When Did I Become a Poncho Person?

When Did I Become a Poncho Person?

When I first started working at Wool & Grace it became abundantly clear that we live in a town for poncho people.  Keep in mind I was, at that point, a relative newcomer to Summit.  But really, the Easy Folded Poncho (awesome pattern by Churchmouse) was the project of choice for newbie knitters – and I started to notice that people wore ponchos all over the place (not just the superior hand knit versions).  The thing is, it just wasn’t for me.  I’m a huge advocate of poncho knitting – it gives you a chance to practice LOTS of knits and purls.  It helps any new knitter get comfortable with your stitches.  Especially for new knitters, this is an awesome project.

For me, a poncho was just something that I was going to spill my coffee on or drag through my lunch.  But in the past couple months I have become poncho obsessed.  The simple addition of armholes into some poncho styles seems to be the factor which takes me from respectful appreciation to all-out obsession.  Everything seemed to come together at one time – there was a nexus of ponchos and I became swept up into it.

First, we recently had our Juniper Moon Trunk Show, in which the Bonny Poncho hung around the shop for a few weeks.  Besides the fact that the poncho is super cute and flattering, it was here while Big Little Lies was wrapping up, and I’m sorry but – how can you not love Bonnie from that show?  I wore that poncho as much as I could without making my coworkers totally annoyed with me.  The great thing about it is that it seems to look amazing on women of different heights and frames.  We had everyone slip it on, and it looked great on everyone!  And yes, it comes in a few different sizes, but we don’t need to be too careful about on it!  This one is made of a bulky alpaca so it’s definitely a cold-weather piece.  That’s ok.  It’ll be worth the wait.

Around the same time, Knit.Wear’s new issue came out with an entire section of “Athleisure” inspired pieces. I was quickly and thoroughly obsessed with the Marblehead Poncho, and it didn’t take me long to knit it up.  I used Blue Sky’s Woolstok yarn for this poncho.  I knit with this light worsted-weight wool on a size 9 to get gauge (that was the point) – and after blocking the yarn fluffed into a light and squishy fabric that seems to be perfect for now.  This was a relatively simple project – constructed similarly to a top-down sweater.  It’s a lot like an intensely dolman-sleeved sweater.  It’s so comfy and I just feel like I’m being good to myself when I’m wearing it (I also felt that way when I was knitting it – it’s nice and easy, my friends!).  My Marblehead Poncho is living at Wool & Grace as long as I can stand to be parted from it, but it’ll always make visitations to Wool & Grace if one of you wants to check it out!

While I was working on my Marblehead, Patty was working on Mayu.  This gorgeous poncho is designed by the ladies at Space Tricot, and it is knit up in a combo of Shibui’s ethereal Silk Cloud and Debbie Bliss’s soft and tweedy Fine Donegal.  This poncho is out of this world, and when she brought in the finished version I became very jealous and motivated to make my own.  It is beyond chic, and the S/M size we have here looks as awesome on our resident Amazon (Patty) as it does on a peanut like me.  The knitting on this piece is super easy.  The construction (there’s a little folding and seaming) and a few techniques may require a little extra effort but add a lot of polish to this piece, and it makes all the difference.

I have committed to making space for all of these pieces in my wardrobe.  Do you feel like making space for at least one?