Best iPad app for knitting chart design

For most knitters, the right pick is two apps: knitCompanion for working from a chart and Procreate for drawing one. knitCompanion's listing describes it as a pattern tracking app for knitters and fiber artists, and it's a free download rated 4.8 from nearly 7,000 ratings [1]. Procreate is the paid drawing app made for iPad, and it's where you'd sketch a colorwork motif on a grid [2]. Skip buying anything new if you only knit from published patterns, because tracking, not drawing, is what you need [1].

Designing a chart versus following one

Knitters often mean two different things by "chart app." One is a place to design: you lay out a motif square by square, try colors, and fix mistakes before you cast on. The other is a place to follow: you open a chart while you knit, mark your row, and keep your place [1].

knitCompanion is plainly built for the second job; its listing calls it a pattern tracking app [1]. Drawing apps like Procreate and Concepts fit the first, since a chart is a grid drawing [2], [3]. Knowing which job you're solving keeps you from buying a design tool when you needed a row counter, or the other way around.

knitCompanion for following and tracking

knitCompanion sits in the Lifestyle category, not Graphics & Design, which matches what it's for: knitting, not illustrating [1]. Its listing describes it as a pattern tracking app for knitters and fiber artists [1]. If your pain is losing your place in a busy chart, this is the tool aimed at that.

Choose it if you knit from charts often. Skip it if your real goal is inventing motifs, because a tracker doesn't replace a drawing canvas [1].

Procreate for drawing your own charts

Procreate is the best general canvas for designing colorwork. Its listing calls it the leading creative application made for iPad, and it's a paid app rated 4.4 from more than 50,000 ratings [2]. A chart is a grid of colored squares, and you can set up a grid layer, fill squares with a hard brush, and keep each color on its own layer to test palettes.

That layer approach is the main reason to design in a drawing app instead of on graph paper: you can recolor a whole motif in seconds. Procreate's compatibility page notes that your iPad's memory sets the canvas size and layer count [5], but a knitting chart is a small file, so nearly any supported iPad handles it [5].

Concepts for vector chart sketches

Concepts is a free download rated 4.7 from more than 26,000 ratings, and its listing calls it a flexible vector-based sketchbook [3]. Vector strokes stay crisp when you scale them, which helps if you print a chart large for knitting or share it as a clean image [3].

Pick it if you like sketching loose ideas first and refining later. If you want the feel of filling in squares with paint, Procreate is the friendlier canvas [2], [3].

Colorwork charts versus texture charts

Not every knitting chart is about color. Colorwork charts, like stranded or intarsia motifs, are grids of colored squares, and a drawing app suits them because each square is a fill [2]. Texture charts, like cables and lace, use symbols for stitches, and drawing those by hand square by square takes more patience [2], [3].

For texture charts, a vector app such as Concepts helps, because you can draw one symbol, duplicate it, and place copies across the grid without redrawing each one [3]. For colorwork, Procreate's fill tools and layers are quicker [2]. If you design both kinds, try your most common chart type in each app before you commit.

Whatever you draw, keep a key beside the chart. A chart is only useful if the knitter, including future you, can tell what each color or symbol means at a glance [1].

Printing and sharing your charts

Many knitters still like a paper chart on the coffee table, even after designing on an iPad. Export the chart as a large, clean image so it prints sharply, and check that the grid lines are dark enough to follow in dim light [2], [3].

If you share patterns with friends or sell them, export a version without your working layers, so the reader sees only the finished chart and its key [2]. Then open that same file in knitCompanion when you knit it yourself, so you're following exactly what others will see [1].

Hardware for chart work

Chart design doesn't need a top-end iPad. Squares and fills are light work, and the bigger question is screen size, because a bigger chart is easier to read while you knit [4]. Apple's comparison page lists the iPad Air with M4 in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes [4]. A 13-inch Air is pleasant for following charts at the couch, while an 11-inch model is easier to keep in a project bag [4].

For drawing charts, any Apple Pencil that suits your iPad works. Apple's feature chart shows Apple Pencil Pro adds hover and squeeze on top of pressure and tilt [6]. Those extras are nice for illustration, but filling grid squares needs accuracy more than pressure [6].

A simple chart workflow

This keeps design and knitting tidy [1], [2]:

1. Draw the motif in Procreate on a grid layer, one color per layer [2].
2. Check the palette by swapping layer colors before you choose yarn.
3. Export a clean image of the finished chart.
4. Open it in knitCompanion to track rows while you knit [1].

Bottom line

Use knitCompanion if you need to follow and track charts, and choose Procreate if you want to design your own colorwork [1], [2]. Pick Concepts if vector sketches suit you better [3]. You don't need a Pro iPad for this; an iPad Air in the size you like reading from is plenty [4].

Sources

[1] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1058142783 [2] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id425073498 [3] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id560586497 [4] https://www.apple.com/ipad/compare/ [5] https://help.procreate.com/articles/zlexav-ipad-compatibility [6] https://www.apple.com/apple-pencil/