Tag Archives: Poncho

Apr16

FO: Big Gypsy Flower Poncho

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The poncho (Ravelry project  notes here) is d.o.n.e. Yay! Yesterday when I was bemoaning the fact that I had so many ends to weave in, I had no idea that all I needed to do was plonk myself on the couch, put on Netflix, and just get on with the finishing off and it would be done in an evening. (Big Gypsy Flower pattern Rav link here.)

Unfortunately I didn’t have enough of the peacock colour to edge the whole thing, seam it AND finish off the neckline. The ball was looking rather skinny, so the neck ended up with a couple of other colours around it, along with some serious decreasing to make it less gapey.

It needs a wash and dry cycle to (hopefully) relax and smooth it a bit. It’s pretty snug around the upper arms, and because the yarn is double-stranded I think it will be very warm.

This afternoon I spent a pleasant few hours cutting out and starting the sewing of the tiered skirt. It has a lot of long seams so I think I will be picking up another spool of thread at work tomorrow.

Tonight – another Baby Surprise Jacket to be cast on.

 

Apr3

No crochet today

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While I didn’t actually crochet, I did get a photo of the poncho progress…

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Look at all those ends! They will probably take a week to darn in.

So, this is 55.5″ long and when I folded it the way I plan to seam it, the neck opening was 34″ which is the maximum I’d want and have it stay on my shoulders. So I’m stopping with the length, and the next step is to use the Stylecraft Special DK in Peacock to go all around the edge, then crochet the seam, and then probably go around the neckline again so it’s not too gapey.

My day was full of vacuuming, laundry, and cleaning and I was out for the evening, but I have a sewing project that I must make this week. I have prewashed the fabrics and will show you what I’m making as soon as I can. I think it’s gonna be cute!

Mar20

WIP: not a sweater

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The Stylecraft DK Coast Pack that was supposed to become a sweater is now going to be a poncho!

I have this poncho already that I knitted years ago…

It’s just a rectangle with one end sewn to the side of the other end, if you know what I mean. It’s quite a practical shape, actually, as in the car you can wear it with the V at the front which keeps your lap warm without bulk at the back, and when out walking you can wear it with the V at the back.

The project-that-was-going-to-be-a-sweater-but-I-wasn’t-happy-with-it sat in its bag for a week or three while I did other things and let my brain mull things over in the background. Whilst this looks like procrastination, it can be quite an effective way of making decisions!!

So, here’s the progress so far…

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That’s a pretty big square with a separate V stitch panel which is currently 12.5″ deep, to give you an idea of scale. Once my V stitch section gets to be about 35″ long, I’ll have to think about the next step which will be joining and bordering the whole thing. I am keeping the Peacock colour aside for that.

I’m feeling happier about this project now that a decision has been made, and I added about seven rows while watching Crafternoon Treats’ latest podcast this evening.

In other news, my piano lessons have been cancelled for the rest of the Spring. My teacher is going in for a hip replacement operation soon and won’t be back in action until after the summer months. The last tune she had us learning was Londonderry Air, which is quite tricky. I really will have to practice lots over the summer so that when we start again in the fall I haven’t forgotten everything!

Spring has finally Sprung here in British Columbia’s southern interior. The street sweeping trucks have been around the neighbourhood, vacuuming up the grit from the snowploughs/plows, the husband has pruned the apricot and cherry trees, signs of life can be seen from the bulbs in the garden, and we were down to our T shirts on Sunday afternoon in the sunshine. I still intend to hit the slopes again before the end of the ski season though.

 

Apr28

Two steps forward and one step back

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See this? Not happy! Added a couple of granny stripes and thought, nope, poncho not working out – go to the corner, face the wall, time out for this WIP. Yarn has been stuffed back in its bag and shoved aside.

So what do I do when faced with no current projects?

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Of course, multiple strands of random worsted weight and a 15mm hook. This is Super secret storage pouf. Planning to make it bigger than this, as I want to stuff a lot of blankets inside it. Good to be using up more old yarn.

And finally, a small colouring book purchase for our holiday next month.

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I have had so much trouble writing this blog post and getting the photos to load. It should have taken ten minutes and it’s taken half an hour. Grrr! Going to try scheduling this to post in the morning…wish me luck!

Apr16

More mandalas

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My three mandalas, completed to the final round of the circle. My favourite is the first one I made, with the red outermost round. Don’t particularly like the one with two light green rounds.

These are big. I squared one up, as per Zooty Owl’s instructions, and unblocked it’s 12.5″. If I join three in a row as planned, for one end of my poncho, it will be huge, so I may have to rethink.

 

imageJust a quickie post this morning. Have a wonderful weekend!

Apr13

Daisy Centre Mandala WIP

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I haven’t made it as far as the crocheting corner of the couch tonight, but I did make a little progress on Mandala two of three before I went out hiking with my friend Jen this afternoon. I am trying to remember to get photos taken in daylight, because the colours show up way better.

The first mandala is the one with the red outermost round. The second is partially complete. The third photo shows them side  by side for comparison purposes. I decided that the three motifs would all have a turquoise centre, but a different order of colours for the rest. All will be squared up with the turquoise (of which I have most skeins).

Pretty, huh?

Apr11

Daisy Mandala Poncho

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Daisy Mandala link

Daisy Mandala Squared link

This is the turquoise colour pack that I bought ages ago from Deramores. It’s Stylecraft Special DK, and the bit of work at the bottom of the photo is the first three rounds of the Klokkeblomst/Bellflower sweater, which have since been frogged.

Not gonna happen.

I really didn’t like using a 9mm hook with this yarn as it didn’t glide through the stitches the way a smaller hook does and after looking at the colours together I couldn’t see myself wearing a sweater with the planned stripes on the yoke.

So, out it came this morning, and once I’d finished my chores I settled on the couch for a little crochet time on an alternative project.

I went from browsing sweaters and cardigans to looking at ponchos. One had three blocks attached to a long striped rectangle, which was then sewn into a poncho shape. I liked that idea. I have a knitted poncho from way back which is just one rectangle, the narrow end of which is joined to the side of the rectangle, creating a neck hole. It can be worn with the point at front or back, which is handy for driving (keeps your lap warm without bulk behind you), or twisted around it’s longer at the back and shorter at the front, leaving your arms freer.

A bit more hunting and I came across Zooty Owl’s website (I’ve made a couple of her things, and I love them, and they usually have great photo tutorials). The Daisy Mandala (links above) is really pretty and she has a second blog post where she adds rounds to square it up. Perfect!

So here’s my plan. Make three squares, join them together, start working along the long edge of the resulting rectangle in random colourful stripes until it’s big enough.

This is the progress so far on square #1. It’s not lying very flat but I can beat it (I mean, block it) into submission later on.

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Happy Crocheting!