Creating a new chart diagram

To create a new Chart Diagram file;-

1. On the main menu bar, select File > New > New Chart Diagram.

   Alternatively in the main toolbar, select the New Chart Diagram button .

   The New Chart Diagram dialog opens.

   

2. The Folder defaults to the home directory. To select a different directory use the Browse button.

3. The File Name contains a generated default name. If desired, type in a different file name. The file extension must be ".knt2".

4. Check that the Chart Properties tab is selected.

5. (Optional) Type in a Chart title. This can be edited later.

6. (Optional) Change the Number of rows and Number of columns that the chart will be initialized with, as well as the starting row and column numbers. These can be changed later.

7. (Optional) Select the positioning of Column numbers. Note that individual column numbers can be either hidden or edited later.

8. (Optional) Select if the chart represents Circular or Flat knitting. Again, this can be changed later.

   Charts for flat knitting always alternate right side (RS) and wrong side (WS) rows. Charts for circular knitting have only RS rows. RS rows have the row number at the right hand side of the chart, whilst those of WS rows are on the left hand side.

9. (Optional) Select if the chart should start with a RS or WS row. This option is only enabled for flat knitting.

10. (Optional) Select if the WS rows should be hidden. This option is only enabled for flat knitting. Support to hide rows for other chart forms will be added in a future version.

11. (Optional) Select if the chart represents two-pass knitting.

    Charts for two-pass knitting alternate two RS rows with two WS rows. A well-known example of this style of knitting is two-colour brioche.

12. (Optional for two-pass) Select if the chart should start with a pass 1 or pass 2 row. This option might be used for a setup row for example.

13. (Optional for two-pass) Edit the labels to be used for the passes and the sides of the work.

14. Select the Diagram Properties tab. This tab allows for selecting the stitch library and stylesheets associated with this chart diagram file. For more information about stitch libraries see Stitchmastery Libraries. To find out more about stylesheets see About Stylesheets. If no user stitch libraries or stylesheets have been created yet then only the Stitchmastery ones will be listed. It will be possible to change the stitch library and stylesheets at a later point.

    

    If the default stitch library is a version 2 stitch library then it will be ignored and the Stitchmastery 'Dot' library used instead. Only stitch libraries in the version 3 format will be listed in the drop down and are available for selection.

15. (Optional) Appearance: A list of all of the appearance stylesheets known to Stitchmastery is displayed and can be selected from.

16. The values for grid, grid highlighting, annotating repeated stitches and symbol contrast are initialised from the selected appearance stylesheet. They can all be individually edited to override the values from the stylesheet. Press Apply to reset the grid, grid highlighting, annotating repeated stitches and symbol contrast values from the stylesheet.

17. (Optional) Grid: to view or edit the grid values click either on the right pointing triangle or on More on grid ... to expand the Grid display. Once expanded, click either on the down pointing triangle or on Less on grid ... to collapse the Grid display.

    Enter the width and height of each cell in the chart as well as choosing the colour of the grid lines.

18. (Optional) Grid highlighting: to view or edit the grid highlighting values click either on the right pointing triangle or on More on grid highlighting ... to expand the Grid highlighting display. Once expanded, click either on the down pointing triangle or on Less on grid highlighting... to collapse the Grid highlighting display.

    Enter the number of rows/columns between highlighting lines as well as choosing the colour of the highlight.

19. (Optional) Annotating repeated stitches: to view or edit the annotation values click either on the right pointing triangle or on More on annotating ... to expand the Annotations display. Once expanded, click either on the down pointing triangle or on Less on annotations ... to collapse the Annotations display.

    In order to show annotations and be able to edit the annotations values, select Display Annotations.

    The Minimum number of stitches defines the number of similar stitches that must be next to each other before an annotation is displayed. Any 'stretch' less than this number is not annotated. This number must be between 3 and 9.

    Select Number background transparent to have the number drawn with a transparent background. If not selected, the number is drawn with a white background. A transparent background is useful for a colourwork chart, whilst a white background is best if the number is in front of symbols and grid lines.

    If Automatically contrasts with yarn/colour is selected then, if the background colour is dark the number colour swaps to white. Note that this only works if Include colour in written instructions is also selected.

    The font for the numbers can be selected.

    There are four options for the horizontal positioning of the annotation number within the stretch of repeated stitches; Left, Right and Centre position in the number to the left, right or centre of the stretch respectively. Beginning places the number at the beginning of the stretch. That is, for right side rows and for charts worked in the round, the number is always on the right hand side, whilst it is on the left for wrong side rows.

    The vertical position can be set to either Top, Bottom or Middle

    Once the number's horizontal and vertical positions have been set, its exact location can be fine tuned by editing the Gap at sides and Gap at top/bottom values. However, these values have no effect if the number is centred.

20. (Optional) If Stitch symbol colour automatically contrasts with background colour is selected then, if the background colour is dark, the symbol colour swaps to white.

21. (Optional) Select the Default stitch type to be used when creating a chart or adding rows or columns. Available choices are knit, purl and two variants of 'no stitch'.

22. (Optional) Written Instructions: A list of all of the Written stylesheets known to Stitchmastery is displayed and can be selected from.

23. (Optional) Include colour in written instructions: If selected then colour is included in the written instructions in the Outline Text view and in the output from Export to View.

24. (Optional) Stitch library: A list of all of the stitch libraries known to Stitchmastery is displayed and can be selected from.

25. (Optional) Text Templates: A list of all of the Text Template stylesheets known to Stitchmastery is displayed and can be selected from.

26. Select Finish. The dialog closes and the chart diagram file is created and opened for editing.

The New Chart Diagram dialog can also be opened using the keystroke Control+N (on Windows) or Cmd+N (on macOS).