How to chart a doily or mandala
Almost every doily in existence is one small wedge of pattern repeated around a circle. If you chart it that way instead of stitch by stitch, a round that would take ninety-six placements takes twelve and a repeat count.
Why round charts are their own thing
A flat row chart is a grid: stitches sit in columns, one row above another. A round chart is not. Stitches radiate from a center point, each round has a bigger circumference than the one below it, and every symbol has to be rotated so it points outward — the way a real stitch leans away from the middle of the fabric.
That is why doilies are so awkward to draw in general-purpose software, and why they are the case this editor is built around. The concentric guide rings, the "fill a round evenly" tool and the automatic outward rotation all exist to make round charts behave the way rows do in ordinary drawing tools.
Find the repeat before you draw anything
Look at any doily and count the points around the edge. Six, eight, twelve and sixteen are the common answers, because the whole motif is rotationally symmetric: it is one wedge, copied around.
Your repeat count has to divide evenly into the stitch count of the round it sits on. If round 1 has 12 stitches, then 12, 6, 4, 3 and 2 all work as repeat counts and 8 does not. Choose the repeat count first and build the stitch counts to match, rather than the other way round — it saves a lot of frustration in round 5.
A quick sanity check: repeat count × stitches per wedge = stitches in the round. If that equation does not come out whole, the last wedge will not meet the first one, and no amount of blocking will fix it.
The workflow
- Set up the rounds. Choose "In the round", set the number of rounds and the ring spacing. Give yourself a ring or two more than you think you need — they cost nothing and unused rings do not export.
- Start the center. Place a magic ring symbol at the middle, or a small circle of chains if your pattern starts with "ch 4, join".
- Fill round 1 evenly. Pick your stitch in the palette, set round 1 and a stitch count that your repeat divides into, and use "Fill round evenly". The stitches land at exact angles and already point outward.
- Chart exactly one wedge of round 2. Draw the stitches for a single repeat — one shell, one chain arc, one cluster, whatever the unit is. Only one. This is the step that decides whether the whole motif comes out clean.
- Select the wedge and repeat it. Drag a selection box around the wedge, set the repeat count, and press Repeat. Every copy is placed at a mathematically exact angle around the center.
- Work outward, one round at a time. Each round is the same three moves: draw one wedge, select it, repeat it. Later rounds usually need more stitches per wedge than earlier ones — that is how a doily grows flat instead of cupping.
- Fix the wedge, not the copies. If a wedge is wrong, undo the repeat, correct the original and repeat again. Editing twelve copies by hand is how symmetry gets lost.
- Export. Turn the guide rings off for a clean published chart, or leave them on if the chart is a working document. SVG for further editing, PDF to drop into a pattern.
Making the motif lie flat
A doily that ruffles has too many stitches for its circumference; one that cups has too few. Because the circumference of each round grows steadily as you move outward, each round needs more stitches than the one inside it — and a chart makes this visible in a way a list of numbers does not. If the symbols in a round look crowded on the ring, they will be crowded in the yarn too.
This is where charting before crocheting pays for itself. You can see a round that is going to ruffle before you have spent an evening working it.
Mirrored wedges
Some motifs are not simply rotational — each wedge is a mirror image of its neighbor, so the design alternates left-leaning and right-leaning. To chart one: draw the wedge, mirror a copy of it, group the pair as one unit, then radial-repeat the pair half as many times as you would have repeated a single wedge. An eight-point motif with mirrored wedges is four mirrored pairs.
Granny squares and other non-circles
A granny square is a four-fold radial repeat with corners. The workflow is identical — chart one corner and one side, select, repeat ×4 — but you will usually want the guide rings switched off in the export, since a square motif drawn on circular guides looks odd in a published pattern even though the rings were useful while you were placing stitches.
Common questions
How do you design a crochet doily chart?
Work from the center outward, one round at a time, and chart only one repeating wedge of each round rather than every stitch. Then copy that wedge around the center at even angles. Choose the repeat count first — six, eight and twelve are common — and build every round's stitch count as a multiple of it.
How many repeats should a doily have?
Whatever divides evenly into your stitch counts. Six, eight and twelve are the most common because they divide neatly into the round counts doilies tend to use. The requirement is arithmetic: repeat count × stitches per wedge must equal the stitches in the round, or the last wedge will not meet the first.
Why does my doily ruffle or cup?
Ruffling means too many stitches for the circumference of that round; cupping means too few. Each round needs more stitches than the one inside it, because its circumference is larger. Charting the motif first makes the problem visible before you have crocheted it.
Can I chart a granny square the same way?
Yes. A granny square is a four-fold radial repeat: chart one corner and side, select it, and repeat it four times around the center. You will usually want to turn the circular guide rings off before exporting a square motif.