The "Poncho Sanza" Short Knitted Poncho

Below you will find the pattern for the "Poncho Sanza," a short, knitted poncho designed to be worn during seated activities such as reading, working on the computer, watching TV, knitting or doing other handwork, etc. Except for the way the collar is "rolled," this is otherwise a very easy pattern. Once you get past the collar, it would be a perfect project for "on-the-go" knitting to make use of that otherwise idle time spent riding in a train, car or bus, waiting in a doctor's office, etc. (As for airplanes, I seriously doubt whether those whose job is to protect us from nail scissors wielding terrorists would allow you to take pointed metal knitting needles or crotchet hooks on board.)

For the sake of clarity, each underlined phrase below is linked to a relevant webpage of the wonderful "KnittingHelp.Com" website where you will find a video with that name demonstrating that stitch or technique. Profuse thanks to Amy, and all the other fine folks at "KnittingHelp.Com" for providing such an excellent resource. Thanks to their website, I just discovered that I use the "combined style" for both knit and purl, but, since I am self-taught and work mostly on my own, I never knew that's what I was doing until I saw their video of it!

I might note, though, that since I purl as well as knit using combined style, when I work stockinette stitch on the flat (knit a row, purl a row), I've never had the problem she mentions of every other row having twisted stitches. Apparently, purling using the combined method has the effect of "untwisting" the loops so they are turned around the right way again for the next knit row. However, when I work stockinette stitch in the round, all the stitches of every row are twisted, because there is never a purl row to untwist them -- I won't tell you how many years it took me to figure out why that was happening!

*Equipment:
USA size 10 knitting needles: one set of four 10-inch double pointed "sock",
USA size 10 knitting needles: one 32-inch circular double pointed,
USA size 10 knitting needles: one 40-inch circular double pointed,
USA size G, H or I crochet hook
Circular stitch markers, 4 each.
Yarn:
knitting worsted thread of desired texture and color that will give the below gage
Gage:
4 stitches = 1 inch, 5 rows = 1 inch

Note: If you are "serious" about knitting, consider buying one of those "interchangeable knitting needle" sets that has multiple diameters of needle "points" and multiple "connector" links. You can get a decent set for about $55-$60, which seems like a lot, until you think about how much it would co$t to buy each of the various size/length/style needles separately that you can make using the parts that come in the kit. The kits come in their own case. Very neat. I like the Denise Interchangeable Pink Kit as $5 of the purchase price goes to breast cancer research.

Glossary:
inc = increase using the make one away method.
k = knit using either the continental or English method.
pmo = pass marker over from one needle to the other.
Tk = Twist knit stitch: this is a knit stitch made using the combined knitting style. I'm calling it a "twist knit" stitch because when you work this style of stitch in the round, all the loops of every row knitted this way are twisted.

Note: You can knit the whole thing with "regular" knit stitches if you want. It's up to you. However, I'm going to write the pattern the way I actually did it.

For a neck opening of 22 inches:
Collar:
On the 10-inch double pointed needles, cast on 66 stitches (22 stitches per needle) using the single cast on or "backward loop" method, with 22 stitches per needle.

Rows 1-9: Knitting in round, Tk 66.

Rolling the Collar: The first 9 rows of knitting are going to be rolled up and "sewn" into a tube to form the collar: With the purl side of the work facing outward, *insert the crochet hook through the bottom loop on the foundation row and hook the corresponding " stitch" loop from the left-hand needle. Pull it off the needle, through the bottom loop of the foundation row and transfer it onto the right-hand needle.* repeat until all stitches on the needle have been pulled through their corresponding foundation loops.

Note: Be sure that the "tail" of yarn that marks where the casting on started is still "hanging out" of the collar "tube" so you can tell where the row begins/ends. Later, when you finish off the garment, you can use the crotchet hook to pull this loose "tail" up inside the "tube" of the collar where it will be neatly tucked away and completely invisible.

Body:
Row 10: work 1 Tk in each stitch for 66 stitches.
Row 11: Tk 6, inc, place marker, k 11, place marker, inc, Tk 22, inc, place marker, k 11, place marker, inc, Tk 16.
Rows 12-95: *Tk to marker, inc, pmo, k11, pmo, inc,* twice.

(Note: As 4 stitches are being added every row for rows 12-54, at some point you will have to switch from the 10-inch double pointed needles to the 36-inch needle. )

Row 96: *Tk to marker, remove marker* for 384 stitches.
Place a marker to mark the beginning of a row.
Rows 97-120: Tk
Bind off using basic knit bind off method and finish.


Note: I detest the "pull skeins" that "manufactured" yarn comes in. It's hard to locate the "beginning" end and pull it out without having a lump of yarn come out with it that you then have to sort out, and I don't like the huge tangles you can get when you near the end of the skein. The first thing I do when I get ready to make something with yarn that's in a pull skein is to roll it into balls. I have this great ashtray that I got in the 1970s. It's made of thick orange glass, it weighs a ton, and it's shaped like a tilted hemisphere. I quit smoking over 20 years ago, but I've held on to that ashtray because it is just perfect for knitting. I put my ball of yarn in it and the yarn feeds out through one of the notches in the rim that are meant to hold a lighted cigarette. It's heavy enough that tugging on the yarn won't budge it, and the lowest lip is high enough that the yarn ball won't jump out of it very easily. If the ball of yarn is too big for the ashtray (and some of the balls of really thick yarn are), I go into the kitchen and get a bowl. The slick glass/glaze surface allows the ball to turn freely with minimal tugging and I can knit fast and continuously without having to pause every so often to fiddle with the pull skein. I don't need/want a ball winder either. I can do it by hand, too, and without stretching the yarn. Stupid pull skeins. . . .