Creating a pattern / graph?

[Isabela Sop]

Good afternoon.  Would any one be willing to share what site or sites they use to create patterns and or graphs?  I am currently using stitch fiddle and stitch board.  Any other thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

[Beaglelady]

http://www.microrevolt.org/knitPro/

[jessicali]

I've always used Stitch Fiddle. 

[Beaglelady]

I've always used Stitch Fiddle. 

what shows in the graph - will that be the exact stitches across and rows to come out for a size wanted??

Like I would like to make an afghan about 46" x 64"  using a team logo, but I'm not sure how to figure stitches and rows needed.

[Granny Square]

You'll need to do a swatch with the yarn and hook you want to use to determine your tension.  

 

Making up numbers, and using Knitpro "XL" size as an example:  Let's say you do a swatch, and you get 4 stitches per inch across; each stitch is 0.25 inches wide, so you would need (46 inches x 4 stitches per inch) stitches across, or 184 stitches.

 

Knit pro XL grid is 120 grids wide, so you'd have to plan on 64 stitches more (32 on each side) for a border around the graphic.

[Beaglelady]

using knit pro. The xl graph I did is 158 w by 68 h. 

[Granny Square]

Ok, so you'll still need to do the swatch - everybody's tension is different, so your swatch will tell you how many stitches you need to get to 46" or so.  The 4 stitches per inch that I made up was just an example.  The key is to figure out how wide you make 1 stitch with the yarn and hook you chose.  

 

I didn't mention height; normally SC is slightly wider than tall, so you could/should calculate that as well or adjust with a border to even it out in the end.  I figured for a blanket, the width was more important; if it came out too short, you could add a border at each end, and too long would not usually be a big deal.

 

Just for fun, taking your graph 158x68:

if 1 stitch is .25 inches wide and tall (4 sts per inch), it would be 39.5 inches wide by 17 inches tall

if 1 stitch is .20 inches wide and tall (5 sts per inch), it would be 31.6 inches wide by 13.6 inches tall

 

Since your logo is so "not square", I'd consider making it to that small size and adding a border around until it's the width you want, and then a border at each end until you get your length (assuming you want the logo in the middle).  Maybe make the borders at each end in team colors, since you'd be working one of the end borders in the 'wrong' direction, stripes would camouflage the direction change.

[Beaglelady]

Thank you!!   I will try and figure it out and get back to you,....in a PM.