You can find the tutorial I wrote on how to make a chart in Excel here.
The advantage to using Excel is you can insert a picture of what you are designing next to the chart and even move the image around to hover over the chart to see if you have your proportions right. Also, once you finish the chart, if you keep it on your computer and zoom in you can move the cursor row by row and mark where you left off on you afgan work.
The disadvantage to Excel is you have to set up everything yourself and if you aren't familiar with the program it can be a little tricky.
The Tricksy Knitter Color ChartMaker has the grid already set up.
If you want to add more stitches or rows, just hold the cursor over the plus sign and double click. To subtract rows hold the cursor over the minus sign and double click. The directions for adding color to the grid are in the help section and are pretty easy to follow. To change the colors on the palette, just click on one of the color boxes and then select a new color from the color spectrum box. You can then save the chart onto the Tricksy Knitter site where others can use the chart as well. You can also embed the newly made chart onto your own site as well.
If you don't feel like you can do a whole chart from scratch you can select and already made chart and edit it. There are already over 4500 charts on the shared charts section.
Chart making and doing tapestry crochet is a lot of fun, so try making a chart today!
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Do you find that square grids work okay for knitting proportions? I've been wanting to start designing my own patterns but feel like a knit stitch is taller that it is wide, so that using squares might make the image appear more stretched when knit? Just curious.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
The beauty of using excel is you can make the grid match your stitches. When you input the row height, just put in a bigger number and adjust it till it looks in proportion. For example to get a square grid I make the Row Height 15 and the Column Width 2, so you could make the row height a larger number until it looks about right.
DeleteThere is also a site that will turn any picture into a crochet pattern for you for free. mypcstitch.com.
ReplyDeleteHi, I found your pdf tutorial really helpful!! But just a little suggestion.. You dont have to hold the picture to make it transparent.. If you right click it, there will be an option to increase transparency.. once you do that.. and put your picture.. you can just start filling up colours..
ReplyDeletemakes life a little bit easier! :)
Thank you so much for sharing this!
Thanks for the tip!
Deletehi im a little lost with your excel tutorial...i have excel 2007 and when i right clicked i dont see column width anywhere.
ReplyDeleteDid you highlight the columns first? You need to do that, then column width should come up when you right click. To highlight the columns, click on one of the columns (the letters at the top) then drag the mouse to the right while holding down the left click button. Then with your mouse in the center of the highlighted columns right click and the menu with column width should show up (it will be near the bottom after Format Cells). Hope this helps.
DeleteSo confused with these charts, must be me, just stupid I guess. Is each block on a chart supposed to represent one inch? So if I wanted to do letters how would that work & if I wanted to do a picture how would that work?
ReplyDeleteThanks
Each block is one single crochet stitch. I have found a way to actually put a picture on the background of an excel file and then put the blocks of color directly on top of the picture. I usually make the picture the size I want first by using a photo editing program (3000x3000 pixels will make an afghan size). Then in Excel, click on the Page Layout tab, then click on Background and find your picture and click on it an it will show up as the background.
DeleteWhen i try to change the column width in excel 2 is a really long space. And when I do row length it won't let me do 15 but will let me do .15. Is it because it's excel for mac?
ReplyDeletePossibly, I'm using a PC and I've never tried to use Excel on a Mac. You may have to experiment until you are able to make squares.
DeletePam g can I pay you to make me a pattern?
ReplyDeleteHi Pamela, thank you for sharing your review about Tricksy Knitter. Another great tool to take a look at is Stitch Fiddle. It has a simple and clear design and it imports your own pictures in the right proportions (based on your gauge). This tool can be used for free as well: www.StitchFiddle.com
ReplyDeletecrochet graph yang menarik
ReplyDeleteini mudah dipahami
terima kasih infonya
sama-sama
DeleteHi Pam thank you so much for posting this. I found the download on how to use excel very useful. I have linked your page to a post I have written on my own blog about trying to write a pattern for my latest project. Hope you don't mind, if so I can take the link down, it's on charlottescraftyattic.blogspot.co.uk xx
ReplyDeleteThat's fine, glad I could help.
DeleteIf you do an image search for alphabet you will find all kinds of pictures for letters, just save the picture you like to your hard drive.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any suggestions on how to take a picture and graph it to fit on a crochet beanie? I recently had a request for one, but I don't know the proper way to do it so that the picture is centered and is the right size. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThere is a free service online called Stitchboard.com that you upload a picture to and then tell it what size you want and what colors and it makes a pdf chart for you.
DeleteThank you so much for this tutorial!!! This was super easy to follow and I have already made a graph that I intend to crochet!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I could help.
DeleteEXCELLENT!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
ReplyDeleteHow would you get an corner to corner to come out in an exact size you wanted and you have a picture your wanting to do? Also, is there a way to figure out how much yarn you are going to need for it?
ReplyDeleteWhen I design my charts I make them for an I hook and worsted weight yarn. I know that my gauge will be 4 stitches and 4 rows per inch. To get an idea of what size your chart will make with a different hook and yarn, measure the number of stitches and rows you do per inch and then divide the number of squares going the width of the chart by the number of stitches per inch to figure out how wide it will be and divide the number of squares on the length of the chart by the number of rows to get how long it will be. I estimate the amount of yarn based on the approximate size I estimate it to be and I use this chart http://www.lionbrand.com/faq/96.html to help me figure out how much yarn I need. Usually the label on the skein will give the yardage. So say the skein of yarn you want to use has 360 yards, divide the amount of yardage needed for the size of blanket you need by the amount of yardage in the skein to find out how many skeins you need. Then I approximate how much of each color I need based on which colors I use the most of. It's not very exact, but it will give you a ball park figure. Hope this helps.
DeleteI have a lady wanting an afghan with a list of 6 names on it. I have tried every graph out there and can not get them to come up and look decent. How do I make a graph using 6 names and have them centered and not so big that it turns out to be bed size. I just need somehthing small for a couch afghan.
ReplyDeleteHi Pam, I just discovered your blog. It looks great! I look forward to exploring it more. Just an FYI, I tried to take a look at your Excel PDF and found that the link leads to a 404 error.
ReplyDeleteI will be back.. So many great ideas and things to try!
-Suz
Hi. The link to the tutorial for making patterns in Excel says "internal server error".
ReplyDeleteHi. The link to the tutorial for making patterns in Excel says "internal server error
ReplyDeleteI get the same error as well. Can the link please be fixed. Many thanks really want to try this out to broaden my crochet skills
Hi Pam!! My name is Erica Smith, and I live in Orofino Idaho. I have been crocheting for about 11 years and I absolutely love to crochet, it's my outlet and my passion. I however haven't done much chart creating and I don't have a computer at home. I have attempted many programs on my smart phone but nothing is turning out. I have twin teenage boys that I have adopted recently and they love spin em brand hats and things. So I want to crochet them each a beanie for Christmas with this logo on it, but I can't seem to get it on a chart that is small enough for a hat. Is there a possibility you could help me make a chart so I can get them some warm hats with their branding on it? That would be appreciated! My email address is ericabsmith2008@gmail.com and I'm on facebook as Erica Smith. Thanks so much! ~Erica Smith
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tutorial. Check out some amazing Art and Craft Supplies that can help you to make great DIY.
ReplyDelete