Rhinebeck: a free Fair Isle chart

There’s not much to say about Rhinebeck that hasn’t been said by hundreds of other people already (it’s wonderful! ), so instead I’m going to share a secret code chart for stranded knitting with you. I’ve encoded the letters of “Rhinebeck” as numbers in base six, charted them on a grid, mirrored the grid in two directions, and voilà! The featured picture shows the result in colors I saw at Rhinebeck in the trees and sky.

I should note that this is a chart that’s more-or-less in Fair Isle style; it’s not actually from Fair Isle.

As always, this could be used for cross stitch, needlepoint, or any craft worked on a grid.

21 April 2023: there was a huge error in my original illustration, so I figured I’d make the whole post fit my current style.

how the rhinebeck chart might look as a band of stranded knitting. Reds, oranges, and yellows make Xes and diamonds on a background of shades of grey. Above and below, there's grey-blue plain knitting.
chart showing how to work the Rhinebeck charted design by means of dark and light squares. Written instructions in blog post.
click chart to enlarge
  • Rhinebeck has a repeat of 14 + 1 columns and 12 + 1 rows.
  • In the written instructions, color A is the light squares above, and color B is the dark.
  • The written instructions below are formatted for stranded knitting, but it is my hope that they could be translated into instructions for other crafts. For instance, if working filet crochet, 1A could be one open square and 2B could be two filled-in squares.
  • Designers, please feel free to use this in your patterns (no need to ask). I’d like credit but won’t be offended if people don’t give it.
  • My blog posts and stitch patterns are supported by subscriptions on Patreon or donations to my Paypal tip jar in the sidebar. If you appreciate my work, please consider helping out. Thanks!

Round 1: work knit as follows; 1A, (3A, 1 black, 5A, 1 black, 4A). (15 sts)

Round 2: work knit as follows; 1A, (1A, 2 black, 3A, 1 black, 3A, 2 black, 2A).

Round 3: work knit as follows; 1 black, (5A, 3 black, 5A, 1 black).

Round 4: work knit as follows; 1A, (1A, 2 black, 7A, 2 black, 2A).

Round 5: work knit as follows; 1A, (2 black, 2A, 1 black, 3A, 1 black, 2A, 2 black, 1A).

Round 6: work knit as follows; 1 black, (3A, (1 black, 1A) × 3, 1 black, 3A, 1 black).

Round 7: work knit as follows; 1A, (1 black, 1A, 2 black, 5A, 2 black, 1A, 1 black, 1A).

Round 8: work knit as follows; 1 black, (3A, (1 black, 1A) × 3, 1 black, 3A, 1 black).

Round 9: work knit as follows; 1A, (2 black, 2A, 1 black, 3A, 1 black, 2A, 2 black, 1A).

Round 10: work knit as follows; 1A, (1A, 2 black, 7A, 2 black, 2A).

Round 11: work knit as follows; 1 black, (5A, 3 black, 5A, 1 black).

Round 12: work knit as follows; 1A, (1A, 2 black, 3A, 1 black, 3A, 2 black, 2A).

Repeat rounds 1-12 as desired, ending with round 13.

Round 13: work knit as follows; 1A, (3A, 1 black, 5A, 1 black, 4A).