Learning to Read Crochet Charts / Knitting Charts 

Dear users, dear authors,
how do you learn to read crochet charts and knitting charts?

Does anyone else have anything to add?

If you want to recreate something that can only be made using a crochet or knitting chart, you have no choice but to familiarize yourself with the symbols. The only way to do this is to research the symbols and their meanings and memorize them. It’s a bit like learning a foreign language. Once you’ve mastered it, you’ll be able to follow the patterns easily.

However, there are also many people who prefer written instructions to diagrams. That’s why it’s important to know BEFORE buying the pattern whether you’ll need this skill to make the piece. Some projects can really only be recreated if you can read a crochet or knitting chart.

So how do you learn this skill? You have to want to do it, and you have to practice—ideally starting with small charts that don’t have too many symbols and aren’t too complex. Once you’ve had success with those, you can move on to larger charts.