Poncho to fit Anyone

*THIS IS IMPORTANT: Make a tension swatch using whatever technique you want to use and the machine you plan to use. Hand knit choose your stitch and make a gauge swach. It can be plain stockinette, tuck, tuck lace, Ricki Mundstock's Magic Cables, hand manipulated magic or whatever you wish. Make it 80 stitches wide and 80 rows long, for machine knit. That's needles # 40 - 40. BULKY: You can get by with 60 stitches and 60 rows long.

FOLLOWING ARE MEASUREMENTS TAKEN FROM THE U.S. NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS. THESE ARE AVERAGES--MEASURE YOUR SUBJECT IF YOU CAN. (Sizing Standards found in "All Sizes From Head To Toe and Everything In Between", by Husky Talk Knitworks, Marcia Steward) I basically used the wrist to neck edge to equal the width of the panel. Then knit to the width plus half the head circumference for the length of the panel, and knit 2 panels.

Size Birth to 6 to 12 months: Head 15" - 16": Side neck to wrist: 9" - 11 ½ "

Size 1 Toddler: Head 17"; Side neck to wrist 12 ½"

Size 2 - 4: Head 17" - 19"; side neck to wrist: 13 ¾" - 16 ½"

Here's the standard (U.S.) sizes I've found:
Starting with age 4, head measure may be 20" to 23"

Size 6: Side neck to wrist: 19 ¼"; height 46"/ weight 49 lbs.
Size 7: Side neck to wrist: 21 ½"; height 51"/ weight 60 lbs.
Size 8: Side neck to wrist: 22 ½"; height 53"/ weight 66 lbs.
Size 10: Side neck to wrist: 23 ½"; height 55"/ weight 74 lbs
Size 12: Side neck to wrist: 24 ¾"; height 57 ½"/ weight 84 lbs
Size 14: Side neck to wrist: 25 ¾"; height 60"/weight 96 lbs

Adult heads: 20 ½" - 24"
Adult S - L: Side neck to wrist: 27"- 30"

Here's How I did it:

Machine Swatch: Cast on and knit with contrast yarn about 10 rows. Put row counter on 0 and start knitting with your garment yarn and technique (as above). Put a marker on needles # 20 & 20 at row 40 (BULKY-make your marker on row 30 on needles 15 & 15).. After you've knitted the required number of rows (80 or 60) knit 10 more rows of contrast color yarn and take off the machine. Put this swatch in a mesh bag or tie it up in a pillowcase or whatever you have (not a sock, it needs room to breathe). Wash and dry it and lay it out on your blocking table. Give it a little steam so it will lay relatively flat (don't kill it unless you want to kill it for your desired poncho which I did on my black one).

Remember, plan ahead, if you are putting a fringe, or trim on the bottom of your poncho, you might want to subtract from the length of your poncho.

Sizes: Make 2 panels

Size 6 Months - You want your panels each to be 10 inches wide by 17 inches long

Size 1 Toddler - you want your panels each to be 12 inches wide by 21 inches long

Size 2 - 4 you want your panels each to be 13 inches wide by 22 inches long

Size 6 - 8 you want your panels each to be 14 inches wide by 24 inches long

Size 10 - 12 you want your panels each to be 15.5 inches wide by 27 inches long

Adult S - L you want your panels each to be 22 inches wide by 33 inches long

Adult Plus size - you want your panels each to be 25 inches wide by 33 inches long

MAKE A SWATCH (SEE ABOVE*) this is so important I'm telling you twice.

To measure your swatch: We're going with 80 stitches and 80 rows in our example:
STITCHES PER INCH: With a measuring tape, measure between your markers. That will be 40 stitches. Let's say that the measuring tape says your 40 stitches measure 5 inches. Divide 40 by 5 and you get 8. This means, you get 8 stitches per inch.

ROWS PER INCH: Measure between the 2 contrast colors you started and ended with. That should be 80 rows (or 60). Divide 80 (or 60) by the measurement. Let's say my 80 row swatch measured 8 inches. I divide 80 by 8 and I get 10 rows per inch.

OK Now I'm ready to knit my poncho.

My example: I am getting 10 rows per inch and 8 stitches per inch. I want to make a size 8 so I need 2 rectangles14 inches wide by 24 inches long.
I'm going to cast on 112 stitches (8 stitches per inch X 14 inches wide) . I want to knit 24 inches. 10 rows per inch X 24 inches long is 240 I am going to knit 240 rows.

Cast on required number of stitches with waste yarn. Knit 1 row ravel cord.
RC 0 Ewrap cast on over the ravel cord .
Knit to desired length and latch tool bind off.

Repeat for second rectangle.

CONSTRUCTION:
Hang piece B on the machine, right side facing you.
Hang piece A over piece B. With right sides facing each other Latch Tool Bind Off.

Hang Piece A on the machine, right side facing you.
Hang Piece B from outer edge over the same number of needles you used before, right sides together. With right sides facing each other Latch Tool Bind Off.

FINISHING:
You can do the Worm Stitch around the neck or crochet around it or whatever you want. To do the Worm Stitch: At center front, wrong side facing you, using your 3 prong tool, hang 3 stitches on the center of the machine and knit 6 rows. *Move 3 stitches to the left and hang on the same 3 needles. Knit 6 rows*. Continue from * to * until you are back where you started. Bind off and weave in ends.

BOTTOM EDGE: You may want to do a fringe on the bottom. That's easy:
Wooly Worm: Pull out needles L20-21-22 and R20-21-22. Using the three-prong tool, wrong side facing you, hang the first 3 stitches on one end on the Left 3 needles. E-wrap the 3 Right needles with 1 strand of 2/24 and thread carriage. Knit 6 rows. Hang 3 more stitches on the same Left needles and knit 6 more rows. Continue until you get to the last 3 stitches. Knit 4 rows. Transfer L20 and L22 to L21. Knit one row. Bind off. Using a pair of sharp scissors, carefully trim off the edge made by needles on the right. The fringe you have left is now all the same length.

Another very stable fringe I like for children and babies is Maggie Andrew's Tuck fringe trimmed short.

For lots more on Fringes, patterns using fringes, including sock fringe, Double crochet and more, go to Natalie's web page

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Copyright © Roz Porter 2004

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