Knot Again

Shhh... don't tell Bron!

I finished the back piece of my poncho (I started this thing back in November... it got set aside for Christmas knitting and ignored since then).

Now, I know you hate ponchos, Bron, and usually with good reason.  Maybe the rest of you do, too... after all, most of the time I'm in on that!  I agree that the vast majority of them are nasty, ugly things.  But really, this isn't just any old poncho.  This one is so much more than two rectangles sewn together... see:

I won't be doing the fringe on this.  I'm using Homespun, and the cut ends look crappy.  It would not fringe well.   (Yeah, I know... Homespun, ptooie!... but the yarn called for would've made this a $250 item... so not going to happen, and the Homespun has a similar look to the yarn, was the right gauge, and had a nice, neutral colorway that I liked, even though it wasn't quite as nice as the blue-grey in the example.)  Oh, and for the record, it is NOT fun to knit with.  It's way too easy to snag.

So, I have a question.  The pattern calls for the remaining stitches to be bound off, and then after joining the front to the back, picking up the same number of stitches.  Why do it this way instead of just putting the stitches on a holder, and using them when it's time to work the collar?

Oh, and I'm sorry Bron... I hope I haven't just completely destroyed your opinion of me.  Would it help if I call it a sleeve-free sweater, instead of a poncho?

Stash enhancement

We have a new (huge) JoAnn's here in town. They had their grand opening over this last week, and I knew from dropping in at their soft opening that they were selling Homespun for $3.99, so I went to get the supplies for a project I want to do. I've been REALLY wanting to make this:

Fringed poncho

If I were to make it out of the yarn called for in the pattern, I would have to spend $250 on yarn alone! Sorry, but that is so far out of the question as to be laughable. I could easily buy 5 really nice items of clothing (or more!) with that amount of money. I wouldn't even spend that much on this if it were already knit for me. Luckily for me, Lion brand Homespun is the same guage, and is much, much less expensive. Closer to $50, but that's still fairly expensive, so I've been waiting for a sale so I could get it at least a little less than that. They only had 8 skeins of the color I chose, and I needed 10, but I bought them all in hopes that with it being a variegated yarn, different lots won't end up being differently colored enough for it to be a problem. Oh, and I just saw Michael's ad, and they're selling Homespun for $3.97 this week. Maybe (MAYBE) it won't be so hard to get the same dye lot after all. Here's the colorway I'll be using:

Yarn for poncho

I do wish Homespun came in a color more like that of the yarn used in the pattern (I'm really drawn to the blue-grey), but they don't. Other color options of the Homespun that I liked were less neutral, and I decided that would mean I wouldn't get to wear the poncho as much.

And of course, I had to get a bunch more knitting supplies to go along with my plan to make this pattern:

Knitting notions

I got both straight (metal) and circular (plastic) needles in the size called for in the pattern, as well as cable stitch holders in various sizes, and some dpns to do the i-cord for my Booga bag.

And, they were having a 40% off sale on all their jewlery making supplies, so I bought some beads and such to make more stitch markers:

Bead stash enhancement

I'm thinking I might try selling some on eBay.  I wonder if that would fly.