Results: Your Poncho Pattern

Yarn Estimate

Poncho Construction: Please read.

Make idiot cord for first panel.

1. Set machine one tension setting tighter tension than you will use for the poncho.  Cast on over 5 stitches in waste yarn.  Knit a few rows.  Hang a light weight. 
   
2. Set machine so it knits in one direction only.  (I push in one part button on my Brother. I set CX on my Passap and knit on one bed only. Change to poncho yarn. Knit 10 rows.   (You will unravel these and throw them away. They just help if you miscount when rehanging.)
   
3. Notice the trim will start to form a little tube with some bars along the back.  To make it even easier to avoid twisting the I cord when you attach it to the poncho I-cord later on,  use a tapestry needle to periodically draw some colored yarn through the horizontal bars as you knit the I-cord.  You will pull this out later. (Click to see.)
   
4. Set row counter to zero.  Set a row marker #0 R.  (This will end up aligned with the waste yarn.)
   
5. Knit until row counter reads RC=  set a row marker #1L.   Set row counter to zero. (You could also hang a marker when you are 1/2 done knitting this bit of I-cord.   The extra marker meet the row corresponding to the center of the dart, but will fall on the hem side of the poncho.)
   
6.  Knit until row counter reads RC= ; set a row marker #2L.  Set row counter to zero. This will end up on the right hand edge of the cast on.  
7. Knit until row counter reads  RC=; set row marker #3.  This will end up in the center of the hem.
8. Knit until row counter reads RC= ; set a row marker #2R.  Set row counter to zero. (This will end up on the left hand edge of the cast on.)
   
9. Knit until row counter reads RC=  set a row marker #1R Set row counter to zero. 
10. Knit until row counter reads RC= .  Set a row marker #0R.  .  This will end up aligned with the waste yarn.  (You could also hang a marker when you are 1/2 done knitting this bit of I-cord.   The extra marker match up with the marker you hang at the shoulder dart.)
    
11. Knit 10 more rows to be safe.   You'll unravel these at the end.
    
12. Change to waste yarn, knit a few more rows. Break yarn, remove cord from machine. Anchor live loops with a safety pin or a piece of yarn. (You'll unravel later.)
13. When you hang I cord, you usually want to hang one loop from the side of a stitch next to the column of bars.   From now on, when I refer to a row of I cord, I  mean one knitted row. If I'm sloppy, I may also say one "stitch" or one "loop".  (Yep, I may use different terms for the same thing.) For reference:  It took two carriage passes to knit 1 row of I cord.  The other pass made that little column of bars.  The column should be "below" the needles. 

Knit Poncho Rectangle 1

1. Raise needles plus two extra. Hang idiot cord between markers 1R and 1L placing 1R on the far right hand needle, and 1L on the far left.  Place marker 3 in the center.  You will be hanging 1 row of I-Cord per needle.  When finished, transfer edge most  I -cord row in one and lower the two edge needles.  (You have two hung on the edges.)
   
2. Thread with poncho yarn, set machine to tension for your poncho.  Begin COR.  Set row counter to RC=0.  Move carriage across slowly.
   
3. Knit until row count is RC= rows. (COR)  (You have finished knitting "big square" outlined in green on the schematic.  If you like, hang row markers on either side when you reach the center row. That helps when you rehang later.)
   
4. Hang a rows marker on the edges. (The right hand edge is the neck edge.   You will later hang this edge edge between this marker and the hem. )
5. Knit until  the row count reads RC= rows. (COR)
6. You have reached the optional shoulder dart.  If you are skipping the darts, do set a row marker to help you when you apply the neck treatment.  If you knit the dart, notice the warning boxes which may instruct you to skip a particular letter in the instructions. If they do, skip to the next lettered step in the directions.
   
1. Set row counter to zero. (RC=0) Set machine for partial knitting (short rows.)  I advice hanging weights near the far right hand side of the machine..
2. Row 1: Knit 1 row.
3. Row 2: Move    needles  at the far right hand side of the needle bed to non-working position. Knit 1 row, wrap needle.
4. Row 3 Knit 1 row.
5. Row 4: Move 2 needles at the right  hand side of the needle bed to non-working position. Knit 1 row, wrap needle.
6. Repeat rows 1-4 until   needles have been taken out of work, ending on an even row. (RC= ;  COR). Note: This is a [   , 2] pattern for moving needles. You are removing    stitches from work every 4 rows.)
   
7. Next two rows and possibly more: 
   
• Knit 1 row.
  
• Move 5 needles at the far right hand side of the needle bed to non-working position. Knit 1 row, wrap needle. 
• Repeat  until you have done this a total of times and total of needles have been taken out or work. (RC= ; COR.  Note: This is a [5,5, .... ] pattern for moving needles.  The purpose is to smooth out the transition from the shoulder to the "sleeve" of the poncho. Otherwise, there is sort of a kink.)
  
8. --------- Center of dart. (Shoulder /fold line. ) Set a row marker.
   
9. Set row counter to zero. RC=0.
10.   Next two rows, and possibly more.
    
• Row 1: Knit 1 row.
• Row 2: Move the 5 out of work needle closest to the needles in work back into work. Knit 1 row.
• Repeat rows 1 & 2  until you have done it a total of times.  (RC= ; COR. Note: This is a [5,5, ....] pattern.)
11. Continue moving needles into work on even numbered rows, but at this point,  move them in at the rate you followed when you first began the dart-- to mirror the rate you moved them out of work during the first part of the dart shaping as described during step "f". All needles should be in work when you reach RC= ; end COR.
12. Examine the work, you should see a sort of "pocket" has formed on the right hand side of the machine.
    
7. Set row counter to zero.  Knit until row count is RC= Rows. 
   
8. Change to waste yarn, knit a few rows. Take off on waste yarn.  (Hand knitters can just bind off.)
   
9. First "rectangle" mostly done.

Partially attach I-Cord

Knit Rectangle 2

Knit exactly as rectangle 1.

Assemble two rectangles.

1. Raise needles.    With knit side facing you, hang the edge of second rectangle between points A2 and B2 and hem on the machine. With purl side facing you, hang the live stitches on waste yarn between points A1 and B1 on the machine,  matching points A's and Bs. Be sure you hang the 1/2 stitches under the edge stitches.  You  may need to double up a stitch.  Important: The two knit sides face each other. 
   
2.  I always remove the waste yarn at this point, and pull down to make sure I really hung all the stitches. I hang light weights too.  I'm not sure if either step is necessary.
   
3. Manually pull loops of top piece through back piece. (I don't think this is necessary, but I like the nice crisp seam I get this way.) 
   
4. If you are right handed, place carriage on left, thread, and knit through loops.  Latch tool bind off from right to left.  (If you are left handed, you might prefer to place the carriage on the right, and then bind off from left to right.)
5. Now, hang attach the remaining I-cords to the neck edges.  If you do this on the machine, you will need to raise   needles to hang the I- Cord 1 loop per needle.  After attaching the I-Cord, hand  sew the final edge underneath the other bar of I-Cord to make the neck look nice. Unravel any extra I -Cord, and draw a thread throw the live stitches to keep them from unraveling
   
6. Tidy up all loose ends, take off any waste yarn and markers add an edge treatment to the hem, steam (if steaming is appropriate for your yarn) and wear. ( For reference, I'm going to work a round of crochet around the edge. )

Lucia's "V" fill neck treatment.

1. Cast on over 5 stitches in waste yarn, set machine to knit in one directions only.  Knit a few rows.
2. Thread with poncho yarn.  You are going to knit I cord.  Knit a few rows. Hang a marker.  Knit to RC=   , hanging a marker when you have knit 1/2 the required rows.  Hang another marker.   Knit a few more rows "just in case", and to give yourself some I -Cord to lap under when sewing up.
   
3. Take off on waste yarn.
4.  Raise needles with half the needles on either side of '0'.  ( That is,    needles on either side of '0'.)
5. Hang I-Cord, placing the marker between the '0' needles, and hanging 1 loop per needle.  Even if you forgot to knit the "justin case" rows, you should have two extra loops on each side of the bed. You'll be tacking these down when sewing together later, and you may unravel them. (They were just in case you didn't hang the center of the I -Cord in the center of the bed!)
   
6. Knit 1 row.  The Carriage is now on the left (COL)
   
7. Row 1: Latchtool bind off 2 stitches on left side of bed. Knit across row.  
8. Row 2: Latchtool bind off 2 stitches on right side of bed. Knit across row.  
9. Row 3:  Latchtool bind off 1 stitch on left side of bed. Knit across row.
10. Row 4:  Latchtool bind off 1 stitch on rightside of bed. Knit across row.
11. Repeat rows 1-4 until no stitches are left. 
12. Attach to the poncho neck filing in the "V". 
    

Notes for Hand knitters.

• When hand knitting, it is easier to apply I-cord after you finish knitting all the main pieces.  So, don't cast on over I cord, just cast on and start knitting the number of rows required. Meanwhile surf, or go to the library and find a reference book that tells you how to knit on I-Cord. (Or email me. Or post a question at the blog.  I'll blog about it at that point.)
  
• When converting instructions, bearn in mind that each  needle corresponds to 1 stitch. So, if an instruction says something like Raise 5 needles and cast on. You would cast on 5 stitches.
  
• Since you are knitting, you don't want to count rows. Instead,  you want to measure distances from a cast on or a row marker.  I advise hanging a little scrap of yarn to use as a row marker every time the directions say "reset row counter, RC=0" .  Then, instead of counting rows, measure length from the previous marker (or cast on, if appropriate). For your row gauge: rows  =     inches and knit rows  =     inches.  Remember RC means row count!
• When you knit short rows, you do count rows and stitches. So, you don't need to know any lengths for that portion of the knitting. (You can also find tons of good directions about knitting short rows on the web.  Run a google search. (I'd leave a link, but these pages vanish and reappear at new addresses.  I can't keep up.)
  
• Remember that machine knitters don't turn the work at the end of a row, instead the carriage moves from side to side.  That's why you see "COR" and "COL" instead of "Knit side facing" and  "Purl side facing".  You get to decide whether COR means "knit side facing" or "purl side facing".  It really doesn't matter as long as you are consistent. 
  
• I think this poncho would look very cute in garter stitch. Very.  That's the easiest stitch in HK, but it's a difficult stitch on machines!   You could give that stitch a try. (If you do, you don't need I-Cord because garter stitch doesn't curl at the edges)  If you do make on in garter stitch, you might get away with skipping short rows because garter stretches length wise over the shoulders. (I'd work the short rows anyway.  They aren't that difficult, and the fit will be better.)
  
• If you want to attempt the idiot cord trim, you only need half as many rows as for MK.   However, it would be easier to just knit it on, and use the rule of thumb that I-cord directions suggest for picking up stitches.