Filet Crochet in the Round: Charting Circular Motifs
Written by the Filet Crochet Chart Builder team · Updated
Most of the patterns in this library are worked flat, back and forth in straight rows. Traditional filet doilies and round mats use the same two units — block and space — but build them outward in concentric rounds from a centre point instead, which changes how the chart is worked even though the underlying grid logic is identical.
Rounds instead of rows
A round filet piece starts at the centre and grows outward, adding a full round of stitches each pass rather than turning at the end of a row. Because the circumference of each round is bigger than the last, rounds need periodic increases to keep the piece flat — without them, the mesh cups inward or ripples at the edge.
Reading a round chart
Round filet patterns are usually charted as one repeating wedge — a narrow slice of the design — rather than as a full circle, because a full round does not map cleanly onto a rectangular grid of cells. You work that one wedge chart repeatedly around the centre, the same way a pie is built from identical slices, rather than reading one giant chart all the way around.
Charting a wedge in the editor
Design one repeat segment as a small rectangular chart sized to a single wedge, using the same block-and-space drawing tools as any flat motif. Keep the inner edge of the wedge narrower than the outer edge to match how the round widens, then repeat that chart the number of times your round calls for as you crochet.
Keeping the circle flat
Increases in a round piece need to land at set points, not randomly, the same way they do in any crochet worked in the round — usually at the start of each wedge repeat. Working a swatch of the first two or three rounds before committing to a full doily is the fastest way to confirm your increase spacing keeps the piece lying flat.
Related patterns
Practice projects
Put this guide to work on a motif chosen to match what you just learned.