Kauri's Knitting Font

Welcome!  If you're looking for a knitting font, you've come to the right place!

Hi, I'm Kauri, and I've created two versions of a knitting symbol font that you can use to type up knitting charts.  

I prefer charts for most knitting, especially cable patterns (my favorite!).  I'd been looking for a good free knitting symbol font for a while.  I do not design patterns myself, but I have often found myself wanting to chart a written-out pattern or wanting to rechart a pattern which used symbols that were not intuitive to me. I did some hand-charting on graph paper but that was pretty tedious, and it seemed like a lot of money to buy a charting program (or even a single font) when all I wanted was something for my own personal use.

After finding myself frustrated with the free knitting fonts that I could locate online, I decided to create my own!  

There are two versions of the True Type font, both of which are fixed-width.  This makes it very easy to line up your columns.  Both options include the same set of symbols, along with numbers so you can number your rows.

The first option (Kauri Knits) has borders around the symbols and creates a knitting chart as you type (you do not need to create a grid first).  I recommend this font if you are uncomfortable working with spreadsheets or creating tables in a word processing program.  It's also great for retyping a chart that you've got in front of you or if you're typing a chart from written knitting instructions.  

 The other version (Kauri Knits Sans Borders) has the same symbols but the borders have been removed.   This version is better suited to working with premade grids or tables.  I think that most designers will prefer this option.  If you like to chart your patterns in Excel or in a Word Table, you'll probably want this version.  Trust me, it looks a lot better when you put it into a grid or table!

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  BORING STUFF, BUT PLEASE READ IT ANYWAY

This font was created on FontStruct, a free font-creation site.  As part of their license, you must include their "read me" file and the license that is included in the zip file.  I'd prefer that if you share this font, you share the entire set of files, including the keyboard map, cable symbols, etc, but the ones you are required to include are FontStruct's files.  Please remember to do that.  Or, you could just direct everyone here to download their own copy!

As noted below, both of these fonts are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works license.  Part of what this means is that you may not use either of these fonts to chart a pattern that you are going to sell.  If you are a designer who sells your work, then you should purchase a commercial knitting font or use a font that expressly grants you permission to sell work that incorporates it.  Also, I realize that you can import fonts into charting software, but please remember that even if that software allows you to sell charts that are created in it, their license does not apply to the fonts that I am offering here.   These fonts were created on a site that allows free font design, I am offering them to you for free, and that trend should continue on down the line.   Please see the license itself for all terms and conditions.  By downloading one or both of these fonts, you are agreeing to abide by the Creative Commons License linked below.  You also agree that I am not liable for any damages that result from downloading these files, installing the font, or using the font.

I should also mention that the "Attribution" part of the license means that when you use it, you need to make sure to credit me for the font.  As Creative Commons puts it:  "You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work)."  So for the record, please include somewhere on any patterns that you plan to distribute "Charted using the Kauri Knits font by Kauricat."  Obviously you do not need to do this on anything you're charting solely for your own use. 

The Creative Commons License allows me to make exceptions to its terms, and the first one that I am making is for patterns that are offered in Knitty.  Because those patterns are ultimately offered for free to the end users, you are welcome to use these fonts in patterns submitted to Knitty.  If you later submit the same pattern to a non-free source, you will need to redo your charts in another font.

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CREDITS

A big thank-you goes out to my lovely and talented testers:  Kristle Chester (on Ravelry as "kcyarn"), Terry Coriell, and Katherine Tatis.  Their volunteer efforts made the fonts much better than they were when I started.  Volunteer suggestions included (but are not limited to) making the version without borders,  doing additional mapping to accommodate German keyboards, and asking if I knew of any compatible alphabetic fonts that would closely match the point size of the Knitting Font (for suggested free fonts, see links below).  The input these testers provided really improved the quality of these fonts, and I am so grateful to them for their help!  

Update 11/5/2023:  Also, huge thanks to Allison Sheridan (from Podfeet Podcasts) for researching how to get these fonts installed and working on a Mac, and also for creating a Mac version of the Additional Characters!

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WHAT YOU GET

Each zip file contains:

• • The font

  • The "read me" document that FontStruct requires with all of the fonts created there

  • The Creative Commons License

  • A keyboard map

  • A list of suggested uses for each symbol

  • A list of additional symbols not shown on keyboard map

  • A sheet showing "recipes" for creating the cable symbols

For those who use German keyboards, I have created some alternate character mapping.  These alternate keys are included in both versions of the knitting fonts above.  Hopefully this will make it easier for you to get to some of the symbols.  You can download a keyboard map with a German layout here. 

If you previously downloaded the font and are just here for the new macOS Additional Symbols PDF, you can download it here, or it's included in the full font downloads below.

DOWNLOADS

(Click on the button for the font you want, then save it to your computer.)  

This is the version that has borders around the symbols

This is the version that has no borders around the symbols

If you are having problems, please check the Frequently Asked Questions page.

If you don't find your answer there, please email me at kauriknits at gmail dot com or message me on Ravelry and explain your problem.

If you have suggestions for improving these fonts, I'd love to hear those, too.  Thanks!

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Learn More About FontStruct     Free Font: Disparador     Free Font: Mocktura   Free Font: Kunchey     Free Font: Kunchey_Wide_1      

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 License.