Is there any way to knit this poncho without a pattern?
October 3, 2019 3:31 PM Subscribe
I'm in the mood to knit and I've decided on a poncho. I haven't knitted in a while, and have mostly knitted scarves, but a couple of sweaters way back when. I've spent a couple of hours hunting for patterns, but this is the poncho I want to make! Alas, there's no pattern to be found. Is there some way for someone to reverse engineer the pattern? Who would do that, and would it be super expensive?
I think it's this one which is fairly different from poncho 11 and is unfortunately out of print. If your heart's set on that exact pattern, you could ask on Ravelry in the Lana Grossa group or the Book Destash & ISO Library group whether anyone has that pamphlet and is willing to part with it.
That said, it looks like a standard rectangle of bulky ribbing folded in half and seamed or grafted, with the work continued at the neck opening to form a cowl. Probably not too hard to reverse engineer or modify another pattern. This one is crochet but has a diagram that shows the construction I mean.
posted by bunnysquirrel at 4:14 PM on October 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
That said, it looks like a standard rectangle of bulky ribbing folded in half and seamed or grafted, with the work continued at the neck opening to form a cowl. Probably not too hard to reverse engineer or modify another pattern. This one is crochet but has a diagram that shows the construction I mean.
posted by bunnysquirrel at 4:14 PM on October 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: Wow, thanks K8lin and bunnysquirrel for your knitting know-how. Yes, that out of print one is it, bunnysquirrel. I don't have the skill to improvise or work off a semi-similar pattern. I pretty much need a pattern to tell me what to do. But I will follow your advice and ask if someone might have it and be willing to share the pattern. Can't hurt to ask. If I strike out, I'll survive, and choose something else.
posted by swheatie at 4:50 PM on October 3, 2019
posted by swheatie at 4:50 PM on October 3, 2019
The pattern is available in german here. They may not be able to ship it to you, but if you email them, they may be able to work something out. There may be a kind mefite who will let you ship it to them and then send you photos.
Then you need to find someone to help you translate it, but it's not a tricky pattern, and a good knitter will probably be able to work it out without speaking any german. If you buy the yarn from a friendly yarn store, they will probably be happy to help you.
Another option is to take the picture to your friendly yarn store and ask them for advice. It's a pretty simple pattern, and they may have something similar that they will help you to adapt, if you buy the yarn there. Ponchos need a lot of yarn.
posted by kjs4 at 7:56 PM on October 3, 2019
Then you need to find someone to help you translate it, but it's not a tricky pattern, and a good knitter will probably be able to work it out without speaking any german. If you buy the yarn from a friendly yarn store, they will probably be happy to help you.
Another option is to take the picture to your friendly yarn store and ask them for advice. It's a pretty simple pattern, and they may have something similar that they will help you to adapt, if you buy the yarn there. Ponchos need a lot of yarn.
posted by kjs4 at 7:56 PM on October 3, 2019
Wait, it's downloadable here. See page 9. It's in German, but take it to a friendly yarn store, and I'm sure they will help you.
posted by kjs4 at 7:58 PM on October 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by kjs4 at 7:58 PM on October 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
Google translate does a pretty decent job of translating the bulk of the pattern, and here is a list of German knitting abbreviations that will help with the rest.
If you do what you can to rewrite it in English then take it to a yarn store, it will probably be easy to find someone to give you a sanity check on the instructions before casting on.
posted by itesser at 5:45 AM on October 4, 2019
If you do what you can to rewrite it in English then take it to a yarn store, it will probably be easy to find someone to give you a sanity check on the instructions before casting on.
posted by itesser at 5:45 AM on October 4, 2019
Response by poster: OMG! Thank you, kjs4! I have a friend who's German and I'll ask her to translate! Thanks everyone!
posted by swheatie at 8:40 AM on October 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by swheatie at 8:40 AM on October 4, 2019 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Also, neglected to thank itesser for the German abbreviations. Thank you! I think I may try to do it myself with google translate, but will call on my friend if needed.
posted by swheatie at 5:23 PM on October 4, 2019
posted by swheatie at 5:23 PM on October 4, 2019
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If you do not have Ravelry account, I encourage you to get an account there. There are many patterns for ponchos that fit your criteria. This one is a bit expensive but in a black yarn would give you a similar look. This one is also a bit pricey, but Churchmouse has good patterns. The search features on Ravelry are quite robust, and I would think that you can find an available pattern like the one you linked, if you have not searched there yet (and apologies if you have!)
posted by k8lin at 3:43 PM on October 3, 2019