About Charted Mosaic Knitting

Good job on the pillow! I hope it was a great success. To round out your mosaic knitting education and rocket you into the stratosphere of chart-reading, here is an advanced section on mosaic knitting from charts.

As you can probably tell from the photo at right, mosaic knitting can be a lot more sophisticated than what we’ve done up to this point.

The physical technique of mosaic knitting never gets much harder that what you’ve seen – knit, purl, and slip is still all there is – but the patterns themselves can get complicated.

I’m talking about charts.

Charts are an easy way to visually communicate complex information that would be confusing if it were written out in longhand.

Charts are usually easy to read and work from – that’s why they are popular among knitters as an alternative to written instructions.

Mosaic charts have a reputation for being tough to understand and follow, which is why this whole chapter is dedicated to unraveling their secrets.

If you don’t have much (or any) experience knitting from charts, don’t be afraid.

Just keep this in mind – my video shows you every step so you won’t get confused, and after you learn mosaic charts, any other kind of chart will be a cinch.

Concentric Circles Mosaic Chart

To follow along, download the PDF of this chart and get and a pen and highlighter ready along with your two colors of yarn and your needles.

When you have your chart printed out, follow along with the video below, referring as needed to the graphics and notes that follow. This chart is from the excellent Knitty tutorial on mosaic knitting.

Concentric Circles Mosaic Chart – Video

In this demonstration, I use blue for my MC and yellow for my CC.

Tips for Knitting from a Chart

Tips to Remember

1. Decide which of your yarns will be the dark (MC) and which will be light (CC). Write it on your chart so you don’t forget.
2. Using CC, CO a multiple of the pattern repeat stitches plus the edge stitches.
3. Work 1 wrong-side row in the cast-on color (you can knit, resulting in garter-stitch fabric, or purl, resulting in Stockinette-stitch fabric).

Three Rules Of Reading A Mosaic Chart

1. Each row on the chart is two rows of knitting.
2. Work right-side (odd-number) rows from right to left and wrong-side (even number) rows from the left to right.
3. Always work even on the wrong side.

The Box On The Right Is The Key To The Chart

• If there is a black square in the key on that row, knit all the black squares and slip all the white squares in that row.
• If there is a white square in the key in that row, knit all the white squares and slip all the black squares in that row.

To Knit The Chart

1. Start by working the stitch in the box on the right. It is the edge stitch.
2. Work according to the chart, knitting all the stitches that are the color in the key and slipping all the stitches that are the opposite color.
3. On every wrong-side row, work even (ignore the chart, look at your work).
4. Always work the last stitch in every row no matter what the chart says.

Tip: Use a highlighter to mark off each right-side row on the chart after you finish it.

Patterns for Practice – Charted Mosaic Knitting

Congratulations! If you were able to follow along with me and read and knit the sample mosaic chart, you are well on your way to doing some serious color knitting.

So now that you’ve tackled the joys and challenges of mosaic charts, it’s time to reap the rewards.

These eight recommended charted patterns are proof that knowing mosaic knitting allows you to knit some pretty amazing things. Enjoy.

Hooray! Whether you decide to try one of the practice projects right now or not, please give yourself a pat on the back for coming this far.