Japanese knitting charts: how to read the symbols
Why Japanese patterns are drawn instead of written, how to read a chart row by row and what to do when a symbol is missing.
- One square is one stitch; one line of squares is one row or round.
- Read from the bottom up; right-side rows from right to left.
- The chart shows the right side of the fabric — on wrong-side rows you work the opposite stitch.
- A good chart always has a legend and marked repeats.
A pattern you can see
Japanese knitting books describe patterns almost entirely with charts. Instead of long lines of abbreviations, every stitch has its own small symbol on a grid, and the chart looks like the right side of the finished fabric. Once you know the symbols, you can follow a pattern in a language you do not speak.
This is why Japanese stitch dictionaries are loved by knitters all over the world. A cable, a lace leaf or a textured panel is easier to understand as a picture than as a paragraph: you see where the holes are, which way the stitches lean and how the motif repeats.
How to read a chart
Each square is one stitch and each line of squares is one row. You read the chart from the bottom up, starting with row 1. On right-side rows you read from right to left — the same direction in which the stitches leave the left needle. Row numbers are written at the side of the chart where the row begins, which makes it easy to keep your place.
Because the chart shows the right side, a flat piece needs one extra thought: on wrong-side rows you read from left to right and work the opposite stitch, so a knit symbol is purled and a purl symbol is knitted. In the round you always look at the right side, so every round is read from right to left in the same way.
A simple habit helps a lot: keep a ruler or a strip of paper just above the row you are working, so the rows you have finished stay visible below it.
The most common symbols
The basic marks are simple. A vertical line is a knit stitch, a horizontal line is a purl stitch and a small circle is a yarn over, which makes a hole in lace. Many charts leave the knit squares empty and explain this in the legend.
Decreases are drawn as lines that come together, and the shape shows which stitch lies on top and which way the decrease leans — to the right or to the left. A centred double decrease has a vertical line in the middle. Increases have their own marks, often a small arc or a symbol that opens upwards.
Some squares are shaded or marked as no stitch. They are placeholders: the stitch does not exist yet (or no longer exists) because of increases and decreases elsewhere in the row. You simply skip them.
Cables on a chart
Cables are drawn as crossing lines that span several squares. The chart shows how many stitches move and in which direction: the lines that cross on top are the stitches that end up in front. A cross over four squares usually means two stitches crossing over two.
The direction tells you where to hold the cable needle. Stitches that lean to the right are usually made by holding the first stitches at the back; stitches that lean to the left — by holding them in front. Always check the legend: designers describe the same cross in slightly different ways.
Legend, repeats and standard symbols
Japanese chart symbols are standardised in Japan (JIS), which is why charts from different books look so consistent. Still, books and designers add their own marks for special stitches, beads or techniques, so a good chart always comes with a legend.
A repeat is the part of the chart that is worked again and again across the row and up the piece. It is usually marked with a bracket or a coloured frame. Before you start, count the repeat — it tells you how many stitches the piece needs to keep the pattern centred.
Japanese charts in KnitLab Studio
The KnitLab palette includes Japanese chart symbols for knit and purl stitches, increases, decreases and cables, sorted into clear sections. When you need a mark that is not there, you draw it yourself in the symbol editor — lines, arcs, circles and ellipses snap to the grid — and use it like any other, with the same line weight as the built-in symbols, so the finished chart looks consistent.
Row numbers run along both sides of the grid, repeat lines show where a motif begins and ends, and knitting mode highlights the row you are working on, so you never have to search for your place again.
Questions about this topic
Do I need to know Japanese to knit from a Japanese chart?
No. The chart and the symbols carry the pattern. Knowing the most common symbols and how to read the chart is enough for most stitch patterns; the legend explains the rest.
Why does the chart show a knit stitch where I have to purl?
Because the chart shows the right side of the fabric. On a wrong-side row a stitch that looks like a knit stitch from the front has to be purled.
Are Japanese charts read differently from other charts?
The reading direction is the same as in most knitting charts. The difference is in the symbols and in how much of the pattern is shown as a chart rather than written out.