When SymblCro starts, it has two empty vertical panes.  When the user opens a pattern, SymblCro puts the graph into the left pane and user entered text in the right. The user can add rows and stitches to the graph pane with mouse clicks and menu commands.  On the right, the user can edit verbal instructions for the pattern. Stitches may be added singly or in multiples evenly along the row.  SymblCro can delete the last stitch or row, or any selected stitch. "Mistakes" can be undone. SymblCro recognizes basic stitches: crab and those from slip to quintuple-treble, in American terminology.  SymblCro maintains a catalog of user created custom stitches formed by "decorating" basic stitches, such as front post double or back loop crab, or combination into cluster, popcorn, etc. The user can also create specialized picots, bullions, and Clones knots. The user can select portions of the graphed pattern and delete and/or copy these selections. SymblCro has a motif editor to create a mini pattern and insert it one or more times into the pattern. SymblCro can also print the chart and the verbal instructions. You can play with SymblCro as soon as you open it, but you might miss several of its features and give up in despair if you do not review the Help file.  You can print out the Help file for more ease in reading it.  At least read through the Help\Overview so you have a flavor of SymblCro. If you find the help file unhelpful, please let us know.  You might also find some of your questions answered on the FAQ page.

The Demonstration Version

The downloadable version of SymblCro available on this site is a functioning edition. It is a demonstration version which has been tested only as far as we can test it. As experienced software developers, we know that a product can only be thoroughly tested by people who were not involved in its development. That's you. We believe that the worst that will happen is that you will lose a few hours of your time because SymblCro crashed before you saved your work. (Rule of thumb: Save your work frequently) This version of SymblCro has no monetary costs and can be easily removed from your computer, should you choose. If you download and install it, please fill out the survey before the download so we can know what you expect. Then use SymblCro. We used it ourselves to graph several antique patterns, and became more proficient with continued practice. We want to hear from you about your experiences with it: problems, frustrations, missing features, tips. Please send us an email. Check back with this site. We will post updated versions as they become available. We have a  Forum Page  so users can exchange opinions and ideas and a FAQ page where we have answered Frequently Asked Questions.

What's Missing

This Free Demo version of SymblCro has no capability of saving a drawing that can be inserted into a document, but you can print the diagram and the text. The drawing cannot be scrolled, so very large patterns cannot be drawn without fudging. The pattern can be zoomed and its center moved, however. SymblCro aids in drafting completely general patterns with a round design. This means it can't predict where the next stitch will go, so it does little for you automatically. (This also means you can leave out the chains until the "shaping" stitches are in place.) SymblCro was developed and tested with Windows2000 and WindowsXP. It has been tested in a Windows98 system and works there, also. So it should run in WindowsME. It most likely will not run on Windows95.  This is the last version of SymblCro that will be tested with Windows98 and ME. Windows Vista is a whole new can of worms.  I can't test SymblCro on Vista, since I don't have it installed.   In some cases the Vista security setup prevents installation of new (or old) software.  This varies from user to user, and unfortunatetly, the security defaults are the most restrictive.  So if you have Vista and have trouble installing your favorite games or charting software, you may have to tweak your Vista setup.  Since every user has her own needs and preferences, I can't provide specific fixes.  I hope to provide an interim demo that should install on Vista.  So, if you try it, please let me know the results, good or bad.

When you contact us about SymblCro problems, please try to be specific about what you were doing and trying to do. We appreciate receiving a copy of SymblCro.log along with your report. Also let us know what version of windows you are running and what else was running at the same time. We have made every effort to prevent crashes, but we have found problems with certain screen savers and other background programs. When you send email to us, please put a relevant description in the Subject line.  So much SPAM comes into my mail box that I automatically delete email with an impertinent Subject.