Purlgrid editorial team
Fair Isle Chart Maker for Small Motifs
A small diamond can look right on its own and awkward in a border. The space beside it becomes part of the pattern when copies meet. This guide takes you from a blank grid to a checked band, with a drawable example and a way to handle leftover stitches.
The short answer
Draw one complete motif repeat, including its background spacing, then repeat it across a stitch count that fits exactly. In Purlgrid’s web editor, use the horizontal × repeats field for a hand-drawn tile or Tile as a band for a library motif, then inspect the joins and the Back preview.
Plan the whole repeat, including the gap
Start with the stitches available for the patterned band. For a continuous round, the repeat width must divide that count exactly. For a flat panel, first set aside any stitches reserved for edges or plain margins. The remaining stitches are the space your repeats need to fill.
Choose a simple geometric shape, such as a diamond, cross or zigzag. Traditional Fair Isle uses no more than 2 colours in a row, even when the whole piece contains more colours. Keep your first draft to a background and a contrasting motif colour so you can judge the shape and spacing together.
Draw a small diamond from scratch
Open the chart maker, enter the editor and open My designs. Choose New blank design. Under Size, set Stitches to 6 and Rows to 5, with both × repeats fields at 1. Choose your background and contrast yarns from Library; select a palette colour and use Paint to colour individual cells.
For this original diamond, paint these rows from top to bottom: “..#...”, “.###..”, “#####.”, “.###..”, “..#...”. Each period represents a background stitch; each # represents a contrast stitch. Each row contains 6 cells, and the final column stays in the background colour to separate neighbouring diamonds.
Turn the tile into a band that fits
Set the horizontal × repeats field beside Stitches to 8 and leave the vertical repeat at 1. The 6-stitch tile now forms a band 48 stitches wide and 5 rows high: 6 × 8 = 48. The editable grid remains one repeat, so changing a cell changes that position throughout the repeated preview.
A 50-stitch round leaves 2 stitches after 8 complete repeats. Nearby compatible counts are 48 and 54, but only change the garment’s stitch count if its construction allows it. Otherwise, redraw the tile to a width that divides 50. On a flat 50-stitch panel, you could instead place the 48-stitch band between plain margins of 1 stitch each, if those margins suit the pattern.
Use a library motif as a border
For a library motif, set the grid to the full band width and leave the horizontal repeat at 1. Go to Add, open Motif and select Choose. After choosing a motif, select Tile as a band, read the fit message and click the chart row where the band should start. Leave enough rows for the motif’s height.
The fit message tells you whether the motif divides the grid width and suggests nearby compatible counts when it does not. You can still place a band with a partial repeat, so inspect the result before continuing. Use this workflow to place a border within a larger chart; use × repeats when your hand-drawn grid is itself the repeating tile.
Inspect the joins, colours and back
Look where the last column meets the first column of the next copy. Check for merged shapes, an uneven gap or a line that breaks at the boundary. Try View → Colour test → Greyscale (contrast) to inspect the design without hue. Compare the preview with your actual yarns, then knit a swatch to test the combination in fabric.
Select Fair Isle (2 colours/row), set Knit in the round to match your project and open Details for the editor’s checks. Switch to Back to see the modelled floats and catch points. Fix long floats previews added motif-colour dots in the background; review them before selecting Apply because they change the chart. These checks cannot assess your hand tension or guarantee a comfortable fabric.
Save the version you intend to knit
Name the design and use My designs → Save current design. Designs are stored in that browser, and changes to an opened saved design are saved automatically. Keep an exported copy as well: Download image saves the current preview as a PNG, including the Back view when it is selected.
The download menu also offers Chart table (CSV) and Written instructions (TXT). With × repeats, these describe one grid repeat and record the repeat counts; the CSV does not expand into every repeated column. Keep the repeat count with your chart so a small tile cannot be mistaken for the full band.
Before you continue
- Count the background spacing as part of the repeat width.
- Match the band width to the available stitches, allowing for planned flat-panel margins.
- Inspect neighbouring copies, the Back preview and the editor’s Details.
- Swatch the actual yarns and save the final chart with its repeat counts.
More questions, answered
Can the whole band use more than 2 colours?
Yes. You can change the colour pair between rows while keeping no more than 2 colours within each row. Count the colours across the complete row, including any border beside the motif.
Can I check the repeat against a round’s stitch count?
Yes. In Purlgrid’s separate knitting chart checker, select Fair Isle and In the round, then enter Stitches in the round (optional). Draw the repeat or use Paste a chart as text and Check this chart. The checker reports an incompatible count and nearby multiples.
Does the repeat count make my motif bigger?
It adds copies of the same tile. Each diamond keeps its original stitch width and row height. To enlarge the shape itself, redraw it using more cells.
What if a motif disappears into the background?
Try a different yarn pair in the preview, then compare the actual yarns in a swatch. Stranded knitting’s colour dominance also affects how prominently a motif appears, so a screen preview cannot settle that choice alone.
Is this a complete hat or sweater pattern?
This workflow produces a motif chart or band. You still need construction instructions for the garment, including shaping and the placement of the band within its existing stitch counts.