You see ‘em everywhere: mall stores, downtown stores, mail order catalogs and yarn shops. It’s the poncho in every conceivable permutation as shrugs, shoulder shawls, shawls, capes, ponchettes. There are ponchos for the Red Hats and for the barely walking. They’re crocheted, knitted, sewn and otherwise stitched. But, bottom line is, they’ve taken America by storm!

And they’re also wonderfully easy to knit. Sweater Machine owners have the obvious advantage of being able to knit yards of fabric (which some of these poncho concoctions seem to require) in minutes. OK, so you can hand knit a simple scarf in an evening, but a poncho is a different story altogether.

Sweater Machine owners also have the advantage of being able to knit a large square or rectangle and cut a hole in the middle for the neck. Yes, I did say “cut.” This poncho craze is the ideal time to start using the cut-and-sew technique. (For this poncho, to make creating the neck easiest, the front will be a straight edge rather than a pointed one, which I’ll cover in a later Buzz.) You’ll need a sewing machine with a zig-zag stitch, a hand-sewing needle and contrast thread and a steam iron.

1. Knit the poncho (quick pattern below) & steam it (making sure NOT to touch the iron to the knitting).
2. For an adult poncho, mark the center of the square.
3. Then measure 3” down from the center for the front, 1” down for the back and 4” to each side for each side.
Image #1 click to enlarge	4. Hand sew a basting stitch to mark the neckline. (Note I also used yarn so you can see the basting line better.) (See Image #1 at left)
5. Set your machine to a medium-width zig-zag stitch.
6. To keep the neckline from stretching or catching on the feed dog as you sew, place a sheet of thin paper, such as copy paper, under the stitching area (between the poncho and the feed dog of your sewing machine) and pin it to the poncho just outside the basting line.
Image #2 click to enlarge	7. Sew around the neckline just inside of the basting stitch, making sure the knitting doesn’t stretch as you sew. (See Image #2 at left)
Image #3 click to enlarge	8. Tear off the paper and cut out the neck opening just inside the zig-zag stitching. (See Image #3 at left)
Image #4 click to enlarge	9. Now you can either pick up stitches around the neck to make a collar, crochet a neck edging over the zig-zag stitching for a basic neck edge, add a hood, braid lengths of I-cord for a really unique collar, add a cowl – the options are endless! (See Image #4 at left)
Here’s the poncho pattern I used for the sample: Materials: 3 six-ounce skeins Caron® Simply Soft® yarn for a cropped poncho (15” before fringing) that has 10”long fringe or 5 skeins for a longer poncho (27” before fringing) with 6” long fringe. Gauge: Using a 2.5 keyplate: 18 sts & 23 rows = 4” Instructions: Using a closed-edge, cast on 130 stitches. Knit til RC = 166 for the cropped version or 240 for the longer length. Bind off across. Then measure for your neck opening as for the instructions above.
	The ideal way to create a unique neck edge for the poncho is to knit a strip to use as a facing, sew to the inside and down to the outside, leaving a center opening, then thread with a drawstring made on the Embellish-Knit! using the same Simply Soft yarn as a drawstring. Click here for more information on the Embellish-Knit!

Fast and Fun Pullover
For the Ultimate Sweater Machine®
To make your fall sweater knitting fast and fun, there’s a new pattern online, the Fast and Fun Pullover.

Skill level: Very easy