Knitting

Traveling Knit Afghan – Square Nineteen by While They Dream

September 25, 2020
Traveling Knit Afghan - Square Nineteen designed by While They Dream and made by Fluffy Stitches

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Traveling Knit Afghan – Square Nineteen by While They Dream

Square Nineteen of the Traveling Knit Afghan is out and it’s a beautiful textured square!!!

After the second stop with Northern Loop Knitwear the Traveling Knit Afghan is making its last stop in Minnesota. Read about this afghan’s journey in this post here.

Inspiration

Trista Ziemendorf of While They Dream is the designer of the nineteenth square of our afghan.

Trista’s story caught me off guard. You read about how knitting, and other crafts, have a healing “power”. And even during this project, we’ve read how it has helped a lot of makers cope with hard times. But sometimes we forget that those hard times can be really devastating. And so Trista’s story highlighted something else for me. The healing power of this craft is not just solely in the act of making. It’s also in the act of connecting to other makers. It’s also in the community that you find that is connected through crafting.

I didn’t know Trista, or her story, but I am grateful that she is participating in this project and that she was strong and brave enough to share what has happened to her. To me, it showed me the importance of having a community around you that can help you and comfort you, when you really need it. Moreover, it reminded me of the importance to do things with your time that uplift your spirit. Whether it is revisiting known stitches, or trying new ones, as Trista did for her square.

The nineteenth square of the Traveling Knit Afghan by While They Dream

Project

For this square, I used the Beige Norway 10 ply yarn from Morris & Sons and my trusted 4.0 mm knitting needles.

Just look at all this sea of squares!

Square nineteen and the other squares laying on a flat surface

Pattern

All the materials and other information needed for the pattern are listed in While They Dream blog post.

Traveling Knit Afghan – Square Nineteen by While They Dream

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

This square features another textured stitch, called the Seersucker Stitch. While the name may seem to anticipate a really complicated knitting session, rest assured that is not the case. To make this square you just need to know how to knit, purl, and slip stitches. There is a little technique that you will also need, which is to knit through the back loop. However, as the name says, it’s a knit. You just insert the needle in a slightly different way, but it’s perfectly doable.

Now, there was something that I’ll admit did make me really nervous. Trista recommends NOT blocking the square. *Dramatic GASP.* When I read this I felt a little bead of panic sweat running down my forehead. I’ve been relying on blocking to get the dimensions right, but now I really had to get my gauge on to get this square right. But I made it and you will too! 🙂

My row gauge was a little off, so I didn’t need to do the whole 61 rows to get my 10”/25 cm. I stopped at row 57 because it’s the same as row 61. And this way I made sure that the bind-off worked according to the directions in the pattern. Yay!

So, I finished up my square, didn’t block it, and here it is in all its glorious squishiness.

Square Nineteen unblocked laying on a white surface

Even if we don’t need it for this square, if you would like to know more about blocking, check this post here.

Final thoughts on Square Nineteen

I enjoyed making this square, but it was this maker’s story that really shook me up.

Sometimes, unexpected and terrible things happen and we must learn to overcome them. It is a daunting task, for sure, but it’s important that we remind ourselves that you have a community that is ready to support you. And for those moments, when you just need alone time, you have your skills, your crafting gift to rely on to give you just that little bit of peace of mind.

So hold on to that, stay strong and don’t forget that we’re here if you need it.

See you in the next square!

Square Nineteen of the Traveling Knit Afghan designed by While They Dream is here to remind you of the healing power of crafting. Read more about it here on the blog. #travelingknitafghan #travelingafghansproject #mylifeinyarn

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