CrochaHow to use
Everything on one page: four steps, the layout, the text syntax, stitch codes and shortcuts.
Four steps
- Open a chartPress “Start drawing” on the home page; no sign-in needed. Signed in, press New in My files.
- Place stitchesClick a symbol in the stitch library on the right, then click the canvas to place one; drag to place several. Press V for the select tool to move and rotate.
- A row as textDouble-click the grey text on a layer row and type a line such as ch 6, (sc, ch3) x 4; Enter lays it out as a row. To bend it into a round, select the stitches and press ⇧O (along path).
- Save, share, exportAutosaved. “Share” at the top right gives a read-only link; “Export” saves SVG (vector) or PNG.
The layout
- Left: layers — A layer is a row or a round; expanded, the list is the working order, and you can drag rows to reorder.
- Middle: canvas — Scroll to zoom, hold Space and drag to pan; right-click for merge, loop and arc options.
- Right: Design / Library — Selecting anything switches to Design (position, angle, count, wraps, colour); the Library holds symbols, including ones you draw or upload.
- Bottom: toolbar — Select, shapes, pens, text, plus radial repeat O and along-path ⇧O.
Features
In working order; shortcuts in brackets. Modifier keys mean the same everywhere: Shift snaps to 15° / keeps proportions / locks an axis, Alt works from the centre or drags a copy, ⌘ pauses snapping, double-click goes “inside”, Esc leaves.
Placing and selecting
Every stitch is its own object: you decide where it goes and at what angle; snapping and alignment only help.
- Click a symbol in the library (or press 1–5 for the quick bar), then click the canvas to place one; hold and drag to place several.
- V returns to the select tool; click, marquee, Shift adds or removes; hold ⌘ and click to reach into a group.
- Drag to move, Shift locks horizontal / vertical; arrow keys nudge one grid step, Shift for a big step.
- Alt-drag pulls off a copy; ⌘D duplicates beside; ⌘C / ⌘X / ⌘V as usual.
Rotate and flip
Any angle, negatives included; nothing to drag back afterwards.
- Just outside the corners of the selection box is the rotate zone: drag to turn around the box centre, Shift snaps to 15°; [ and ] turn 15° each.
- Type an angle in the Design tab. One stitch turns in place; several turn together around the selection's centre.
- Shift+H / Shift+V flip horizontally / vertically, shapes and text included.
A row as text
One layer is one row. Type a line and it is laid out; edit the text later and stitches you dragged keep their offsets.
- Double-click the grey text on a layer row, type e.g. ch 6, (sc, ch3) x 4, and press Enter for a straight row.
- Adding, deleting or reordering stitches on the canvas rewrites that layer's text; the order of the child rows is the working order.
- See “Text syntax” below; custom symbols go in as @code.
Arrange in an arc, along a path
The fans and chain arcs in pattern books are a run of stitches laid on a path.
- Select 2 or more stitches (chains allowed) → right-click “Arrange in arc”: the run becomes an along-path group, its ends meet the neighbouring stitch heads and the feet gather at one point. Place the two outer sc on the stitches they go into first; they set the height of the arc.
- Or draw the path yourself: select, press ⇧O “Along path”; distribute evenly, at a fixed gap or by stitch width; feet on the path or gathered at a point.
- In the Design tab set feet joined / spread and heads fan / flat; drag the “✛” handle to move the shared foot, double-click the arc to reshape it and the stitches follow.
Radial repeat
The four sides of a granny square, the petals of a doily, in one go.
- Select a group of stitches, press O, enter a count, and they are copied evenly around the centre; the centre can be dragged and the radius adjusted.
- Esc leaves; the copies are real stitches you can tweak one by one.
Merge into one stitch, loop placement
Collapse a few stitches into one symbol, or mark which loop a stitch goes into.
- Select adjacent stitches → right-click “Merge into ▸”: decrease (together), increase (shell), cluster (bobble); “Split” goes the other way.
- Right-click “Loop ▸”: normal, back loop, front loop, third loop; the symbol gets the matching mark underneath, in text that is -blo / -flo / -3rd.
Adjusting a single stitch
Feet, head, length, width and wraps can all change; line weight never distorts.
- A single selected stitch shows a ● foot and ○ head handle: drag one end, the other stays and the post leans across (the book's “worked into the next stitch” look); Shift snaps to 15°, double-click a handle to reset.
- Each leg of a decrease or shell has its own small handle, so you can pull it to the stitch it is worked into.
- The side handles of the selection box change width, the top one length (Shift keeps proportions); W % / H % in the Design tab apply to a multi-selection too.
- hdc up to multi-wrap dc are one family: change “Wraps” in the Design tab to change the stitch; shells, togethers and bobbles change “Count” and height.
Layers and groups
One layer per row or round; expanded, the order shown is the working order, and the row shows the stitch count.
- Drag layer rows or child rows to reorder; the text follows, positions on the canvas stay.
- ⌘G groups, ⌘⇧G ungroups; duplicating a group keeps it a group; double-click to go inside.
- Eye hides, lock locks; layers can be renamed.
Colour, canvas and grid
Stitches, shapes and the background all take colour; the grid is a guide and never exports.
- Design tab “Colour”: 12 quick swatches, + opens the picker (SV field, hue bar, HEX, eyedropper, colours used in this document); the context menu recolours too.
- With nothing selected the Design tab shows “Canvas”: background colour, grid dots / lines (Shift+R toggles), snap to grid; hold ⌘ while dragging to pause snapping.
- Scroll to zoom, hold Space and drag to pan; the zoom menu sits at the bottom right.
Shapes, lines, text and images
Arrows beside the chart, notes, a reference photo.
- Toolbar shapes: rectangle, ellipse, polygon, star; Shift for square / circle, Alt to draw from the centre; the Appearance row has opacity and corner radius.
- Lines and arrows have just two end handles: drag one to change length and direction; Shift snaps to 15°, Alt moves both ends symmetrically.
- P draws a path with the pen, double-click to edit anchors (Alt pulls out handles / makes a corner); T then click the canvas and type; images pick a file first, then click to place, double-click to crop.
Custom symbols
Draw or upload an SVG for anything missing; it recolours and exports like the built-in ones.
- Library “New symbol”: draw in the symbol editor (lines, circles, paths) or upload an SVG, and give it a code.
- Type @code in a row's text; the library search also knows the names used in different books (picot, ピコット, …).
Saving, versions and trash
No save button; signed in, every chart has version history, and deleted charts can be rescued for 30 days.
- Autosave, shown as Saved / Saving at the top left; ⌘Z undoes all the way, ⌘⇧Z redoes.
- “Version history” at the top right keeps automatic snapshots; create a version by hand or restore an earlier one.
- Charts deleted from My files go to the trash, restorable for 30 days, then purged; permanent delete is there too.
Text syntax
Abbreviations follow the Craft Yarn Council. One line = one row, comma-separated.
| Write | Meaning |
|---|---|
sc, dc, ch | One stitch each: ch, sl, sc, hdc, dc, tr, dtr |
sc x 3, ch3 | 3 in a row; the count goes after |
5dc | Shell: 5 dc into one stitch (count in front) |
dc3tog | Decrease: 3 stitches into one; dc2tog-sk3 skips 3 between the legs |
dc3bo, hdc3puff, dc5pc | Bobble, puff, popcorn (N posts closed into one head) |
V, {dc, ch, dc} | V-stitch; braces = your own “one base, several heads” combination |
xdc, xdc-ch | Crossed dc, -ch with a chain between |
sc-blo, dc-flo, hdc-3rd | Back loop, front loop, third loop |
(sc, ch3) x 4 | Repeat the brackets 4 times |
mr, ring 6 | Magic ring is one symbol; ring 6 = chain 6 joined into a ring |
@code | A custom symbol, by the code you gave it in the library |
# note | Anything after # is ignored |
- Text only lays out a straight row, left to right, stacked above the layer below; shape it with along-path (⇧O) or by hand.
- Re-flowing the text keeps the offsets of stitches you dragged by hand.
- Adding, deleting or reordering stitches on the canvas rewrites that layer's text.
Stitch codes
The library's symbols and codes; the code is what you type in the text syntax.
- Chain
ch - Slip stitch
sl - Single crochet
sc - Half double crochet
hdc - Double crochet
dc - Treble
tr - Double treble
dtr - Picot
pic - Magic ring
mr - Bullion sc
bsc - Bullion hdc
bhdc - Bullion dc
bdc - Start
start - End
end - Shell of 5 dc
5dc - 3 dc together
dc3tog - Bobble of 3 dc
dc3bo - Popcorn of 5 dc
dc5pc
Families with a count: place one, then set the count and height (wraps) in the Design tab. In text:
Shortcuts
Same as Patterners. Press ? in the editor to see them there.
Basics
| ⌘C / ⌘X / ⌘V / ⌘D | Copy / cut / paste / duplicate |
| ⌘Z / ⌘⇧Z | Undo / redo |
| Delete | Delete selection |
| ? | Toggle this panel |
Tools
| V / E / O | Select / insert / radial repeat |
| Esc | Leave the current tool, repeat or selection |
Selection
| 1–5 | Quick-slot symbols |
| Arrow keys (+ Shift) | Nudge 1 step (large step) |
| ⌘G / ⌘⇧G | Group / ungroup |
View
| Space + drag | Pan |
| Scroll wheel | Zoom |
| Shift + R | Show / hide the dot grid |
| ⌘\ | Collapse / expand the left panel |
| ⌘ + drag | Pause snapping |
Edit
| [ / ] | Rotate 15° |
| Shift + H / Shift + V | Flip horizontal / vertical |
| Shift + B / Shift + F | Back loop / front loop (press again to clear) |
| Alt + drag | Drag to copy |
Anchors (paths)
| A / double-click path / Enter | Enter anchor editing |
| P on a path | Click a segment to add an anchor, click an anchor to delete |
| Alt-click / Alt-drag anchor | Corner ⇄ smooth / pull out handles |
| Alt-drag handle | Break (move one side only) |
| Shift + C | Cycle the selected anchor's type |
| C | Scissors |
| ⌘J | Join two ends / two paths |
| Delete | Delete selected anchors |
Good to know
- Where charts live — In your browser while signed out; in the cloud once you sign in, with version history, so you can continue on another computer.
- Use a computer — Editing needs a mouse and keyboard; share links are fine to view on a phone.
- Autosave — The top left shows Saved / Saving; ⌘Z undoes all the way back.