Knitting The Brodgar Poncho Pattern

I’ve always loved the freedom of movement when wearing a poncho. Like being wrapped in a soft blanket, ponchos are warm and unique outerwear. They come in so many styles and sizes that there is surely a poncho pattern to make everyone happy.

As I was browsing Ravelry one day, I came across Brodgar, which is a poncho pattern by Laura Aylor. It looked easy enough that I could handle it… So I ordered yarn from Miss Babs and knit and knit and knit on this project…..THEN

I ran out of yarn. It is my fault for not considering the size and yarn needs. Two skeins of Yowza will knit a Small size, but it’s not enough for the larger sizes.

Yowza Yarn

I chose Yowza yarn by Miss Babs in color way Cordovan, which is a maroon red color. This is a Superwash wool, which means it can be washed in a machine. All hand knits should be hand-washed, but for those people who simply don’t have time, or won’t do it, a beautiful Superwash yarn is a good choice. I would still recommend using a laundry bag (Amazon paid link) and laying the item flat to dry.

Knitting to the Sad End

The pattern was quite easy to follow, but the knitting was quite boring. Everything is either a knit stitch or a purl. The pattern is created by those two stitches, and then once the pattern area is done, the rest of the poncho is still only knits and purls – to create stockinette – and the same stitches for making that edge ribbing.

For beginners: This is a good pattern choice. A chart is included, but every row is also written out. For those who can’t follow a chart, or want to check what they are doing, the written part is very helpful.

Once the entire length of the poncho is knit, a section will be grafted together to leave a neck opening. You MUST complete the textured part for the ends to look okay!

Yarn Amounts – Do Pay Attention

This poncho project has been something I knit for a bit and then leave to do another project. Each big skein of Yowza contains 560 yards. The size Medium poncho takes more yarn than that and I ran out of yarn. I was not going to buy another $52 skein of yarn, but I really should have because the ends (where the design is) don’t match up. This makes it look stupid.

If you want the Yowza skeins, one suggestion might be to do both textured sections – beginning and end of pattern – in a different color. Those two big skeins of Yowza should be enough for the long, middle section.

I will probably frog this project and use the yarn for something else.

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