If it doesn't, catch any float that would span more than 5 stitches by wrapping the non-working yarn around the working yarn once.

Counting Your Place in the Chart

Use a sticky note, chart holder, or magnetic ruler to mark your current row on the chart. Move it up one row after completing each round. This sounds simple but is the number one way to avoid the frustration of losing your place mid-round in a complex pattern.

Count your stitches at the end of each round, especially at the start of a new chart section. A missed stitch or an extra yarn-over shifts everything, and catching it one round later is much easier than catching it ten rounds later.

Checking Your Tension for Colorwork

Colorwork knitters often knit tighter than they do for single-colour work, because carrying two yarns creates a slightly stiffer fabric. Many experienced colorwork knitters go up one or two needle sizes compared to their single-colour gauge.

Always knit a colorwork gauge swatch. A plain stockinette swatch in the same yarn won't tell you your actual colorwork gauge — the two-yarn fabric behaves differently.

Struggling with colourwork charts or tension? Emma can help you troubleshoot →

Also useful: How to Read a Knitting Pattern covers abbreviations and written instructions alongside chart reading.