Crochet charts or the use of symbols to represent stitch terms is a pretty recent development.
Stitch terms used in European and American crochet publications vary. Japanese publications use the same terms as American crochet publications.
You can see from the chart below how different stitch terms are used for the same stitch.
| American/Japanese publications | European publications |
| Single crochet/sc | Double crochet/dc |
| Double crochet/dc | Treble crochet/tr |
| Treble crochet/tr | Double treble/d.tr |
| Double treble/d.tr | Triple treble/tr.tr |
| Triple treble/tr.tr | Quadruple treble/q.tr |
This can be pretty confusing and has necessitated the evolution of crochet charts.
Ø Crochet charts employ internationally recognized symbols to represent stitches.
Ø In effect, the same symbol that is used to represent a single crochet in an American publication represents a Double crochet in European publications.
http://www.hassdesign.com/StitchLegend/ - is a link showing the basic stitches with stitch terms and symbols in both the American and European versions. These symbols in various combinations are used to represent crochet patterns.
http://www.dmc-usa.com/majic/pageServer/1j010000iq/en_US/
Reading-Crochet-Instructions.html - this link has a Crochet Symbol Chart for a pretty heart border pattern.
Charts in filet crochet –
Ø Filet crochet is a style of crochet that employs the use of open and filled meshes to form a pattern.
Ø These open and filled meshes are represented on a graphical grid and are called charts.
Ø Generally, no worded instructions are written for filet crochet. You have to make do with charts.
http://crochet.about.com/library/blfilet1rose.htm - this link shows a chart for a beautiful rose pattern.
http://www.smartcrochet.com/tutorial.shtml - this link is a wonderful tutorial on filet crochet and how to represent stitches in charts.
If your skill level is advanced, you can even adapt cross-stitch pattern charts to filet crochet.
Crochet charts have made life easier for the average crochet lover as executing patterns from symbols is certainly less tedious than reading worded instructions.