So I'm makin' a poncho for Boogie, and I have to get it done soon. I'm using Kraemer Yarns' Bear Creek in what I believe is their Orchid colorway. Either that or it's Peppermint Stick, but it's not quite exactly that either. See, I live very close to their yarn shop, which is just so lovely, and they have bins filled with bargain yarn that I shop religiously. I also buy their regularly priced yarn, but I always troll the bargain bins when I am just coveting yarn but not sure what I'm-a do with it. Then it'll sit in my stash until I figure out what it needs to be. Originally I made a comically long scarf with it, figuring that it would be something bulky and cozy for our increasingly cold winters (whatup, global warming!). I cast on a ton of stitches using my size 15 circulars. I don't even know how many, it was probably around 100 or 150, just long enough that I could work the scarf longways, and just randomly started knitting. After two garter stitch ridges (4 knit rows) I did a yo, k1 row, then two more garter stitch ridges, then bound off. I share the pattern here basically because it did come out rather cute, but just way too long on my 5'2" frame. It was like, all scarf with a head perched on top. Too bulky.
But Boogie LOVED the scarf! She's 18 months old, and loves to play dress-up with stuff she finds around the house. My gardening hat, DH's big old shoes, the scarf and her musical learning purse, and she's all ready to go. The scarf, however, made me nervous as hell. She could trip over something on the floor, it could get caught on something, and she'd choke herself. Not good, obviously, but she loved loved loved the scarf! So I frogged the scarf and I am making her a poncho. It will be perfect for the late winter-early spring time frame, and if I knit it a little big, it might even take her into the summer- though the yarn is really bulky and warm (Kraemer describes it as being like knitting with roving, just a little better contained because it's wrapped round with a nylon thread to keep it together), it will be good if there are chilly summer nights, and she might be able to wear it even into late fall.
I'm using the Poncho Recipe from Knitlist. It is the world's most simple pattern, and since I'm not sure about the whole copywrong issue (and wouldn't want a dollipede attack at any time) I'm-a just link it so you can click. And when I am done, a picture of the Booginator will be posted. I have modified the pattern slightly. Rather than duplicate garter stitch by doing alternating knit-purl rows on the circs, I am just knitting each row. The colors in my Bear Creek are so pretty, and the yarn is already so nubbly, I just want to show it off with the simplest stitch possible. Also, the increase for the poncho is really pretty and should leave a neat little eyelet row down the front center and back center, as well as the two sides. I already know she'll be sticking her fingers through the eyelets on the arm sides, because she does that with her blankie already. When I get to the bottom of the poncho I want to include a bead row- since I will be at the end of the skein by then, I can just string the beads on from that end. I have to go bead shopping, but I'm looking for something that's wooden, a little glossy, and perhaps something in the pinky-brown range. Or not. Something entirely different might catch my eye. I need to leave enough yarn to do one bead row, and then I think perhaps 2 or 3 rows of seed stitch or garter. I forget how many rows of ribbing are at the neckline, but I think it should mirror that.
How do I know she's gonna love it? Well, I have no set plan on how long this poncho can be, it just needs to be "long enough." So every little while when I'm knitting it I have been slipping it over her head to see how long it is, before I start finishing it. Not to be Braggy Mommy or anything, but she's so damn cute when you put the poncho over her head. She starts wiggling back and forth and swooshing her shoulders around, and goes, "Lalalalalala" and tries to take off with it. Which I can't let her do right now since it's still attached to my knitting bag. Plus, the pointy needles. Toddler + pointy needles = trip to St. Luke's.
So that's why I gotta finish it- she needs it because I need to see her in it. Plus, I want to knit two baby blankets for some impending babies, an earflap hat for my boss's nephew (he wants Steelers, and I just need to find the right type of pattern to muck about with), and the Divi Toddler Hoodie from Caron with some Little Lehigh Pebbles I picked up at Kraemer. And the hat I'm making for myself ("Guinan," from Ravelry), the Monkey Socks I started before the holidays, and the diamond-square afghan I'm working on when I don't feel like working on other stuff.
Crap, I have a lot to do.
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