Can you just knit a cross-stitch chart?

Hey there... I have a question....
Can I knit a cross-stitch chart “one-to-one”? Or will the design end up stretched out?
I’ve fallen in love with a design and would love to knit it onto a bag. Or maybe I should crochet it instead 🤔 Mosaic or tapestry....
  How would you go about it?
The motif itself is 140x140 stitches...
Or maybe as a mosaic wall hanging? Just to get the fringes at the top and bottom, I’d have to work it horizontally...
So many question marks 😊

Hi Steffi,

I see a new idea has struck you. You discover something beautiful, and suddenly your mind is racing about what to do with this idea and how to bring it to life.

There are now many embroiderers here, as well as some who do tapestry. They can answer these questions.

All I know is that knitted stitches are elongated. Take a look at a gauge swatch. If the stitches were the same height and width, the gauge swatch would always show the same numbers for stitches and rows. But that’s not the case. There are always more rows than stitches. So if you just knit your motif, it would end up stretched out. This approach doesn’t seem advisable.

With crochet, the length-to-width ratio of the stitches would look better. But would the motif still be easily recognizable? Crochet stitches tend to be a bit lumpy, unlike smooth knitted stitches.

Maybe you could just embroider it in cross-stitch on Aida fabric. That’s very popular here on CP (in the blog), after all. You could also neatly frame the embroidered motif—which is guaranteed to be square—and incorporate it into your bag project.

Let’s see what the others have to say about your question. I hope you have a wonderful, creative weekend.

Best regards, Ina

Hi Steffi,
That’s an interesting idea and question… My first thought was that it should work—maybe the yarn thickness plays a role too, but I don’t have any experience with that. Out of sheer curiosity, I’ll give it a try sometime.
Ina’s idea is a nice alternative… WollwunderPetra wrote a blog post featuring a summer motif; she frames it with fabric… your bag could turn out something like that. I’m curious to see what your idea turns into in the end 😊

Since the ratio of stitches to rows isn’t 1:1 in knitting, this unfortunately isn’t that straightforward. The pattern would end up distorted. With crocheting, you wouldn’t have a problem.
For knitting, you’ll need squares in a grid of about 3:5 (depending on your gauge). I’ve already drawn various patterns on a grid like that and then knitted them.
Maybe you could draw your pattern on a grid like that and then try to stretch it out a bit by adding extra rows. But that’s quite time-consuming. You could try using Excel. That’s how I do it.

Correction: The grid needs to be 5:3, meaning 5 units wide and 3 units high.

Hi Steffi,

If you knit it double-faced, the motif would be squashed—too short compared to the original.

If you knit in garter stitch or stockinette stitch, the proportions would work out better, but you’d have to knit each row twice (first, purl all the background stitches and knit all the motif stitches; then, in the next row, knit all the stitches). Of course, this won’t be quite as noticeable as a two-color motif. And it’ll probably be a bit taller than the original.

Or you could try tapestry crochet—the proportions there are roughly the same as with embroidery.

I’m curious to see what you decide.

Best wishes, Sonja 

Hi Steffi,

I once had a beautiful cross-stitch pattern featuring a cat. I crocheted the sweater in a solid color. Knitting it would work, of course. Then I pinned a piece of canvas fabric to the front panel and transferred the cross-stitch pattern onto it. Finally, I just pulled the canvas threads out again: That way, you don’t have to convert anything and can use lots of colors. It might be a little more work, but I think it’s worth it

I like the idea 😃 
I was really hoping I could just knit or crochet it “somehow” right away.... But converting the pattern would be a mammoth task 
I’ll see if I can manage it 😁 with the embroidery 
Tonight I’ll do a little more weaving on the new border. I re-warped the tablet-weaving loom yesterday afternoon. A simple threading pattern, always nice and rhythmic: 4 forward, 4 backward, 2 forward and 2 back.... listening to a bit of an audiobook on the side.... Works well.... 
By the way, you can also weave cross-stitch patterns. They just can’t be too wide, though; at around 40 stitches, that’s pretty much the limit, and it should be two-colored.... 

I’ve also used cross-stitch patterns on knitted washcloths before: the motif in garter stitch on a stockinette stitch background.  I’ve also used other motifs for double-faced projects, like a rose. In any case, the pot holder was a big hit!
My “problem” right now is that I want to use a garter stitch motif for a double-faced project. But I haven’t gotten around to trying it out yet, and I’m curious to see the result.

I think I actually need to order some yarn first....
Yesterday I started crocheting a mosaic overlay; the pattern is pretty big at 135 stitches and would end up being more of a blanket than a bag. With 400m/100g, that came out to about 70 cm.... 🤨
It’s got to work somehow. Maybe I should test it out with a smaller motif first instead of jumping right into the big one....
I do have some smaller motifs on my tablet, I just haven’t printed them out yet 

Hey there,

so:
I’m both a knitter and an embroiderer.
Knitted motifs require more rounds/rows in height than stitches in width.

If you take a look at the gauge samples listed on yarn labels, you’ll see the ratio:

Here’s an example from my favorite yarn:

18 stitches by 24 rows/rounds equals a gauge of 10 by 10 cm.

Unfortunately, this means embroidery patterns don’t turn out as nicely 😕—it works for tapestry crochet and iron-on beads.

What kind of motif is it, anyway?
Maybe someone here can help you with the conversions. 🙂

Warmest regards 😊