# Knitters and Unitarians...I need Help! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 27, 2001, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitters-and-unitarians-i-need-help/63468 "2001-04-27T00:36:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitters-and-unitarians-i-need-help/63468/1 "2001-04-27T00:36:38Z")
I want to knit an afghan with one of the UU chalice patterns for my congregation’s fund-raising auction (in November - yes, I’m thinking _waaaaay_ ahead but I’m a student and only have the summer to work on it). However, I have no fragging clue how to “design” the pattern, and haven’t been able to find software to help me either. Can somebody help me? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitters-and-unitarians-i-need-help/63468/2 "2001-04-27T00:44:44Z")
I have no idea what the chalice looks like, but I can knit. Do you want a color pattern, or are you looking for textured stitches, or what? ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitters-and-unitarians-i-need-help/63468/3 "2001-04-27T00:48:41Z")
Oops! Sorry, meant to mention that. I was looking for textured stitches; what I have planned is to do two leaf-textured panels on the left and right, and then a large square panel with the [chalice](http://www.uua.org/chalice.html) in the center. The chalice I’d like to use is the blue one on the top left of the linked page. Thanks for any help (Hey, I can use all the help I can get, trust me! ;)) ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitters-and-unitarians-i-need-help/63468/4 "2001-04-27T01:01:45Z")
Knitting circles that look like circles is pretty tough. The chalice itself you could try doing on a background of moss stitch - remember that knitted columns and purled rows “stand out” on the fabric. So you’d want a couple of purled rows for the base, a column of knitted stitches for the stem, and more purled rows for the bowl. I’d probably do the flame by starting with a few knit stitches, and doing knit-2-togethers at the edges and increasing between them, so you get a smooth line along the edge of the flame. The brownish one would be a lot easier to do, as the bunched flames look like sort of irregular cables. You could also do the bowl of the chalice by knit-3-togethers and increases, instead of rows of purl. I suggest you start by knitting a bunch of swatches and playing around with increasing and decreasing, to get an idea of what kinds of shapes you can create. You could also get a stich pattern book to give you ideas - I think [this](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1855856336/qid=988333197/sr=1-1/ref=sc_b_2/104-8205062-9886331) is the one I have, but I’m not sure. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitters-and-unitarians-i-need-help/63468/5 "2001-04-27T01:56:59Z")
I can’t find my book of bazillion stitches, but the first step I’d take is to lay out the desigh on graph paper - one square is one stitch. That might suggest the best stitches for each part. I’m partial to seed stitch and popcorn stitch for texture - and they lend themselves well to the graph paper approach. Good luck - I’d love to see the finished work! ---
**Author:** ![SpinneZiege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@SpinneZiege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpinneZiege)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitters-and-unitarians-i-need-help/63468/6 "2001-04-27T02:12:58Z")
Wow. And I thought I was the only Unitarian in all of the Teeming Millions. Hmm… I think there’s a few little old ladies in my congregation that could help on this one. I think I’ll ask them on Sunday. So, **dogsbody** , what congregation you from? You going to General Assembly this year? ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitters-and-unitarians-i-need-help/63468/7 "2001-04-27T03:49:31Z")
**Spinne** , you obviously haven’t met **Esprix** yet. 🙂 I’m from the Conejo Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (in Thousand Oaks, CA), and No, I’m not going to GA this year because it’s over the weekend of my birthday, and I kinda sorta promised my best friend (who shares said birthday) that I’d spend that weekend with her and her family (and her son, who will be a year old slightly before that). You know, priorities. I’ll try to remember to take a photo (assuming I get it done any time soon!) and post the link to the board; I have several books of stitches but none were _too_ helpful on this one. It’s the circle that’s throwing me, so maybe I will skip that. Haven’t decided yet, but thanks for all the help thus far. I have put some examples of my knitting up on the web (they’re all from patterns thus far, but I figure "what the heck, I’m still learning) at [my site](http://sanhedralite.8m.com/afghan.html) since I’m working on exchanging an afghan for a painting from a friend. ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitters-and-unitarians-i-need-help/63468/8 "2001-04-27T03:51:33Z")
URK! Of course, I really meant [my other site](http://ngwalme.freeservers.com/afghan.html). Really. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitters-and-unitarians-i-need-help/63468/9 "2001-04-27T04:37:15Z")
[Here’s](http://www.woolworks.org/software.html) some leads on knitting software. Never used any of it but something here might help. Also there’s stuff called knitting graph paper (which deals with the fact that stitches are longer than they are wide.) and there’s a bunch of places you can download it on the web…[here’s](http://www.users.cts.com/crash/j/jgibson/knitting/grid5x7.pdf) one. a search will turn up more. I do not envy you the double circles…any chance you could do a stylized square version? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2001, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knitters-and-unitarians-i-need-help/63468/10 "2001-04-27T12:15:34Z")
There are programs, and probably sites, that will translate any design into a needlepoint pattern, which is basically a graph. You can use it, with every box being one stitch. I made great crochet patterns that way.