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I'm A Poncho Person Now

I admit it: I used to think ponchos were stupid, and couldn't envision a single scenario in which I would spend time knitting one, much less wearing it. And I probably would have never changed that opinion if it hadn't been for a request to knit one as a sample for Knit Picks. Believe me when I tell you that the entire time I was working on it, I still had an unfavorable opinion about ponchos. But I said yes because I wanted to make a little extra money to help with the move, and it ended up being the last sample I knit before we left Chicago. 

Although this pattern is officially named  the Aspen Mantle, we all know it's really a poncho! 

So when I tried it on to snap a few FO photos before shipping it off to the catalog, something surprising happened: I enjoyed wearing it! It was an epiphany to just toss it on and have it immediately look good - all of the styling issues I have with shawls (which I love to knit) weren't even a thing. Ever so ironically, that poncho ended up being one of the hardest samples to send back.

Once the dust settled from the move, I found that I kept thinking about that poncho. Although I enjoyed knitting it the first time, the yarn I wanted to use wasn't the right weight to sub in (not to mention, I wasn't sure that I wanted to knit it all over again!).

I searched Ravelry hoping to find a similarly constructed poncho that I could make with 4 skeins of 100% yak sport weight yarn I've been hoarding from Bijou Basin Ranch. Honestly, there weren't many viable options, especially considering that I wanted to make something pretty simple that didn't require a lot of brain power. Ultimately I chose the complete opposite of that: an ultra-patterned design (Ravelry link: Marigold Poncho by Sandi Rosner) that combined various textured stitch panels with cables. It was slow going at first, but after a few repeats I started to get the hang of it. Would you believe me if I claimed that it (eventually) became easy and somewhat brainless?!

I wasn't sure if I would have enough yarn to make the collar, but decided to risk a little yarn chicken to see if I could eke it out without making any modifications. That bet paid off, and as you can see, I am pretty excited about my new poncho (my husband excels at capturing all the goofy faces I apparently need to make before we get a decent "normal" photo).


 The yak yarn is so soft and warm, and all of the stitches look a-MA-zing. I really wish this yarn was still made, because I would love to knit more things out of it. 

Click here to view more photos of this project in my Ravelry notebook!

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