Charting knitting patterns in Excel

I had lunch with Glenna (Knitting to Stay Sane) not too long ago, and talk turned to design work. (We were both working on Super Seekrit Projects which cannot be discussed at present, except to say that we were both wrangling charts.)

I do all my charting in Excel, personally. Mostly this is sheer laziness, since it’s the software I know best from my day job, and I can’t be bothered to purchase or learn another program! Anyway, I had some tips and tricks to share with Glenna, and I promised I’d make her a proper tutorial. I’m hardly an expert (at Excel OR at designing) but maybe this will prompt some others to share their tips and tricks too. Here goes!

❖ Updated at 5:10 PM, June 6, 2011, with the image I had forgotten to save…