Knitting Chart Software Free Mac

by



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.

An Example of Knitting Fonts correspondence to Keyboard

MacStitch 2014 for Mac offers dozens of features and options in an incredibly deep interface for creating custom patterns on your Mac. The result, while strict in its learning curve, can be an. Aire River Design offers another free, nice-looking knitting font, with several interesting cable variations. Download information is here. If you are only charting simple patterns, you can probably get by with the WingDings font, which ships with both the Mac and PC.

2 Main Free Knitting Fonts

I came across 2 popular knitting fonts in my research:

Free knitting chart patterns
  1. Knitting Font ver 2 by Aire River Design [Unfortunately, this site seems to have gone down. I am leaving the link in case it becomes available again.]
  2. Knitter’s Symbols by David Xenakis

I was originally going to go with Knitter’s Symbols but in the end, decided against it. Here are some comparison points to help you choose your knitting fonts.

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)

Knitting Chart Software Free Mac Dvd Ripper

  • 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

[Knitting Font ver 2 by Aire River Design] seems to have gone down or has “forbidden access”. Link is left here in case they become accessible again.

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.

sidenote: Mine was “Download Version 2.00 .zip File (Mac users choose this! Restart systems after installing”.

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.

You will, at some stage, be able to see some of my knitting pattern outputs (fingers crossed that it will all work out) at my arty-crafty site: ClearlyHelena.com

Free Knitting Chart Patterns

Related Posts:

Win_Crea is a wonderful Windows freeware program for the Passap E6000 knitting machine. It is very similar to Stitch Painter and the Stitch Designer module in Designaknit. With some limitations, this software gem can be used by all machine knitters and hand knitters.

It is a very simple program to learn. In less than an hour, I was able to combine two clip art images, change a few colors, and add some columns to make the blanket image below. No, I do not have lots of experience with the software. This design was my maiden voyage. If you have used any basic bit-mapped graphics program, you will quickly grasp Win_Crea’s tools and menus.


Win_Crea can open files in .cut (Passap), .bmp, or .wmf formats. It can save in .cut and .bmp. This means all those huge collections of clip art gathering dust in your software cabinet can now be mined for knitting ideas. Once a file is imported, the software will allow you to rotate, change colors, flip, stretch, zoom in/out, add/delete columns and rows, and overlay one image on top of the other.

When your design is done, save it as a .cut file, then do a screen capture to keep the grid. When I tried using the Save command from within Win_Crea, the .bmp file stripped out the grid. A PrintScreen preserves the lines. Open the screen capture in your favorite graphics program, crop the excess screen capture, and print out the image for reference. If you know of a better way, please share in the comments. At the moment, I don’t have a color printer so I wasn’t able to see if printing from within Win_Crea keeps the stitch lines.

Some points to keep in mind:

Knitting Chart Software Free Mac Software

  • WinCrea is limited to 180 stitches because the E6000 has 180 needles. It is also limited to 255 rows. I assume this is due to memory issues in the E6000. If your design is wider or taller, you will need to break it into multiple files.
  • The download feature only works for the Passap E6000. For all other makes of electronic knitting machines, you will have to manually enter the design.
  • Since knitting is made up of rectangles, not squares, take advantage of Win_Crea’s ability to specify a specific gauge stitch/row proportion. You will find this option under Settings – Swatch Data.

Did I mention it’s free?

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Related Posts

Knitting Chart Software Free Mac Download

July 8, 2008