Don’t want to print almost 20 pages of charts that are almost all stockinette? Here’s what you do instead.

1. Open up the pdf-file on your computer (or tablet or hopefully not a phone).

2. Write down row numbers as a column on a piece of paper.

3. Looking at the chart, mark down, on each row number, how many stitches you have to knit before you do a “star” (you’ll see this number at the bottom of the chart). If you have multiple stars on one row, mark down the total stitch count you need to knit before that star.

4. Place markers at intervals of your choice (I used 100 sts) if you feel it’d be more logical to have markers at different intervals than the pattern specifies.

5. Start knitting, and cross out the notes as you knit them!

Just to clarify what I meant above, here’s what my instructions for the first few rows of Chart D1 and D2 would look like:

R28: 64 sts
R29: 70 sts, 89 sts
R30: 12 sts, 50 sts, 60 sts
… and so on

Those three lines tell me all I need to know for knitting those three rows of the chart. Stars are always made the same way, and I’ll know where to place the bead on the next row due to the previous stitch being a yarn-over from previous row. Saves paper, tape, highlighters and eyesight.