Returning to the Land of Ponchos

I am in the early stages of planning a return to the Land of Ponchos.  The pattern is picked, the yarn selection is being fondle, and the needle size considered.  Only this time I am taking a small posse of knitters with me.  Cue the theme song from the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Big Green Poncho Done!

Remember when I said I wanted to knit a big green poncho for myself this year? ( http://tempestinapot.blogspot.com/2016/01/well-hello-2016.html ) Well, call that goal done!  After many hours of knitting and fussing over the pattern I am calling this a done deal.  Thanks to my friend Amy I can prove how done I am, with afabulous photo and all.

Now that I have bragged about my poncho, I am going to bitch about it too.  I am a person who wants to believe that the people who write patterns know more than I do about knitting.  I trusted the pattern writers to guide me correctly through this project.  Meanwhile, my instincts kept telling me the designers were hiding that stockinette stitch always curls.  It can't help that it curls, it is just what all those knit stitches do when they are together.  I know that all the blocking in the world is not going to make it lie flat.  In the end I went with my instincts knit a seed stitch edge on the bottom, good call.

However when it came to adding a cowl to the poncho, I blithely knit on as instructed.  Half way through my brain started to know this was not going to end well.  In fact I started to think maybe I was going to hate the cowl on my beautiful poncho.  As a last ditch effort I did an I cord bind off, but the cowl rolled down and all you could see was the purl side.  It made me cross at my knitting and the pattern.  To salvage the poncho I folded the cowl over and sewed it down.  It does looks better, but I am still not sold on the cowl.  Since this will probably be the only time I wear the poncho before fall, I decided to let it sit for the summer.  Once we get back to milder weather I will wear it for awhile and see what I think.  If that cowl gets on my nerves too much, I am just going to have to remove it.  Fortunately, the cowl knit from picked upped stitches, with a little effort it can in fact become mitts.  We shall see.



Poncho with Cowl

Poncho with no Cowl

In the Land of Ponchos



In the land of ponchos I have the chiciest poncho of all.  I see myself strutting into the room with a swish of poncho and every head turns admiring my fashionable form.  Yes, the swirling fabric drapes perfectly and as I move nothing is knocked over by the furling fabric.  Yes, I am envied by all who see me.  Of course this is pure fantasy and I am sure when I am done knitting my poncho I will look like a tent going somewhere, but if you see me just let me think I am amazing.  Denial is a beautiful thing.

Well, Hello 2016!

Leaving 2015 behind, the year of the big move, the year I felt displaced and out of my comfort zone always, the year I seemed to have lost everything I own in cardboard boxes.  Waking up to a me who quits moping about the move and starts finding her stuff and that damn power cord to my boom box.  I know it will get better.  I am also over knitting stuff for gifts right now when I want a big green poncho.  I need this poncho, I have lots of green yarn, and I know how to knit.  NYE resolutions: unpack my shit and knit that poncho.  Wish me luck.