How not to knit a poncho

1. Don't knit harsh yarn on too small needles unless you want the poncho to stick straight out like wings front and back!



2. Don't increase eight stitches every two rounds unless you are really knitting a flamenco skirt for a very thin woman!



3. Don't even increase eight stitches every four rounds [incarnation 2] - unless you want to poncho to look like a bell tent!*

4. Don't overcompensate and increase four stitches every six rounds unless you want your poncho [incarnation 3] to fit a barrel!



5. Don't stay up till 1:30am to finish those last few rows unless you're sure the poncho will be as wonderful as you imagined! Frogging is a poor choice at that time of morning!



6. Don't put your stitch markers in the wrong place unless you want the centre line of your poncho [incarnation 4] to end up looking like this!

The yarn is Panda's Baby Lustre 8ply which I picked up in the bargain bin at Wangaratta last year for the enormous sum of $12 a kilo [or $0.60 per 50g ball]. It's certainly not a soft yarn and I wouldn't use it for anything a baby was going to wear close to its skin but for a little girl's poncho that bit of sparkle is 'just right', even if the centre line isn't; I'm hoping it won't look so bad once it's on a 3D person!!

It's completely knitted in garter stitch [despite those seemingly interminable rounds of purl - especially in the "bell tent poncho"]; only one row in four has *yo, K2 tog* to make the holes. The pattern is mine, designed on the needles from a vague idea in my mind's eye. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't! LOL

*picture of the bell tent from surplusandadventure.com

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Apologies to everyone whose feed readers told them I had published several times - I wish I saw all my mistakes before I hit "publish post"!

Do ponchos like frog ponds?

Do you remember the poncho I began a couple of weeks ago?

Well it's now in it's second incarnation. I had to rip if off the needles [I needed that particular circular needle] and I realised that I was doing the increases too close together - every second row. I decided to rip it back and do the increases [eight stitches] every fourth row.

The new version is looking really good and has hours of work in it; even though the yarn is harsh and plasticky and I really don't like knitting with it. The poncho is now 13 inches from the cast-on neckline to the front 'point'. I've realised that it's too big for a child [although children's heads are big in proportion to the rest of their bodies] so it could easily be an adult's poncho except that I was never going to have enough yarn for an adult poncho. Even if I pull out that disastrous sweater I attempted to knit as a trial for a larger project.

So right now the poncho is in the "I'm not sure what to do with this" corner. I have three choices:

1. keep going and make it a child's poncho i.e. 16 inches to the 'point' - I may have enough yarn to get that far
   
2. try to buy some more of this awful-to-knit-with yarn [Panda Baby Lustre 8ply] and make an adult poncho which I'm sure someone will love - it's a nice design for a poncho, the yarn is a pretty colour and has that fashionable 'bling' with a sparkly thread through it; it just doesn't feel nice when knitting!
   
3. rip it all out and use the yarn [must I?] for something else

I'll let you know what I decide!

PS Sorry, C. no photos - I haven't taken any. I'm writing this at 12:30am and I have to get up early for my Big Day Out!

off and racing!

Was given permission to knit again on Tuesday evening.

Finished the entrelac blanket [I actually had 1980 stitches to go, not 990!]. Have sewn in all the ends - most done while I wasn't knitting, so it's completely finished.

Have knitted another two adult beanies, one in 8ply [DK] and the other in a thicker yarn.

Last night I started a poncho for DD. Frogged after ten rows because I thought it was too stiff. Started again, going up three needle sizes. Decided to knit on circulars in one piece [that is, no side seams]. After several hours of knitting - last night and today - found I was making a Mobius poncho! Don't know when it twisted; it was fine when I checked it first thing this morning!!