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Techniques & Tutorials

How to Read a Crochet Chart: Symbols Made Simple

Every stitch symbol, the direction to read, and a worked example so charts finally make sense.

Updated 2026 · 11 min read

Twelve years in, I still keep a paper chart pinned above my desk: a small doily motif I first tried to read at about 2 a.m. during my second year of teaching. I got it so wrong that the piece looked more like a wonky spiderweb than a flower, and I remember thinking that charts must be some kind of secret code for crocheters smarter than me. They aren't. A crochet chart is simply a drawing of the fabric you're about to make, with one symbol standing for one stitch. Once you learn those symbols, you can follow a pattern written in any language, because the pictures don't care whether a designer calls a stitch double crochet or treble.

This guide walks you through the symbols you'll meet most often, how a chart maps onto the fabric, the difference between reading rows and reading rounds, and one small worked example you can follow line by line. If charts have ever made you feel like the only person who doesn't get them, you are in exactly the right place.

The common chart symbols

Every chart comes with a key, or legend, printed somewhere on the page. That key is the whole secret. It lists each symbol next to the stitch it stands for, and reading it first turns a page of cryptic shapes into a perfectly ordinary set of instructions. Don't skip it, and don't assume a symbol means the same thing it did on the last pattern — charts from different designers occasionally vary, especially for the less standard stitches.

That said, the vast majority of charts use the same widely agreed set, and you'll meet the same handful of shapes in almost every one:

Symbol	Stitch
An oval, like a small egg	Chain (ch)
A small solid dot	Slip stitch (sl st)
A plus sign or short cross	Single crochet (sc)
A T with one horizontal bar	Half double crochet (hdc)
A T with one diagonal slash	Double crochet (dc)
A T with two diagonal slashes	Treble crochet (tr)
Two symbols sharing one base	Increase (2 stitches in one)
Two symbols meeting at one point	Decrease (work together)

The taller stitches are easy to remember once you spot the pattern: a half double crochet is drawn as a T with one horizontal bar, a double crochet is a T with one diagonal slash, and a treble is a T with two diagonal slashes. Every extra slash stands for one more yarn over before you start the stitch, which is exactly what makes the stitch taller. I tell my students to picture a little ladder: the more rungs, the higher you climb.

Increases and decreases are the two symbols people hesitate on, so let me make them concrete. An increase is usually drawn as two stitch symbols rising out of a single base point, because you work two stitches into the same place. A decrease is the reverse: two symbols leaning in and meeting at one point at the top, because you pull two stitches together into one. Once you can see that, you can read shaping — the increases and decreases that give a hat or a sleeve its shape — directly off the page. If the individual stitch symbols are still new to you, our basic crochet stitches guide walks through each one with photos, and the abbreviations glossary lists the full US and UK vocabulary in one place.

How a chart maps to your fabric

Here's the thing that finally made charts click for me: a chart is not an instruction list, it's a drawing of the fabric. Each symbol sits in roughly the same place that its real stitch will occupy, in columns and rows that mirror the finished piece. Read from the bottom up and you're watching your work grow in the same order you'll actually crochet it.

Take the foundation. A row of little ovals along the bottom of a chart is your starting chain, because chains are the base everything else is built on. The oval that stands in for each chain sits exactly where that chain will sit in your work. Above them, the next row of symbols shows the first real row of stitches, stacked on top of the chains just as your stitches will be stacked into them. If the chart shows a small gap where a stitch is skipped, that gap shows up in the fabric too, as an eyelet or hole.

This is why charts are so good at showing you what written instructions can only describe: lace patterns with their open spaces, textured patterns where stitches lean one way or the other, and colourwork where every symbol sits in a neat grid. The chart shows you the shape of the thing. When a written instruction feels abstract, the chart is showing you the same information as a picture, and that picture is usually easier to copy.

Rows vs rounds on a chart

Charts are laid out in two different ways, and knowing which one you're looking at tells you which direction to read.

For a flat piece worked back and forth, you read in rows. A right-handed crocheter reads Row 1 from right to left, then turns the work and reads Row 2 from left to right, alternating every row. This back-and-forth is just the chart mimicking what your hands do when you turn at the end of each row. Most charts make it obvious by printing a row number at the edge of each row, on the side where that row begins — so if the 1 is on the right, you start that row on the right and read leftwards. If you're left-handed, you read it the other way round: start on the side marked, but work left to right on odd rows and right to left on even rows. Our left-handed crochet guide explains exactly how to flip it.

For a piece worked in the round, the chart is drawn like a target, and you read it from the centre outwards. The first round sits in the middle, the next ring outside it, and so on, growing outward just like your work does. Right-handed crocheters work counter-clockwise around each ring; left-handed crocheters work clockwise. Most round charts mark the start with an arrow or a small dot, and I can't overstate how much a stitch marker helps here — pop it into the first stitch of each round and you'll never have to hunt for where the round began. Our crocheting in the round guide covers rounds from scratch, and the granny square tutorial shows a round chart in action.

Reading a worked example

Let's read a small chart together, the way I'd do it with a student beside me. Imagine a simple flat swatch: along the bottom sits a row of ten small ovals, and at the right-hand end of that row the number 1 is printed. Above the ovals sits a row of ten T-with-one-slash symbols, and at the right end of that row stand three more ovals stacked vertically.

First, look at the key and confirm the terms. The oval is a chain, and the T with one diagonal slash is a double crochet. Now find the starting point: the number 1 tells you Row 1 begins at the right-hand side.

Row 1 is the foundation. Start at the right and read leftwards, chaining one for every oval: chain 10. That's your base.

Now the three vertical ovals at the start of the next row are your turning chain — chain 3 to bring your hook up to double-crochet height. Then turn, and read Row 2 from left to right. Each T-with-one-slash is a double crochet, so you work one double crochet into each of the ten chains across. If the chart draws the turning chain as standing in the place of the first stitch, it counts as your first double crochet, and you'll end the row with that chain plus nine more stitches; if the key says the turning chain doesn't count, you'll work ten. That single detail is where most counts go wrong, so check the key before you count.

That's the whole skill, and it doesn't get much harder than this: confirm the terms, find the start, read in the right direction, and turn each symbol into its stitch. A bigger chart just means more of the same, read one symbol at a time. When I get lost mid-pattern, I put my finger on the last symbol I actually worked and move it one symbol at a time — slow, but it always gets me back on track.

Charts vs written instructions

Most patterns give you one or the other, and increasingly both. Neither is better; they're just good at different jobs.

Written instructions tell you exactly how many of each stitch to make, in compact shorthand that fits on one page. They're brilliant for long stretches of plain fabric where nothing much changes. What they're not so good at is showing where a stitch sits in relation to its neighbours, which is why lace and shaping can feel like you're doing maths in the dark.

Charts excel at exactly that. Because every symbol sits where its stitch goes, you can see the shape of a lace motif, the curve of a sleeve, or the way a granny square grows round by round, without decoding a wall of abbreviations. And because the symbols are the same worldwide, a chart sidesteps the whole US-versus-UK confusion — a T with one slash is the same stitch whether you call it double crochet or treble.

My honest advice is to use both. Read the written version to check your counts and the chart to check your placement, and you'll catch mistakes neither one alone would have shown you. If written patterns are your comfort zone, our how to read a crochet pattern guide covers the shorthand, and the two skills together will let you follow almost anything.

Common mistakes & fixes

Frequently asked questions

What is a crochet chart?

A crochet chart is a diagram that shows each stitch as a symbol, laid out in the order you work them. It is a picture of the finished fabric, so you can see the shape, where each stitch goes, and how the rows or rounds fit together without needing to translate abbreviations.

Which direction do I read a crochet chart?

For flat pieces worked in rows, right-handed crocheters read the first row right to left, the next row left to right, and keep alternating, while left-handed crocheters reverse this. For charts worked in the round, you start at the centre and work outwards in a counter-clockwise direction, or clockwise if you are left-handed.

Do chart symbols differ between US and UK crochet terms?

The symbols themselves stay the same, because a symbol shows a stitch height rather than a name. What changes is the word that goes with each symbol, so a symbol labelled double crochet in a US chart is called treble in UK terms. Always read the chart's key so you know which naming system it uses.

What does each symbol on a crochet chart mean?

The most common ones are an oval for chain, a solid dot for slip stitch, a plus sign for single crochet, a T with one bar for half double, a T with one diagonal slash for double, and a T with two diagonal slashes for treble. Each extra slash means one more yarn over, so the stitch gets taller.

Why does my work not look like the chart?

The usual culprit is reading every row in the same direction instead of alternating, which flips the fabric and loses the shape. Another common one is mistaking the turning chain for a stitch. Check your starting point and the direction of each row first.

How do I know where to start reading a chart?

Look for the starting point the chart marks. For rows, a number on the right or left edge usually shows which side the first row begins on. For rounds, start at the centre circle and work outwards. The key or a small arrow almost always points you to it.

Are crochet charts only for advanced crocheters?

Not at all. Charts look intimidating because they are a new language, but each symbol is just one stitch, and once you know a handful you can follow surprisingly complex patterns. Many beginners find charts easier than written instructions because you can see exactly where each stitch goes.

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