Simple Beginner Poncho

Hi everyone,

I am a total beginner to knitting and have been taught the basics very recently. I have taken time to search through patterns for a very simple poncho and found one which should be a good start with the basic stitches being used.

I have searched through questions similar and haven’t found an answer, so apologies if this is a silly question, but it’s got me a bit confused as I understand everything bu one part.

I have highlighted (blacked out other information out of respect to the provider) the issues I’m having. I understand what stitches I am doing, however, when it says carry out Patt St for the RS, I am confused as to whether I am doing rows 1 and 2 described, then doing the same 2 rows on the WS. Or, am I doing row 1 on the Patt St for RS and then row 2 on the Pat St for WS?

Any advice or help would be very much appreciated! And if I haven’t explained well enough please let me know.

Many thanks,
Jake

Yes, this.
Row 1 is the right side
Row 2 is the wrong side.

I be.ieve this is called a garter rib stitch, I loved a wash cloth I made in this stitch it was gorgeous despite being a simple stutch pattern.

The 8 garter stitches at the border will be easier to keep track of if you have a stitch marker on your needle. If you don’t have any stitch markers you could make a loop of contrasting coloured yarn to put on the needle. When you get to the marker slip it from one needle to the other and use it as a reminder to change stitch. On the wrong side you are knitting every wrong side row so actually there is no difference between the border and the wrong side pattern, but on the right side you switch from rib to garter at the marker.

No questions are silly. Any question which helps you get through your project is a worth while one and we are all very happy to help. We’ve all had help here and it’s nice to be able to pay it forward wherever possible.

Enjoy your new hobby.

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Brill! Thank you for this, exactly what I needed to confirm on. Yes, I’ve been told even tho this is fairly simple the outcome is really nice!

Thank you for the advice, I don’t have any with me, so I will use this method. This is what I thought would be the case, but seems to miss off information that would be useful, even though it’s for beginners.

Appreciate the help, and excited to get started!

Glad to ge able to help.

If you don’t have stitch markers yarn loops are fine, but you can also upcycle some things. Safety pins can work so long as they are a good size for your needles. Plastic drinking straws can be cut into little rings with scissors. If you or friends use electric tooth brushes the heads come with a little coloured plastic ring (well, my brand does) which you can collect several of. Stitch markers do not need to be a particular size just something that doesn’t cause too much of a gap between stitches or is too snug on the needle. My toothbrush rings are good on 3mm needles and up to around 8mm.

If you do more complex patterns you may want a few more markers, to denote where pattern repeats take place, or cables or instance, they don’t need to be expensive or fancy.

As you are setting out on a large project you might like to insert a life line every ten rows or so, this is a way of saving stitches if you accidentally drop one (or lots!). The stitch will ladder down to the life line and stop there. You can then seek help to fix the stitch.

Here’s a tutorial on life lines, it’s best to use a thinner yarn or thread for a life line if you have something like that, avoid thick or fluffy yarn for lines, too hard to get out and the thickness alters your knitting tension kn the row.

We love seeing photos of works in progress and finished projects if you fancy posting one once you get started.

Hey!
I will defo look into these possibilities, quite like he toothbrush one, very ingenious! I’ve done 6 rows now, and have taught myself how to undo stitches having had to undo the whole on the P1 K1 row… Nothing like a mistake to practice how to undo them, quite handy as I can now undo one where I see I have messed up!

I will look into marks for the 8 garter stitches that are required, but once in the zone I alway am aware of these. And thank you for the video link, I will look at this this evening as I can see myself making some mistakes (found an additional stitch but noticed it when on the next row so was able to drop it easily enough).

I will take progress pictures, happy to share this! I know full when this first side will definitely be on the back of the poncho as hopefully the second side will be me much more practiced!

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I would love to see your progress as you go. I have started my first ever project (a scarf) and posting updates has pushed me through some of the harder times of getting this thing done lol :laughing:

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Sounds like you are doing brilliantly.
If you need a video on undoingnstutches look for “tinking knitting”. Tink is knit backwards. I love a good tink it is never that nice to undo work but tinking can be quite therapeutic for me, I feel in control despite knowing I’ve messed up and need to go back.

There are also videos on laddering down to fix a stitch. Having a crotchet hook to help bring the stitch back up is really helpful if you have one (a smaller size than your needle is great but it is not vital to have a particular size).
If you need any tutorial videos and can’t find them just ask.

Just be cautious of dropping extra stitches you find. If you understand how the yarn is producing the fabric and happy to drop an accidental yarn over that’s fine, but if you are unsure how that stitch was formed it’s better to stop and ask or investigate as otherwise it could ladder all the way down to your cast on edge.

I’d love to see progress photos. It’s great to see the progress.

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Ah that’s great! I considered a scarf, but this one seemed simple even if it is a lot of stitches :sweat_smile: but this is what I’ve got so far!

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Yes, that’s what I found and seems fairly simple, just have to keep the concentration, especially when unstitching P1 K1 as you have to alternate. So thanks for the advice, seems to be a decent amount of videos to show how things are done, some better than others!

However, ironic you may say this. I’ve just done a row and have procured a stitch. I believe it was just on this last full knit row as I’ve counted 63 each time until now. Even though this has been a knit row, it’s hard looking through to see where the additional stitch maybe. What would you recommend, carrying on with the next row hoping I come across the obvious extra stitch, or undo this row back to the correct amount? Or continue and decrease by one on the next knit row? Obviously if in the first scenario I don’t find it, I would need to then undo that row and then the one before! Or

Hey, looking good!

That extra stitch, well it all depends how “perfect” you want your project to be. If you can enjoy the result with the odd little mistake giving it the hand made with love kinda feel then you can leave it, see if you spot it on your next row and fix it and if not k2tog to reduce the stitch count back down. If you k2tog I would bring it in from the edge a little rather than using the first or last 2 stitches on a row.
If you want it closer to perfect then you need to find it now before moving on.
Some accidental extra stitches will leave behind a loop of extra yarn when you fix the stitch, you then need to do something with the extra yarn - it’s possible to distribute some extra yarn across the row making each stitch a tiny bit bigger which isn’t really noticable it just takes some extra time to do.
Or tink back on this row until you find a stitch that doesn’t seem right and work out how to fix it.

If it is difficult to look closely at the stitches because you have a lot of stitches on your needle you can make a DIY stitch stopper with an elastic band to stop the stitches falling off as you move them along the needle to see where the error is. Wrap the band many times around the end of the needle to make a secure stop.

Sometimes when making a new stitch the yarn is wrapped and then the old stitch is accidentally slipped onto the right needle instead of off the left needle. If this has happened you will have enough yarn to represent the stitch when you get to it.
Sometimes an accidental yarn over happens, let’s say you accidentally brought the yarn to front thinking of purling but then remembered you were knitting and instead of taking the yarn to back between the needles you instead took it over the top of the needle. This would mean a loop of yarn which doesn’t belong there. It can just be dropped off without any laddering but you would need to redistribute the extra yarn.

Not my best response ever, all a bit jumbled I’m afraid but perhaps you can make something of it.