This is the chart for the Fair Isle Mittens that I am working on this month. The chart tells me which color to use because I am working with two colors at the same time. Because these mittens are worked in the round, every row of the chart is read in the same direction as we work: right to left. If the mittens were worked flat, on the wrong side rows or every odd row I would read the pattern in reverse.
To help keep track of what row I am on, I purchased a neat little metal board and magnet set, made specifically for this purpose. The magnets both keep my paper straight on the board and also help me to mark where I am. I place the magnet over the rows that I haven’t knitted yet, revealing the row that I am currently knitting as well as the previous rows. I find that this helps me to match up the current row with the previous row. If I can see the along the edges of this specific pattern, there are entire columns of red and green, it helps me to know to simply keep them matched up in the current row.
I also recommend printing your charts as large as possible. Often designers shrink charts to help them fit on a pattern page, which can make them hard to read and follow. Blowing them up on the copier makes a huge difference.
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend printing on green paper…just happened to be the only color I had at the time 🙂