I hate being cold. If it were up to me, I’d spend the entire duration of the cloudy and rainy Pacific Northwest winter snuggled up in a blanket with a cat in my lap, a cup of coffee, and my knitting. I designed this “swoncho” (sweater/poncho) so I could have a garment I could throw on top of whatever I was wearing so I could feel cozy while still going about my business. It features a seamless, top-down construction, with a side-opening, asymmetrical collar, a cabled panel in front, and a textured stitch pattern covering the back. The design was somewhat inspired by Galilee from the Berroco Design Team, but other than the use of the wickerwork pattern and the fact that they are both swonchos, I think you’ll find that the similarities end there.

A few days after starting to work on this design, I found out my best friend, whom I’ve known since we were twelve, will be moving across the pond. I’m saddened to see her go, but wish her nothing but the best. She hates being cold even more than I do, so I’m dedicating this design to her and will knit one up for her so that she may wear it in her new home and think of me, halfway across the world, giving her a warm, love-filled hug on a rainy day.

There are charted and round-by-round written instructions, but the written instructions have not been tested. I did my best to make them accurate and clear. Please feel free to contact me with questions or potential errata. Suggestions are given for how to adjust for size. Update 10/27/18: written instructions have been updated to add some parentheses that were missing in round 2, and to simplify instructions for rounds 44-47.

Low Vision Accessibility: This pattern is available in a low vision accessible format as a separate PDF with the pattern file name in ALL CAPS LVA. It is written in 24 point Arial font in all black text on a white background. All text is left-justified and has no italics. All of the directions are fully written out. There are charts included but the charts are not needed to complete the pattern. This pattern is also screen reader accessible and has been reviewed and tested to work with a screen reader. It does not contain any parentheses. Special thanks to momcook for her guidance and testing.

Offered free for personal use or charity.