Traveling Knit Afghan – Square Nine by Designs by Phanessa

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Traveling Knit Afghan – Square Nine by Designs by Phanessa

Square Nine of the Traveling Knit Afghan, designed by Phanessa Fong is here!!

After stopping in Oregon, USA with Hanks and Needles – read about it here – the Traveling Knit Afghan is now touring the Golden State! Read about this journey’s beginning in this post here!

Inspiration

The ninth square of the knit afghan is designed by Phanessa Fong of Designs by Phanessa.

Phanessa is another new acquaintance. She is a self-taught knitter and crocheter. She started by learning to crochet with YouTube videos. After joining Instagram her work was so well received that she just kept going. And to top it up, she then decided to learn how to knit too. 🙂

In the blog post for her square, Phanessa shares that she loves to teach and is working on her own YouTube channel. She may be still working on it, but she already has more than 200 videos uploaded! Between knitting techniques, crochet stitches – even some Tunisian crochet – you can find a little of everything on her channel. Including left-hand tutorials!

So check out Designs by Phanessa YouTube channel and I’m sure you can still find a couple of new stitches that Phanessa can teach you!

Project

We’re now starting our third row of the afghan, which for my chess-like color pattern, means using the Beige colorway of the Norway 10 ply yarn from Morris & Sons. Because of the gauge of the pattern, I was a bit unsure if I should change the size of my needles, but after my experience from Square Four, I kept to my 4.00 mm knitting needles. As usual in this project, I blocked the square using my blocking mats.

Pattern

All the materials and other information needed for the pattern are listed in Designs by Phanessa’s blog post.

Traveling Knit Afghan – Square Nine by Designs by Phanessa

Here is the pattern for Square Nine of the Traveling Knit Afghan.

It seems not too long ago I was wishing for cables, and this square seemed to want to humor me. True, that it’s not really cables, but it’s close enough! The pattern is straightforward. It’s a fairly easy 4-row repeat, with only a yarn over and a pass over as additional techniques. There are written instructions and (of course!) a video tutorial. The video tutorial has a bit more information than the written pattern. For example, the gauge is only mentioned in the video. Nevertheless, the information is all there and the tutorial is very clear.

Speaking of gauge, there’s something I want to point out. This is the first square where the gauge has the same number of rows and stitches (24 stitches x 24 rows). In the previous squares, the gauge is something between 17 to 20 stitches x 22 to 24 rows. This means that it is very likely that you may need to adjust the number of stitches to cast on. My gauge is 17 stitches in 4” but I forgot all about gauging and just followed the instructions. (Yes, I know I should have been more careful, but I couldn’t help myself and just dived in.) This meant that when I finished, I had a rectangle instead of a square. But hey, nothing like blocking to help you get a square!! 😀

So, just check your gauge and if it’s closer to the previous squares, then recheck the number of stitches to cast on. Otherwise, you will need to stretch it a bit when blocking to get the right measures.Find more about blocking here.

Final thoughts on Square Nine

A beginner-friendly design that makes for a gorgeous pattern!

With just a couple of simple techniques, Phanessa has made a beautiful and easy pattern, with the amazing look of a complex one. And what a pleasure it was to learn from someone who loves to teach. Thank you!

See you in the next square!