How to read a cross-stitch chart

A counted cross-stitch chart is a map of your fabric. Each square on the chart is one square of Aida, and the symbol or colour in it says which thread to stitch there. Nothing is printed on the fabric itself, so you count your way across it, square by square.

The parts of a chart

• A square is one stitch. Each square on the chart is one full cross on one square of Aida. An empty square is fabric left bare.
• Symbols. Every thread colour has its own symbol, so a chart still works photocopied or printed in black and white, and two colours that look alike on paper can still be told apart.
• The key (or legend) lists each symbol with its thread: on a StitchZoid chart, the DMC number and name, and how many stitches of it the chart uses.
• Gridlines. A heavier line every 10 squares, across and down, breaks the chart into blocks you can count at a glance. Count to the nearest heavy line rather than from the edge.
• Row and column numbers run along the edges, so you can say exactly where you are: row 37, column 52.
• Sheets. A big chart is split across several pages rather than shrunk onto one, so the squares stay big enough to read. Each sheet says which rows and columns it covers; trim the margins and lay the sheets edge to edge.

Where to start

Find the centre of your fabric by folding it in half each way, and the centre of the chart by halving its width and height in stitches. Start there and work outwards, and the design ends up centred with the same margin all round, whatever the fabric size. StitchZoid prints this on every chart, along with the finished size on your Aida count.

Thread

DMC stranded cotton comes in skeins of six strands, which separate easily, so you stitch with a few strands pulled from the skein rather than the whole thread. A StitchZoid chart doesn’t set how many: that depends on your fabric and how full you want the stitches to look, so try a few on a scrap of your Aida first.

What a StitchZoid chart doesn’t include

Patterns bought from designers often add stitches beyond full crosses. A StitchZoid chart made from a photo has full cross stitches only:

• no backstitch outlines, the single straight lines drawn between squares on some charts;
• no half or fractional stitches (quarter and three-quarter stitches) for smoother curves;
• no French knots or other decorative stitches;
• no blended threads, two colours in one needle.

You can add any of these to a printed chart by hand. Every square that is charted is a full cross in one DMC colour from the key.

Colour or symbols only

StitchZoid prints either a colour chart with symbols, easiest to read on screen or in colour print, or symbols only, which saves ink and photocopies cleanly. Both come with the same key.

Next: how big your chart comes out on each Aida count, or the DMC colour chart the key’s numbers come from.

Sources

• Six strands that separate easily: DMC, Mouline Special (“its six strands separate easily”).
• Aida count as stitches per inch: DMC, Aida embroidery fabric.
• What a StitchZoid chart contains (symbols, key, heavier lines every 10, row and column numbers, sheets, the starting note) is what its printed PDF contains.

DMC is a trademark of its owner. StitchZoid is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to DMC.