★ BETA VERSION · Work in progress
Double Knitting Design Tool
◀ Tool
ⓘ About
📖 User Guide
▶ Policy
🔎 Open Design Tool

🪒 Overview

The Double Knitting Design Tool is a free, browser-based chart designer for double knitting. Draw your color chart on a grid and it automatically generates written knitting instructions for both standard (mirrored) and non-mirrored double knitting.

FeatureWhat it does
Grid designerDraw your two-color pattern using Paint, Erase, Fill, and Mark tools
Mark, Copy & PasteSelect cells individually, by row/column, or by dragging a rectangle — then copy and paste anywhere
Double Knitting PatternGenerates standard mirrored DK written instructions per row
Non-mirrored PatternGenerates non-mirrored DK instructions for independent two-sided designs
📷 Export PNGSave the grid as an image with row/column numbers on all four sides
↓ Export Chart Excel ★Save the raw chart as .xlsx — colored cells = 1, blank = . — named after your design
↓ Export Pattern ExcelDownload the written pattern (segments) as .xlsx with a Legend sheet
Image importConvert any PNG/JPG photo directly into a grid
Excel importImport a chart from a spreadsheet (1 = colored, blank = empty)
Cloud librarySave up to 5 designs and access them from any device
Accessibility checkerCheck color contrast and simulate color blindness
💡 Works entirely in your browser — no installation needed. An account is optional and only required for cloud saving.

■ 1. Building a Grid

Configure your grid in the sidebar on the left. On mobile, tap ☰ to open it.

Grid Size

Enter Columns (stitches) and Rows — up to 300 each. Each column = one stitch on Side A; Side B is handled automatically by the pattern generator.

💡 One chart cell = one stitch on Side A.

Cell Size

  • Manual — enter cell width and height in centimetres.
  • By gauge — enter your knitting gauge and the tool calculates proportional dimensions.
1
Enter column and row counts in Grid Size.
2
Set cell size in Manual or By gauge mode.
3
Click ▶ Build Grid. The canvas appears.
4
To resize later, change values and click ↻ Change Grid. Your drawing is preserved.
⚠ Trimming removes drawing in cut rows/columns. Use Undo immediately if needed.

✎ 2. Drawing

Pick a tool from the Palette bar at the bottom. Each tool stays active until you choose another.

Tools

ToolHow it works
✎ PaintClick or drag to paint cells with the active color. Default tool.
◻ EraseClick or drag to remove color from cells.
⬛ FillClick to flood-fill a connected region of the same color.
▦ MarkSelect cells for copy/paste. Stays active until you switch tools. See Section 3.

Colors & Palette

Click any swatch to make it active. Use the color picker to choose any color, then click + to save it to the palette. Changing the active color instantly repaints all cells that used that color.

⚠ Leave background cells blank (C1) and paint only pattern stitches (C2). The pattern generator uses colored vs. blank to determine C1/C2.

Zoom

Use − and + in the toolbar to zoom. The canvas scrolls independently. Pinch-to-zoom works on mobile.

▦ 3. Mark, Copy & Paste

The Mark tool selects cells for copying and pasting. It stays active until you deliberately pick another tool.

Marking Individual Cells

Click any cell to mark/unmark it (golden amber outline). Drag to mark/unmark multiple cells in one stroke — the mode is set by the first cell touched.

Marking Entire Rows & Columns

With Mark active, click a row number to mark the entire row, or click a column number to mark the entire column. If all cells are already marked, clicking again unmarks them all.

💡 Right-clicking row/column numbers still opens the Insert/Delete menu regardless of active tool.

Drag to Select an Area

Click and drag diagonally to mark a rectangular block. A dashed amber preview shows the growing rectangle; releasing commits it.

1
Choose ▦ Mark from the Palette bar.
2
Click the starting corner of the area you want.
3
Drag to the opposite corner — a dashed preview fills the rectangle.
4
Release to confirm. All cells in the rectangle are marked.

Copying & Pasting Marked Cells

ButtonWhat it does
📋 CopyCopies all marked cells and their colors. "Copied!" briefly confirms.
📄 PastePaste mode: hover the grid to preview (blue dashed), click to place. Press Esc to cancel.
✕ ClearRemoves all marks without changing cell colors.
💡 The Mark tool stays active after pasting — keep marking, paste again, or switch to Paint to continue drawing.

↺ 4. Editing

Undo / Redo

Up to 50 actions are undoable per session: drawing, paste, resize, flip, insert/delete.

Ctrl+Z   Undo  |  Ctrl+Y   Redo   (also Ctrl+Shift+Z)

Toolbar buttons: ↺ Undo / ↻ Redo.

Flip & Numbering Origin

  • Flip L↔R — mirror horizontally.
  • Flip T↕B — mirror vertically.
  • Column numbers: Left / Right — which end is column 1.
  • Row numbers: Top / Bottom — which end is row 1. Most knitters use Bottom (cast-on edge).

Inserting & Deleting Rows and Columns

With Paint, Erase, or Fill active: click a row/column number to select it (turns blue), then right-click for the context menu. Options include Insert 1 or multiple, and Delete selected.

⚠ When Mark is active, clicking row/column numbers marks cells. Switch to Paint first to use Insert/Delete.

↓ 5. Exporting

Three export options are in the Actions section of the sidebar, available from the Grid tab.

📷 Export PNG

Saves the entire grid as a PNG image with row and column numbers on all four sides. Named after your design (e.g. MyShawl-40x60.png). Zoom level has no effect — always exported at full resolution.

↓ Export Chart as Excel  NEW

Exports the raw chart grid — the actual cell-by-cell pattern — as an Excel (.xlsx) file. This is the visual grid in spreadsheet form, not the written knitting instructions.

Grid cellExcel value
Colored (C2 — painted)1
Blank (C1 — background). (dot)

The file includes:

  • A header row with column numbers matching your chosen numbering origin (left→right or right→left).
  • A row-label column on the left matching your row numbering origin (top→bottom or bottom→top).
  • Frozen panes — the header row and row-label column stay visible while scrolling in Excel.
  • Named <design-name>-grid.xlsx (e.g. MyShawl-grid.xlsx).
Example output (5 cols x 3 rows, row 1 at top): 1 2 3 4 5 1 . 1 1 . . 2 . 1 . 1 . 3 1 1 1 1 1
1
Build and draw your grid. Set a design name via 💾 Save if you haven't already.
2
In the sidebar Actions section, click the blue ↓ Excel button.
3
The file downloads immediately as <design-name>-grid.xlsx.
★ New feature: Export Chart Excel saves colored=1 and blank=. values with your design name as filename and sheet name, frozen headers, and correct numbering origin.
💡 A chart exported this way can be re-imported using the Excel import — any non-blank value is treated as a colored cell on re-import.

↓ Export Pattern Excel (from Pattern tabs)

Each pattern tab (Double Knitting Pattern and Non-mirrored) has its own ↓ Excel button. This exports the written stitch instructions — segment counts and C1/C2 assignments — plus a Legend sheet with design name and grid dimensions.

⚠ Chart Excel and Pattern Excel are separate exports. Download from each tab if you need both.

☰ 6. Generating Patterns

Click the ☰ Double Knitting Pattern or ☯ Non-mirrored Double Knitting tab, then click ▶ Generate.

Double Knitting Pattern (Mirrored)

Both sides worked simultaneously. Side B = mirror + inverted colors of Side A.

  • Odd rows: left → right  |  Even rows: right → left
  • C2-C1 = Color 2 front, Color 1 back  |  C1-C2 = Color 1 front, Color 2 back
💡 C1 = background (blank cells). C2 = pattern color (colored cells).

Non-mirrored Double Knitting

Each side designed independently. Both tabs offer: row range filter, ▶ Generate, ⧉ Copy (plain text), and ↓ Excel.

⇧ 7. Importing

From Excel

Format: 1 (or any non-blank value) = colored, blank = empty. Each cell = one grid cell.

1
Select Excel in the Import section.
2
Click ⇧ Upload .xlsx / .xls and choose your file.
3
If multiple sheets, click the one to import.
4
Grid resizes automatically to match spreadsheet dimensions.

From Image

1
Build grid first — image scales to your exact column/row count.
2
Select Picture, click ⇧ Upload image (PNG or JPG).
3
Adjust Threshold — lower = more cells colored. Live preview.
4
Tick Invert for light-on-dark images. Choose fill color.
5
Click ✓ Apply to Grid. Fully undoable.
💡 Best with high-contrast black-and-white images. Threshold 25–35% works well for most motifs.

💾 8. Saving & Loading

1
Click 💾 Save in the toolbar and enter a design name.
2
Click ☁ Save to Cloud (signed in, up to 5 designs) or ↓ Download .pgb for a local backup.

Click 📁 Load to open from cloud or a .pgb file. Click 📚 Library to browse cloud designs with thumbnails.

💡 The design name is also used as the filename for PNG and Excel exports. Name your design first for best results.

♿ 9. Accessibility

Click ♿ Accessibility in the toolbar. Helps choose yarn colors readable by knitters with color vision differences.

  • Contrast checker — WCAG ratio between C1 and C2. Aim for 3:1 minimum; 4.5:1 (AA) is better.
  • Color blindness simulation — Deuteranopia and Protanopia previews.
  • Suggested pairs — eight pre-tested accessible combinations.
💡 High value contrast (one dark, one light yarn) makes patterns readable even with poor hue contrast. Black & white is always safe.

👤 10. Account

Optional — the full tool works without one. Only needed for cloud saving (up to 5 designs).

  • Sign Up: click 👤 Sign In → New? Sign Up → name, email, password (min 8 chars).
  • Sign In: email + password. Session remembered on same device.
  • Forgot Password: click "Forgot password?" → email → reset link sent.

Share designs on Ravelry, social media, or with your knitting group!

⌨ 11. Keyboard Shortcuts

ShortcutAction
Ctrl+ZUndo last action
Ctrl+Y / Ctrl+Shift+ZRedo
EscCancel paste mode / close context menus
💡 On Mac, use ⌘ in place of Ctrl.