Crochet Chart Maker

How to make it

1. Pick a picture and a techniqueUpload artwork or a photo and choose Tapestry, Two colors or Filet. Filet turns the image into filled and open squares instead of colors.
2. Set width and colorsChoose the number of stitches across and limit colors. Each row's color count is shown, so heavy rows stand out before you start.
3. Print and crochetDownload the PDF chart with row numbers and a written list of color runs for every row, worked from the bottom up.

Three techniques, three kinds of chart

Crochet colorwork comes in several families, and each reads its chart differently. The maker has three modes: Tapestry for multicolor pictures, Two colors for a strict two-shade graph, and Filet for lace. Picking the right one matters more than any color setting, because it decides how the picture will be built in stitches.

Tapestry crochet works rows of single crochet and carries the colors not in use inside the stitches, swapping as the chart calls for it. It suits pictures, lettering and detailed motifs, and it makes a dense, sturdy fabric for bags, baskets and blankets. Two colors mode reduces the picture to exactly two shades, which suits two-color tapestry pieces and bold graphic art. Mosaic crochet is a separate technique with its own rules, covered below; this maker does not build mosaic charts directly. Filet crochet uses one color only, and the picture appears as solid blocks against an open mesh, which is classic for curtains, table runners and lettered panels.

Tapestry crochet charts: watching the color changes

Every color you carry thickens the fabric and slows you down, so the number of colors per row matters more than the total. The chart lists each row with its color count and color changes, which lets you spot rows that need four strands at once and simplify them before you start.

Row 1 sits at the bottom of the chart. In flat rows, odd rows are read from right to left and even rows from left to right, matching the way a right-handed crocheter turns the work. The written run list, for example "Row 7: 5 A, 3 B, 12 A", follows that direction, so you never have to read a row backward in your head.

Tapestry stitches have a habit of leaning, especially in the round, which is why motifs can drift sideways and columns refuse to line up. Firm, even tension helps, and many crocheters work in the back loop or use the center single crochet, also called the waistcoat stitch, for straighter columns. Swatch the stitch you plan to use before committing to a large piece. When you finish with a color for good, trap the tail inside the next few stitches rather than weaving it in later; tapestry fabric hides tails well, and this saves a long evening of finishing.

Two colors mode, and what it means for mosaic crochet

Two colors mode gives you a plain two-color graph: every cell is one shade or the other, and each row is listed with its runs, just as in tapestry mode. It does not apply the rules of mosaic crochet, where only one color is worked per row and the other shows through stitches dropped from below. The graph is not checked against those rules, and it carries no drop-down stitch marks.

Mosaic crochet itself avoids carrying yarn altogether. In the common overlay style you work two rows in one color, then two in the other, and the pattern comes from double crochets dropped into the front loops of rows below. The result is crisp and geometric, but it does not suit photos with soft shading.

You can still use a two-color graph as a starting point for mosaic work. Keep the picture simple, with shapes at least two stitches wide and no single-stitch details, then redraw it in the editor so that each pair of rows changes only where a dropped stitch can reach, and mark those stitches on your printout. For a first project, it is easier to stitch the two-color graph as tapestry crochet. Pairs of strongly contrasting shades work best either way: navy and cream, black and mustard, forest green and white. Knitters planning the same motif can switch to the knitting chart maker, where cells match real stitch proportions.

Filet crochet: filled and open

In filet mode, every cell becomes either a filled block or an open mesh square; there are no colors to choose. A block is typically worked as a column of double crochets, and an open square as a double crochet with two chains across, though patterns vary in how many chains they use.

Pictures for filet need strong silhouettes. Letters, flowers, birds, hearts and borders look best; photos with mid-tones lose their meaning when they can only be on or off. Increase the width to give fine features room, and check that the subject comes out filled while the background stays open, or the reverse for a cut-out effect.

Sizing a crochet chart

Stitches across times your stitch width gives the finished width. Crochet a small swatch in your yarn and stitch, count stitches across four inches, and divide. Single crochet in worsted weight often lands near four stitches to the inch, meaning a 120-stitch chart makes a piece around 30 inches wide, but your hand may differ.

Crochet stitches are not perfectly square, so a design can look slightly squashed or stretched in fabric compared with the screen. If proportions matter, as in a face or lettering, make the swatch with a small part of the motif and check it before the whole project. To make a pattern bigger or smaller, change the width in stitches or switch to a heavier or lighter yarn.

Where to go next

Planning a blanket worked diagonally in tiles? The C2C graph maker writes corner-to-corner rows instead. Knitters can chart the same picture in the knitting chart maker, which accounts for knit stitch proportions. You can also start from ready-made free crochet graphs and change their colors or size here. Whatever you chart is kept on your own device under My patterns, with nothing uploaded and no account needed, and a backup file lets you move it to a new computer.