Okay, this is the first major project I've really designed by myself. My dad's in a wheelchair, and it's a real pain in the ass to get a coat on and off of him all the time. I thought it'd be nice for him to have a poncho that could just go on over his head, but had a shorter back to allow for the chair. I couldn't find any online patterns for one, though, so I had to make my own for Father's Day.
Upon finishing it, I might have made the corners less pointy...but oh well, I couldn't measure his shoulders ahead of time to get that perfect and I wanted kind of a box shape to go over the top anyway.
Pardon my crappy photography, I didn't have anyone around to take a picture of me and the lighting in my apartment stinks!
(a) Buy six skeins of Cascade 220 yarn (or just get a lot of worsted weight yarn of your own preference, doesn't matter). I used three colors. Gauge is seven stitches across and six stitches high = 1 square inch.
(b) This pattern is knit flat, but I ended up having to use size 8 circular needles in order to make it wide enough- it didn't fit on my straights.
(c) To start either side, cast on 168 stitches in Color A. Knit for 2 inches in garter stitch, then switch to color B. Knit color B in stockinette stitch for 2 inches. Then switch to color C and knit 2 inches in garter stitch. Then switch to color A and knit 2 inches in stockinette.
(d) If you are knitting the back piece (which should be about 8 inches long- stops around the back where a chair back might go), stop at this point and bind off.
(e) If you are knitting the front piece, continue the pattern as set, alternating garter and stockinette rows, until you have six 2-inch rows of each color completed. It should optimally end slightly below the end of the person's waist. Bind off.
(f) Pin together the two pieces for 10 inches at the start of each long side, leaving a large hole for the neck. Sew the sides of the poncho together, creating a blocky shape.
Feel free to alter this around if you like, making more sloping shoulders, changing the stitches, using more or less colors, making it less wide (I was making it for a man's shoulders), whatever you need to do.
