My version of the ubiquitous poncho....

Okay, I love ponchos. No better garment can be found....it can be worn anywhere, just change the fabric. It suits everyone, just change the proportion a bit, from babies to old ladies, and it's easy to make. After seeing them and trying those two piece ponchos where you sew the short ends of two rectanlges to the long ends of the rectangles and not being happy with the results, I came up with this pattern:

Ceallach's Poncho
Yarn requirements vary somewhat as we all know based on the weight and needles, but here goes. The best thing about this pattern is that it is knit from the top down, which means that you just knit till you run out of yarn.

Take a length of yarn long enough to drape around your neck the way you would like it to. Now draw out three times that measurement and cast on using long tail until the end on circular needles making sure that you have an even number of stitches. Join the round careful not to twist the cast on, you can knit even for a row if that is easier before joining.

Now, place two markers at the beginning of the round and the halfway mark, i.e before stitch 1 and before stitch 20 if you have 40 stitches total.

Knit continuously as follows:

Round 1: PM K1 YO K TO 1 ST BEFORE NEXT MARKER YO K1 PM K1 YO K TO 1 ST REMAINS IN ROUND YO K1.
Round 2: Knit Even.

Repeat these rounds until you have only enough yarn to bind off and do so.

The poncho will have two points, with a two columns of eyelets running down the center back and front.


I know that these directions are a bit vague, since the gauge, needle, and yarn weight are missing, but I am assuming that if you knit this that you can figure this out. I tend to knit this poncho on a somewhat looser gauge than others would, so use a larger needle than normal so that the fabric drapes nicely. If you are more methodical in terms of gauge, check it after a few rows, and multiply your stitches per inch by the number of inches that you would like the neck to be as a check. Row gauge is irrelevant for this pattern as there is no additional shaping.


All rights reserved, copyright 2005, reproduction is allowed for personal use only.