An Ode To The Poncho

The scarf is the classic go-to project for people who feel like crocheting (or knitting) something, but don’t really feel like paying attention. However, I think there is a lot to be said for the poncho in this role.

The poncho, which dates back to 500 B.C and the pre-Incan Andes, is basically just a big rectangle with a hole in it. I made the poncho pictured above (Pattern by Patti Gonsalves, available for free here) as one long rectangle and then simply folded in half and sewed it together part way.

I made this poncho (Pattern by Denise Black, available for free here) by crocheting 2 rectangles and then sewing them together. This was due to the nature of the stitches; had I just crocheted one long piece, they wouldn’t have lined up correctly.

Both were extremely easy to make and, like a simple scarf, just involved crocheting rectangles in the same stitch over and over. What I prefer about the poncho however is that when you are finished you have a piece of clothing rather than just an accessory. Because it is so simple, it is also really easy to design your own; switch up the stitches used, change the length, or add decorative buttons, fringe, or even a hood!

So for your next lazy TV watching project, consider the humble poncho instead of your usual scarf; you won’t regret it!

Sock Continues (Slowly) and Book Buying

 From the simple, single-hook brisk pace of crocheting to...

So it turns out that knitting a pair of socks takes roughly 4oo years. I know this because after hours and hours, I have about 3 inches of sock cuff under my belt. I am having fun doing it, but it is largely for the challenge at this point.

What I like about crochet is that if I screw up, I can just quickly undo it and easily fix my mistakes and I don't lose all that much time. Hell, I crocheted an entire poncho, realized it was too big, undid it completely and redid it in like 3 days. This means that
a) I'm not super stressed about making mistakes;
b) It goes faster, as I am not being crazy cautious;
c) Since fixing thins is not such a big deal, I am more willing to experiment and go outside the box, because I know I haven't ruined anything.

However with the knitting mistakes are such a slow thing to fix that I am terrified of making any, and when I DO make some, fixing them is too big an undertaking, so I just have to deal with them (Other than dropped stitches; those give me a heart attack every time it happens even for a Milli-second). For example with this sock:

While doing the K2 P2 ribbing, I got confused and switched their order around, causing all the ribbing to shift over. Were this crocheting I would never let such a mistake stand, especially one so early in the project, but I am not prepared to spend hours undoing the work, and more hours re-doing it.
I think maybe this just means that the lessons I take away from crocheting and knitting are different from one another: from crocheting I learn to focus and aim for perfection, whereas from knitting I learn that it is OK to make mistakes..

When I bought the sock yarn I had visions of me making everyone cozy handmade socks for Christmas. HA! HA! HA! I think deciding whether or not to make socks for someone is probably a commitment to be considered as seriously as a marriage proposal.

Anyway, I thought I would go check out some sock knitting books for the next time around (which will be on circular needles, that's for sure.) I saw one about doing 2 at a time with circular needles regular style, and another by the same author about doing 2 at a time with circular needles toe-up. I was totally paralyzed with indecision, so I bought a crochet book instead. It'll be months before I am ready for another pair of socks, right? I picked up Fashion Crochet: 30 crochet projects inspired by the catwalk by Claire Montgomerie which looks like it has a lot of really cool patterns in it. I also grabbed the Fall issue of Interweave Crochet which seems beautiful as well.