I have spent hours graphing out knitting patterns manually (urgh!). Now I believe I have found a simple way to chart knitting patterns digitally (yay!).
Before I was intimidated by grahped knitting patterns. But after a bit of practice, I am pleased but not surprised, at how much faster and easier having visual graphs are to wordy text.
I needed to digitally graph some knit patterns and I was sick of doing it by hand. So I found some great knitting fonts.
I originally started looking for knitting software. But the learning curve just seemed too steep. Especially when I wanted to start knitting asap. Then I came across the fact that there are free knitting fonts. And they seemed a much better alternative. With the added bonus that I did not have to install additional software on my system.
Perhaps there are newer and still available knitting fonts that may be useful. But for now, I don't know of them. Sorry!
2 Main Free Knitting Fonts
I came across 2 popular knitting fonts in my research:
(both are no longer available but I am leaving the links in place in case they ever become available again!)
- Knitting Font ver 2 by Aire River Design - Preferred
- Knitter’s Symbols by David Xenakis
Knitting Font
(by Aire River Design- totally free even if you use fonts to commercialize your knitting patterns (but not for distributing the fonts themselves. Read license details at site for more information.)
- fonts compatible for PC and Mac
- can download self-extracting files
- more practical and useful as it has more knitting fonts / symbols
Knitters' Symbol
(by David Xenakis)- seems easier
- clear charts
- less documents to read
- BUT downloads as .sit (StuffIt) file; might need The Unarchiver to open it
- need you to install the fonts yourself
- limited knitting symbols
- (I had to download twice. I first downloaded TypeOne font for Mac but that didn’t work. Then I tried TrueType font for Mac. That worked.)
What I really like about David Xenakis’s Knitters’ Symbols is that each symbol is “boxed” so that you can use the fonts in a word processor or spreadsheet. Because of the “boxing”, you don’t need to rely on or create grids to place your knitting font symbols.
How to Install Knitting Font by Aire River Design
I will just shortly note here some installation details and stuff.
When you go to the site Knitting Font ver 2, you will need to click agree before it takes you to the download page.
On the download page, there are a number of download links – for Mac and Windows. Choose the appropriate one.
The downloaded .zip files contains a number of other files (which is listed on the site’s download page). Don’t be discouraged! You only need one or 2, depending on your system.
When I extracted the .zip file, I think that it also automatically installed the requisite font (knitpurlcbl.ttf) for me. It put it automatically into my user Library (not the system Library – which I think is safer even though for me it does not matter as I am the sole user of my laptop.)
How to use the Knitting Fonts
From the extracted files, you can print out a few useful reference charts. I chose 2 image charts (showing what keyboard keys for what knitting symbols) and the symbol reference document.
Once you have your printed reference, you can easily start using your knitting fonts.
They are exactly like any other fonts in that, in your working document, you choose which font to use and then, refering to your printed reference, you just type away.
Note however that since Aire River Design Knitting Font ver 2 does not have box outline for each symbol, it is best to use a spreadsheet (rather than a word processor), change the cell size to be like grids, and print out your knitting patterns with the grids showing as well.
