Crochet pattern repeat calculator

When you place a cable, bobble or lace repeat across a panel, it looks best centred, with the same number of plain stitches at each edge. This calculator works out how many repeats fit in a stitch count you already have, how many plain stitches go at each side, and how to adjust the count by one stitch when the edges cannot match.

How to use the calculator

1. Enter the stitches across the panel.
2. Enter the stitches in one repeat, and any balancing stitches the pattern needs to end the way it starts (the "plus" in "multiple of 12 plus 1").
3. Enter the fewest plain stitches you want at each edge.
4. Follow the row layout line, or adjust the stitch count as the calculator suggests.

How the calculator works

It takes the edge stitches and balancing stitches off the total and fits as many whole repeats as possible into what is left:

Repeats = (panel stitches − 2 × edge stitches − balancing stitches) ÷ repeat, rounded down

Pattern stitches = repeat × repeats + balancing stitches

Everything left over goes to the edges, split as evenly as possible. If the leftover is odd, one edge gets one more stitch, and the calculator gives the totals one stitch either side that make a perfect mirror image.

Reading your results

• Full repeats: how many times to work the repeat.
• Pattern stitches: the stitches the centred pattern uses, including the balancing stitches.
• Plain stitches left / right: the edges. If they differ by one, the warning gives the counts that balance them.
• Row layout: the row written out. It labels the plain edge stitches "sc" as shorthand; work them in the same height of stitch as the pattern so the edges lie flat.

Worked example

An 82-stitch sweater front with a diamond lace panel worked over a multiple of 12 plus 1, with at least 4 plain stitches each side:

• Room for repeats: 82 − 8 − 1 = 73.
• Repeats: 73 ÷ 12 = 6, rounded down. The pattern uses 12 × 6 + 1 = 73 stitches.
• Leftover: 82 − 73 = 9, so 4 plain stitches on one side and 5 on the other.
• For a mirror image, work one decrease on the row before to get 81 stitches (4 each side), or one increase to get 83 (5 each side).

Accuracy and limits

• The arithmetic is exact and covered by our automated tests, for one central pattern framed by plain stitches.
• The balancing stitches are added once, not per repeat.
• Panels with several separate cables need the background stitches between them spread evenly, which the increase and decrease evenly calculator can help with.
• If you can still choose your starting chain, the foundation chain calculator fits the width to the repeat instead.

Common mistakes

1. Counting the turning chain as balancing stitches. "Chain a multiple of 12 plus 3" often includes the turning chain. Check row 1: the balancing stitches are the extra stitches on the fabric, which may be only 1.
2. Losing the edges. Place a stitch marker after the left edge stitches and before the right ones, so you do not have to recount them on every row.

Tips for more accurate results

• Want wider plain borders on purpose? Raise the fewest plain stitches at each edge until the number of repeats is the number of motifs you want.
• On a sampler blanket with several stitch patterns, centre each one in the same fixed stitch count, rather than changing the count for every stripe.

Frequently asked questions