How to Read a Cross-Stitch Pattern

A cross-stitch chart looks intimidating for about ten minutes, and then it never does again. Every chart uses the same handful of conventions; once you know them, any chart from any source is readable.

The grid is the fabric

Each square on the chart is one stitch on the fabric. Not one inch, not one centimetre - one cross stitch, whatever size that turns out to be on the fabric you chose. The chart says nothing about finished size on its own; that comes from the fabric count (see the Aida count guide).

Heavy lines every ten squares. Almost all charts mark every tenth row and column with a heavier line, exactly like graph paper. This is how you count without counting: you are never more than five squares from a landmark. Use them. Counting ten single squares to find a spot is how mistakes happen.

Symbols and the legend

Each symbol in a square means "stitch one full cross here in this colour". The legend (or key) maps each symbol to a thread - usually a DMC number, its name, and often the stitch count and skeins to buy.

Charts come in two flavours:

• Symbol charts - black and white, symbols only. Easier to read under lamp light, photocopy well, and never leave you guessing whether that square is light blue or lighter blue.
• Coloured charts - the symbol sits on a background tinted to the thread colour. Pleasant for getting the big picture, harder for distinguishing close shades.

Most good PDFs include both. Stitch from the symbol chart, refer to the colour chart when you lose your bearings.

An empty square means no stitch - fabric shows through. On a chart generated from a photo with the background removed, most of the border will be empty.

Arrows and the centre

Look at the edges of the chart for small arrows or triangles, usually at the middle of each side. Where they meet is the centre of the design.

You start there, not at a corner. The standard method:

1. Fold the fabric in half, then in half again. The crease point is the centre.
2. Mark it - a pin, or a loose tacking stitch in contrasting thread.
3. Find the centre of the chart with the arrows.
4. Start with a large block of colour near the centre, not with a lone stitch.

Starting from the centre guarantees the design lands centred on the fabric, with even margins, however the counting goes.

The other stitch types

Beyond full crosses, three marks appear on most charts:

Backstitch - a straight line drawn on the grid lines rather than in a square. It is stitched last, over the top of the finished crosses, usually with one strand. Charts show backstitch colours in a separate section of the legend. This is what gives photo charts their definition: eye rims, jaw lines, lettering.

Fractional stitches - a symbol filling only half or three-quarters of a square (often drawn as a triangle). Quarter and three-quarter stitches smooth diagonal edges. On Aida you have to pierce the centre of a block to make one, which is why some charts avoid them entirely.

French knots - usually a filled dot. Used for eyes, flower centres and other small accents.

Keeping your place

The two failure modes are losing your row and running out of fabric. Both are solved by the same habits:

• Work in blocks of ten, guided by the heavy grid lines, and check the block is right before moving on. Fixing one block is a two-minute job; discovering a one-stitch offset thirty rows later is not.
• Mark off completed areas on a printed copy with a highlighter, or use a magnetic board. Never mark the original if it is your only copy.
• Finish one colour within a region rather than jumping across the piece, and keep travelling threads on the back under 2 cm - long floats show through pale fabric.
• Count from a landmark, not from your last stitch.

Reading a photo-derived chart

Charts generated from photographs have a texture of their own. A few things to expect:

• Many shades of few families. Twelve browns, eight skin tones. This is normal and is what makes the image read; do not substitute "close enough" shades.
• No large single-colour blocks, unlike traditional samplers. Work region by region - one ear, one eye - rather than colour by colour across the whole piece.
• Backstitch matters more. On a photo chart the outlines carry the likeness. Leave them to the end, then watch the piece snap into focus.
• Confetti stitches. Isolated single stitches. A good generator removes most of them; the few that remain are usually catchlights and are worth keeping.

A first session, in order

1. Press the fabric, find and mark the centre.
2. Find the centre of the chart via the edge arrows.
3. Thread two strands, about 45 cm long.
4. Start on a block of colour at or near the centre.
5. Work outward in ten-by-ten blocks, checking each against the heavy grid lines.
6. Save all backstitch for last.

Every chart Stitcherry exports ships with both a symbol chart and a colour chart, a legend with DMC codes and stitch counts, centre arrows and a ten-square grid - make one from a photo and print a page to see.