A few years ago I spotted the instructions for a lovely crocheted poncho in a magazine. The pattern didn't look too complicated - the instructions only covered one page - and it seemed to consist more of holes than yarn so I was keen to have a go.
The opportunity arose when I found out that my poncho-loving friend was going to be spending a month in the UK over Christmas and so I decided to make it for her as a Christmas present. However, as someone who only wears black, I first had to track down some suitable yarn.
The pattern is from the yarn company Bergère de France (from their magazine 166 if you are interested). It's a lace-weight cotton and, perhaps understandably, comes in lovely summery shades, but not black. However, I managed to track down an almost identical weight yarn by Rico Design and was all ready to begin. It was mid-December and was due to meet up with my friend in mid-January so I was feeling confident.
That was until I actually read the pattern. The first instruction was to create a chain of 667 stitches. A bit bewildered as to how I was going to manage to keep count, a colleague at work suggested I put a marker every 50 or 100 stitches. Of course, simple really! So, armed with a collection of unusual but, for this purpose perfect, safety pins I set off.
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| Unusual safety pins, perfect as stitch markers |
Having proudly produced a chain of 667 stitches I looked at the next instruction which was for a series of quadruple-treble stitches linked by chains of 11. Don't worry if you are not a crocheter and this makes no sense to you because I had never come across a 'quadruple-treble' stitch before either so was quickly seeking out instructions before I tentatively set off to complete row one of the poncho...
An hour and a half later I completed the first row. Yes, you read that correctly. It took me an hour and a half to complete one row of the poncho. Only 61 to go! Yes, it was at this point that I had serious doubts about my choice of project/Christmas present. I was also thinking if it would be possible to delay meeting up with my friend, perhaps only agreeing to wave her goodbye at the airport as she flew home again?! Friends were also trying to convince me to give it as a Christmas present in 2017 or even in 2018. However, I am a stubborn - I mean determined - soul and so I ploughed on.
No need to ask or even guess what I did this Christmas and New Year. I crocheted! When it rained - I crocheted. When others were going out walking on lovely crisp sunny days - I crocheted. When I babysat - I crocheted. When I thought about going to the cinema to see that interesting new film by Jim Jarmusch/J.A. Byona - I stayed in and crocheted!
I do have to say that not every row took 1.5 hours. Just two rows in every seven. Two of the rows I could complete in a speedy 15 minutes, and the big loopy rows could each be completed in about 20 minutes. There was a little complication around the opening at the neck (which made a hole far to big but I resolved that at the end by adding a couple of rows to the neck hole) but in the end I completed the final row after about 50 hours of crocheting. I also enjoyed as many hours of podcasts thanks to BBC's Drama of the week and NPR's TED Radio Hour which inspired, entertained and educated in equal measure.
It did take me a further 2.5 hours to finish off the ends and add the tassels, but this final step completely transformed it from a pile of yarn I was, quite frankly, sick of seeing to a really lovely garment.
I completed it just 14 hours before I boarded a bus to meet my friend but it was complete and I was very pleased with the result. I was even more pleased with my friend's reaction. She absolutely loved it. That was worth every hour - every minute - of work I had put in.
Mind you, that doesn't mean I'm going to be rushing to make another one for quite some time. If ever!
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