Corner-to-Corner Crochet Pattern Generator
A corner-to-corner graph shows the colours, but the work goes along diagonals, so each row needs reading off the graph at an angle: how many tiles, in which colours, from which end, and whether that end increases or has reached the side and decreases. This writes every diagonal out in working order from a graph you type, paint or spell, tells you which starting corner gives fewer colour changes, and reads the written rows back onto a blank graph to check they rebuild it.
What this generator does
Takes a rectangular graph of up to 100 × 100 squares and 12 colours and writes one row per diagonal, starting from a bottom corner: the tile count, the increase or decrease at each end, the stitches, and the colours in the order you meet them. It counts tiles per colour and colour changes for both starting corners.
How to use this tool
- Pick a graph on the page, type a word, or type your own: one character per square, the same character for the same colour.
- Press squares in the preview to paint them with the character in Paint with.
- Choose the starting corner and US or UK stitch names, then press Make the pattern.
- Read the corner note, the check line and the rows, and print the graph and rows together.
Understanding the controls
- Graph
- One line per row, top row first, one character per square. Any letter, digit or symbol can stand for a colour; a space cannot. The key letters print inside the squares so the graph reads in black and white.
- Starting corner
- Bottom right or bottom left. Both make the same picture; the colour runs differ, and the page tells you how many colour changes the other corner would need.
- Stitch names
- US terms (dc) or UK terms (tr). It is the same stitch either way; British and American patterns name it differently.
- Swatch
- Tiles per 10 cm from a swatch in your yarn gives the finished size. Without it no size is given.
Worked examples
- The heart graph, 11 × 10, from the bottom right
- 20 diagonal rows; 64 tiles in W and 46 in R; 22 colour changes from either corner. Row 10 (10 tiles; start: increase; end: work last space) has colours 2 W, 5 R, 3 W. Row 11 also has 10 tiles: it increases at its start and decreases at its end, because row 10 reached the top. Row 20 is a single tile.
- The diagonal stripes graph, 16 × 12
- From the bottom right every row is one colour: 0 colour changes. From the bottom left the same graph needs 165.
Common use cases
- A name or word on a baby blanket or cushion
- Turning a pixel graph into rows you can tick off
- Choosing the starting corner with fewer yarn changes
- Counting tiles per colour before buying yarn
How this generator works
Row r is the r-th diagonal from the starting corner, and rows alternate direction because each begins where the last ended. At each end of a row the graph has either not yet been reached on that side, so the row grows there, or it has, so the row turns inwards. A row that grows at its start begins with ch 6 and a tile from the chain; one that cannot begins by slip-stitching across the last tile. A row that grows at its end works into the last ch-3 space; one that cannot stops before it. So a row has the last row's tile count, plus one for an increase at its start, minus one for a decrease at its end, and a wide or tall rectangle holds a steady count in the middle by increasing at one end and decreasing at the other. The check reads the written rows back as text without the graph: it recounts every row's tiles from its two edge words alone, counts the tiles its stitches make, lays the colour runs along the diagonals onto an empty graph, and requires every square to be covered exactly once, the last row to close on one tile, and the rebuilt graph to equal yours.
Assumptions this tool makes
- The usual tile of ch 3 and 3 dc (UK tr), started with ch 6 and joined by slip stitches into the ch-3 spaces.
- Rectangular graphs; every square is one tile.
Limitations and good to know
- Rectangles only: shaped or mitred C2C is not planned.
- One tile counting convention; other patterns may start the decrease differently with the same result.
- Preview colours are not yarn colours: the characters are what count.
- Graphs wider than 60 squares print without a letter in every square; the written rows still carry every colour.
- The rows have been checked against the graph by software, not crocheted here.
Common mistakes
- Increasing after a side has been reached
- Each row says what its two ends do. Once the graph's width or height has been reached on a side, the rows decrease there.
- Reading the colours from the wrong end
- Colours are listed in working order, from where the row starts. Each row says the square it starts on.
- Too many loose ends
- Compare the colour changes for the two corners, and carry yarn across short runs or use bobbins for long ones.
Practical tips
- Tick off each row on the printout; the rows are short near the corners and longest across the middle.
- Wind a small bobbin per colour patch on large blocks of colour.
- The tile counts per colour help estimate yarn once you know how many tiles a ball makes.
Privacy and your data
The graph is made in your browser and nothing you type is sent anywhere. Usage counts record only that a pattern was made.
Related generators
- Filet Crochet Chart GeneratorTurns a grid of filled and open squares, or a word in block letters, into a filet crochet chart with the foundation chain counted and every row written out in US or UK terms.
- Cross-Stitch Chart GeneratorTurns a picture on your device, or a built-in motif, into a counted cross-stitch chart with a limited palette, a symbol for every colour, stitch counts and the finished size on your fabric.
- Stripe Pattern PlannerPlans a striped blanket, scarf, jumper or weaving: stripe widths from the ones you allow, your colours never touching themselves, exact repeats, and the rows, length and yarn each colour needs.
- Printable Graph Paper GeneratorMakes squared, dotted, isometric, hexagonal, ruled or Cornell paper at an exact millimetre spacing, ready to print at true size.