A Very Harlot Poncho

Recipient: Moi
Designer: Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Pattern: A Very Harlot Poncho
Due: None
Colours: "Periwinkle": variegated turquoisy-blue, plum, navy, indigo, etc.
Yarn: Fleece Artist "Curlylocks", 78% kid, 13% wool, 9% nylon
WIP status: At least 2 feet done, I think

2008-Jan-1

This has seen a fair bit of action over the holidays. Whether it was because everything else was all packed up in the car ready to go for the various trips; or because it was something I could work on in front of other people without worrying about giving away a surprise; or because it was just mindless, stress-free knitting; it got attention.



Consequently, it's much closer to actually being finished...which probably means that I'll be packing it away soon, and it won't see the light of day again for about a year.

2007-Dec-16

Once I could go no further on the scarf project, I went hunting through my knitting project baskets and dredged this up. Then it occurred to me that I might enjoy it a little better if I wasn't knitting it on a circular needle with horrible joins. So I switched to my Denise Interchangeables, and oh...the difference was like night and day. The stitches slide across the joins like budda. So I'm moving along on it really quickly now.

2007-Sep-8

I actually should have mentioned working on this in my last entry, but forgot. It's moved ahead by a few rows in the past two weeks or so.

2006-Dec-26

After all the Twizzle stuff for DD was finished, I got a little bit of time over Christmas to do a few rows on this.

2006-Apr-5

I spent a half-decent amount of time over the weekend revelling in the glorious softness of the fibre as it carressed its way through my fingers working on this, but there's not much progress to speak of.

2006-Mar-31

I don't know where the needle for the Garden Shawl project is. And I don't know where the pattern for the Twizzle project is. And I didn't have time this morning to grab a needle gauge and figure out which one of the circulars on my couch is the 4mm I need to continue work on DD's Basic Sweater. And I can't take the Fafner blanket project to work because a) my co-worker whom it is for might see it and b) it's at the sewing stage, which is booooring.

So, faced with some desperation, I grabbed the Harlot Poncho project out of its storage tote and jammed it in my bag. Thus it saw some progress today. I'd forgotten how delicious it was working on this - yes, the loops in the yarn make it tricky, but the hand and the colour make up for it. Yum.

2005-Mar-21

More got done this weekend. But visually it doesn't look much different from the last time I took a photo, so I won't bore you with another one.

2005-Mar-14

Poncho looks the same as it did before, just longer. Several additional inches were accomplished over the weekend. It now looks like this:

Still looks like a lump of yarn, right? Well, what can I say. It'll look much better once it's done and off the needle.

2005-Mar-11

Worked more on this last night, and it continues to grow. However, so does my frustration with the yarn. I must reiterate that the yarn feels wonderful. And it looks gorgeous. But manohman, what a b***h to work with. After this, I'm swearing off novelty yarns for a goodly amount of time, I tell ya.

2005-Mar-10

Worked on this last night while watching American Idol. (Yes, I watch the Idol shows. What can I say, I like music and hearing people sing. All other 'unreality' shows are anathema to me, though - hopefully this will redeem me in your eyes.)

It's hard to tell from this picture, which just basically looks like a lump of wool (albeit gorgeous wool), but it's coming along. I have now used up more wool than I used in the first version of the poncho before I decided to frog it and start over. I'm feeling more confident about the new poncho pattern, too. But I'm thinking I'll be abandoning the fringe trim and getting some silver beads or coins to weigh down the edges instead. I think it will look quite swizz like that. I don't know when I'll be able to haul myself out to a bead shop, but the theory is good.

2005-Mar-8

Well, I took a good look at the gauge for the A Very Harlot Poncho pattern and the yarn I have for my poncho is exactly right. Woo! So I screwed up my courage and frogged everything I'd done so far. I then cast on for the Harlot Poncho and got several rows done before DH mercilessly pointed out that it was past my bedtime.

2005-Mar-7

Progressed on this over the weekend - about 25 rows. But it doesn't look all that different from the last time I worked on it, so no photo. Plus, I'm wondering if I shouldn't use a different pattern. Basically, this 'poncho' pattern has you make a really big triangle and then sew the shoulders together. Enh. I'm not that thrilled about the shape this will create. I'm thinking of taking a close look at the A Very Harlot Poncho to see whether it would work with this yarn. Stay tuned. In the meantime, I continue to salivate at the colours as they flow through my fingers.

2005-Feb-2

No progress, just a photo - aren't the colours gorgeous?

2005-Jan-19

I stopped off at Lewiscraft last night on my way home, and bought myself a 9mm 36" circular needle. Armed with this, I began the poncho. I am now rediscovering why I don't like working with novelty yarns. It is a pain in the heinie to insert the needle into each stitch without also grasping the extra novelty bits! However, it is very difficult to stay mad at a yarn with such gorgeous colours and such a yummy feel. I will probably complain the whole way through about the awkwardness of the yarn's "curly locks", but I love it anyway. I've got about 25 rows done so far. That's not as impressive as it sounds - the pattern starts with only 3 stitches on the needle, and you increase one stitch per row, so 25 rows means only 325 stitches. It's fairly slow going because of the awkwardness of the thick needles and how careful I have to be to insert each needle into the stitch and not the curly locks. But really, who cares about all that, I think this is going to look great when it's done.

2004-Dec-31

Put the hank on the swift last night and started winding it up on my ball winder. Alas, the hank is way too big to fit on one skein via the ball winder. Since the poncho is a very loose, lacy sort of thing, I'm really reluctant to cut the yarn since I don't know how successfully I could weave the ends into the poncho. So I've got a beautiful centre-pull skein attached to a hank. When I reach the hank it should get interesting. Oh, well. The other unfortunate thing is that the pattern calls for 9mm needles, which I don't have. Ordinarily I would just wrap twice around 4.5mm needles, but this is a kind of novelty yarn - fuzzy with what the yarn label calls "curlylocks", which are circular nubs at very frequent intervals along the yarn. I am not so skillful as to be able to keep track of doubled-up loops with yarn like this. So I shall have to go out and get me some 9mm needles. Yeek. My fingers are seizing up just thinking about it! But I really think it will be worth it. The colours of this yarn are just stunning. My husband oohed and aahed when I started untwisting the hank. :)

2004-Dec-29

MIL gave me 9oz of some GORGEOUS variegated wool for Christmas in a kid/wool/nylon blend - mostly kid. Stunning combination of bright blue and deep plum. Hand-dyed. Very soft. Unghhhh. I've never worked with kid before - it should be very interesting! Actually, she gave me two patterns I could use with the yarn - a shawl or a poncho. I will be making the poncho. This will be fun!

Labels: harlotponcho