Tag: poncho

Knitting The Brodgar Poncho Pattern

An easy poncho pattern that needs a lot of yarn, but would be good for beginner knitters.

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.

Brodgar poncho knitting

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 the Brodgar Poncho
Brodgar Poncho

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.

cats and yarn

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End of Year Knitting

End of year knitting projects with self-imposed deadlines.

I’m trying not to get stressed out, but here it is October and I have some projects to get finished for December!

A New Baby

One in particular is a little sweater for a new baby boy. He will be born in December and his family lives in Florida. There will not be too many cool sweater days, so he must get the item ASAP after arriving on the earth.

I’ve chosen Tin Can Knits “Playdate” cardigan pattern. I have knit Playdate before and found it really interesting and fun. I still have the little sweater because it was made for no one. I have no grandchildren, but it is such a cute item. I highly recommend the pattern.

Fox buttons on baby sweater, hand knitted using the Playdate pattern by Tin Can Knits.
Fox buttons on the Playdate cardigan #1

The new Playdate version will be made in the small 3-6 month size in hopes that the baby can wear it throughout Spring. Even if the weather gets hot, stores tend to have icy cold AC blowing and his mom can take it for such outings.

Waiting on the Yarn

I’m currently waiting on the yarn to knit Playdate in a pretty blue color. The yarn order is coming from Miss Babs and will contain more yarn to knit a poncho for my daughter. That yarn is burgundy red.

The swatch has been knit using some Kunlin stash, which is a DK weight. I wanted to see the textured pattern and check my gauge, which is good.

Brodgar poncho knitting swatch
Brodgar poncho gauge swatch

Another Poncho Knit in a Rarely Used Colorway

Do you get in a rut where you want to knit the same types of projects continuously? I just made the Kate’s Poncho for my daughter, who loves it, and now I’ve found another poncho to knit.

I rarely knit anything using red yarn, but I believe this poncho – Brodgar – will look very nice in this beautiful Miss Babs Yowza yarn in “Cordovan”. It is Superwash merino wool, which will make it easy to wash in the washing machine, using a bag, when my daughter needs to clean it. The skeins contain 560 yards, which is quite huge! I opted to pay for winding because the poncho needs 2 skeins. The yarn is dark burgundy and will look very nice with jeans and dark colored pants.

A finished poncho would be a nice Christmas gift, but realistically, I won’t get it done in time. Hopefully I’ll get it into the mail before the cold weather goes away completely in the New Hampshire Spring.

I look forward to beginning both of these projects, with the baby sweater coming first in the queue. Waiting for the new yarn delivery has given me time to prepare for the new projects by finishing up some knits that are currently on the needles. I’m nearly done with the orange watchcap and have completed the Venlig sweater.

orange watchcap
Orange Watchcap
Venlig
Recent knitting projects

Do you suddenly realize that Christmas is coming fast? Do you hurriedly fishing the hat and mitten gifts? What knitting projects are you hoping to finish before the new year?

knitting divider

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Ponchos or Capelets For Staying Warm in the Office

If you work in a cold office, maybe a little poncho would keep you warm. Here is a list of knitting (and crochet) patterns for your consideration.

On this page you will find lists of patterns for knitting (and crocheting) ponchos, or poncho type apparel. I am looking for a pattern to knit and decided to share some of my favorite considerations.

My daughter recently began a new job and mentioned that it is freezing cold in her office. Everyone wears sweaters or wraps of some kind to stay warm. They are not able to regulate the temperature, as I think might be true of any large corporation where the higher-ups want control. “Lets save money and keep the AC turned to 60.” Who knows how they think, but the office workers just have to deal with it.

My daughter mentioned how much she would love to have a poncho!

I’ve had a love for ponchos since I was a kid. My grandmother knit, or crocheted, ponchos form my sister and I and I remember just loving the feel of wool wrapped around me.

Ponchos are warm yet loose. There is freedom of movement and the feeling of being snuggled all at once. Hide your hands, or reach out and easily grab something. Or wear something shorter that won’t get in the way at all.

Because I have lived in Florida for most of my adult life, I never had a need for a poncho. Now that I knit, I have been saving up favorite poncho patterns while browsing the Ravelry website.

A smaller version of the poncho may work better in an office environment. These little ponchos can be called capelets or cowls or wraps. They would be pretty simple to knit. On this page I have a collection of possibilities and have not decided on a pattern yet. Some are free patterns also.

Capelets

Capelets are the smaller / shorter version of a poncho. They only cover the neck and shoulders. Some are listed as cowls.

  • Bonjour Hi – Capelet from Espace Tricot. This one is a free pattern and uses two yarns together to equal a fingering weight.
  • Getting Warmer – Cowl from Espace Tricot. Knit this cowl bottom up in bulky yarn to create a cowl with a larger bottom section. This is also a free pattern.
  • Converging Lines Cowl – from Purl Soho is knit in a sport weight yarn. This is a free pattern.
  • Lake Harriet Capelet – This one has colorwork designs. It can be purchased at the link.

Ponchos

  • Nascha – by Andrea Mowry, this poncho is knit in brioche stitch. Yikes… I have had trouble knitting brioche, but this is a very lovely 2-color, reversible, poncho. It might be time to really learn this stitch. This one is not free, but it is not expensive. It is basically knit in a long rectangle then sewn up partially to create the neck opening.
  • Indigo Frost – by Isabell Kraemer, is knit in worsted weight yarn. It is a turtleneck with some mosaic colorwork stitches and tiny holes in a short poncho version which is really more like a capelet.
  • Kate’s Poncho – (see photo) Simple, long or short poncho with some seed stitch. Lots of knitters have made this.
Kate’s poncho on recipient
Kate’s Poncho modeled by my daughter

Crocheted Poncho Patterns

I don’t do much crocheting these days, but a lot of ponchos are crocheted. Here is a short list of some nice ones I found at Ravelry.

Poncho vs. Sweater Knitting

A poncho can be similar in some ways to knitting a sweater. Of course there are no sleeves to deal with, but some styles have a neck to knit with ribbing or similar. A poncho is perfect when knitting a gift for someone living far away. Size does not matter all that much.

I would prefer a pattern that uses a worsted weight yarn as it would knit up quicker. Also a washable yarn is needed.

Ponchos come in many styles. Some are simply long rectangles attached after knitting. Some have lots of intricate designs with buttons or other accessories. Depending on the size, they can be expensive to knit needing around six skeins of yarn (approximately for long versions).

I want to knit something fairly simple that would be comfortable to wear while working at a desk. A smaller / shorter capelet might be best for my daughter’s needs. I really like the Converging Lines Cowl or Kate’s Poncho (listed above). Then again, something like the Nascha poncho is appealing because it has such an open neckline. But is it too large? And can I knit brioche successfully? Decisions, decisions.

More from the blog…

Photos of My Turtle Dove Sweater / Poncho

The Turtle Dove sweater pattern was at the time, a free pattern from Espace Tricot. The company has since begun to charge for their patterns.

I knit mine using bulky Brooklyn Tweed Quarry yarn because it was on hand.

Turtle Dove hand-knit sweater in Quarry yarn
The front

The Size

Even though I knit the size Medium, it came out huge! But really, that is okay because now it is my sweater / poncho. My yarn was thicker than the pattern calls for and my needle size was larger. I expected it to be big.

I used about 1,000 yards of yarn, or 5 skeins. I had to frog the Oxbow cardigan, which is why I bought this yarn to begin with.

The color used for the back ribbing is Granite. I changed the color at that part of the knitting so I could easily tell the back from the front. There are short rows near the neck cuff for the back, so even though it may not look it, there is a Back and Front to this thing. Having a different color hem in the back just makes things easy.

Turtle Dove hand-knit sweater in Quarry yarn, color Geode
I chose the split hem option

The pattern offers two types of bottom hem options. I knit the split hem version. Although I planned to have 3/4 sleeves as the pattern is written, they ended up long.

The Pattern – Good for Beginners

The Turtle Dove pattern is one of many free patterns (no longer free) offered by Espace Tricot, a Canadian yarn shop. The link here goes the pattern on Ravelry.

I also just want to mention that as I began this pattern I had a hard time figuring out where the back, front and sleeve sections were located. I’d never knit a raglan sleeve sweater. I wrote a blog post about that, just in case other’s have this problem.

Once I got past that, the pattern was very easy to follow. I would say it really would be good for any beginner knitter to try.

The Yarn

I loved working with the Quarry yarn. I had no problem with it pulling apart, and came across one knot where I cut the yarn. Because the needles were size 11 and the yarn is bulky, the sweater worked up quickly.

Brooklyn Tweed Quarry yarn in color Geode
Quarry yarn leftover

The one personal problem I had was that as the project grew, it became hot in my lap. It was summer in Florida as I knit this, and even with the AC on, it became uncomfortable to knit.

I washed the finished sweater in my kitchen sink with Eucalan wool wash that doesn’t need to be rinsed out. I wrapped it in a towel to remove excess water and put it in the spare bedroom, on a queen size bed, to dry. It could almost be a bedspread… LOL. This yarn dries fast.

Turtle Dove sweater drying
The sweater was dry in about a day’s time

I bought my yarn at Wool and Company when it was on sale. I like to order from this place because shipping (US) is free always, no matter the amount you buy, and they will wind skeins for free also. I’ve never found any other company who does that. They have a great selection of yarn as well.

Turtle Dove hand-knit sweater in Quarry yarn, back view
This thing is massive!

Currently I live in Florida, but I picture myself in my (future dream) New Hampshire home snuggled up in my poncho on a cold evening.