This poncho is a departure from the loose flowing shape we normally associate with the genre. It depends on fisherman’s rib for its ability to fit comfortably.
WEARING THE PONCHO Insert the left arm into one sleeve. Wrap the fisherman’s rib area around the back, around the front, going outside the arm, around the back again, going outside the second arm and insert the right arm into the second sleeve. Tweak the fabric into a comfy, smooth position. The sleeve comes to the elbow or just above on most ladies.
YARN, GAUGE, SIZE AND MACHINE This design is only for double bed machines and only for standard or Passap. A Japanese machine with a ribber is a double bed machine as is a Passap, Superba or any machine that came with 2 beds already attached. The machine must be capable of full fisherman’s rib.
Use a yarn that would normally get about 7 stitches/10 rows per inch in stockinette. It must be workable in fisherman’s rib. The sample is made with 2 strands of 2/24 yarn. I also found that Tamm 3 ply Astracryl and many sock yarns worked. Adjust the stitch size so that fisherman’s rib knits perfectly. This is more important than matching a specific gauge which is difficult to pin down in fisherman’s rib. It will be necessary on almost all machines to use quite a bit of weight. Due to the lovely stretchiness of fisherman’s rib, one size fits ladies from about size 6-size 14 It may actually fit more sizes as we tend to vary in measurements more from the waist down than we do in the areas covered by this poncho. However, if knitting for a very tall wearer or or one one who truly needs extra shoulder room, those with Japanese machines may wish to use the full 200 needle span of the bed rather than the 180 given.