I attend a knitters group once a week when I have the time, and every once in a while one of the older knitters will bring in something from their stash (pattern books, yarn, needles) that they no longer need or use. Recently one of the items they were giving away was a book on Poncho patterns, and despite the fact I don’t need a new project right now I couldn’t help but snatch it up. I’ve probably bookmarked over half of the patterns because they all look so cute, even though I can admit I don’t really need fifteen different ponchos. Even though it’ll be a while before I can actually make any of the ponchos I’ve already decided to start planning for them.
When it comes to getting ready to make one of the ponchos the first step is to determine which pattern to use. There are different difficulty options and I’m looking at trying an intermediate pattern as I think I can manage that level of difficulty when it comes to knitting. I know for certain that I’m not an expert, and I’m wary of getting too far over my head. On the other hand I’ve done enough easy patterns and I’m willing to say with some confidence that I should be able to handle an intermediate pattern. I’ve narrowed it down to two intermediate patterns, one of which has a cute turtle neck.
The second point is to make sure the needles and other specialty items needed for the poncho. One of the patterns has the poncho needing a zipper for finishing, so that pattern is currently sitting at the bottom of the list. Most of the patterns I’ve bookmarked require double pointed and circular needles, most of which I already have the correct sizes for. The benefits of constantly collecting needles when they appear on sale! One thing I will need to contend with is that some of the needles I already have are metal needles. I’m almost tempted to go out and get bamboo needles, just because I really prefer using wooden needles over metal, but the thing is I have limited finances. Besides, with a chunkier yarn I should not have to worry about having the yarn slip off metal needles the same way a finer yarn might.
Speaking of yarn, the final and potentially most difficult part will be getting the yarn needed to make the pattern. The pattern book is over a decade old and I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen any of the yarns referenced in the book at my local yarn shop. Or my local general large craft store. Tied to my short finances I’ve got a number of things to consider. I may be able to find yarn on eBay that I can use to finish the patterns, hopefully if the yarn was easy to find a while ago it won’t be too expensive. On the other hand I can see if I can find a similar yarn that’s not too expensive with a similar gauge and just use that to make the poncho. It might be a little more work, but since I’m not planning to make the ponchos in the next month or so I have time to go around and see if there are any nice yarns on sale that would be the right weight and work up to the right gauge. I’ll have to see which option works out first.
