Finished Poncho

Back on September 26, I posted that I was going to make a poncho from yardage I wove some time ago. I finally did it.

Handwoven poncho with knitted collar

Close-up of fabric

The fabric was longer than I needed, so I cut it and fringed the cut end, thus avoiding the need for seams. I made a template for the neck opening, pinned it onto the fabric, and zigzagged around it with my sewing machine. (The tissue paper template kept tearing and shifting, so next time I'll outline the template with tailor's chalk and sew around the markings.) I then cut out the fabric inside the stitching.

Next, I decided on an appropriate gauge for the yarn I was going to knit with and picked up stitches around the neck opening accordingly. I knit twice as much distance as the width of the collar I wanted and then turned the extra knitting inside and sewed it to cover the zigzagged edge of the weaving.

To maintain the V-neck, I decreased a stitch on both sides of a central stitch every other round for three sets of decreases. After knitting one round even, I increased one stitch on both sides of the central stitch every other round to return to my original number of stitches. That way I was able to turn the knitting inward and sew it without the fabric puckering at the V.

The sides of the poncho are open. I may leave it that way or add a button on each side so the wearer can fasten it if desired. I'm quite pleased with the result.

Ponchos Are In Again

A while back I wove this luscious cloth using chenille, glossy cotton, loopy mohair, shiny ribbon yarn, and a variety of other textures and fibers. It's 30" wide and 2.7 yards long. I've been debating as to what to make from it and have calculated there's enough yardage for two ponchos. The question is, what style do I want to make?

I've decided the first poncho will have a V-neck in front and a shallow curve in back. The fabric is fairly heavy, so I'm reluctant to line it, even at the neck. I've changed my mind about how to fashion the neck several times in the last week. Should I use a facing? Should I bind the edges?

Just before I fell asleep last night a new option occurred to me. What if I either serge or securely zigzag the neck edges and then pick up stitches around the neck and knit a collar? I'm leaning towards the zigzag option because I think serging would make the edge somewhat inflexible and possibly uncomfortable, although the garment won't be worn against the skin, so maybe it wouldn't matter. Serging would create a more solid edge.

Then, should I knit, perhaps, three rounds of ribbing and bind off? Should I knit a wider collar? Should I use moss stitch or double moss stitch instead of ribbing?