I want to make this for my granddaughters. But there are no instructions for toddler/child sizes. So, I will make one for my daughter and then see if I can make it smaller after I figure it out.

The 5.0 mm (H) hook is for the foundation chain. So that it is not too tight. I used the 4.25 mm (G) hook for the rest. I don’t want a hood.

The pattern repeat is 5n. There is no +1, it’s exactly 5n.

I was off by 1 stitch when I got to the end of the round. I had 4 stitches left over instead of 3. I must have made a mistake in my chain count because I couldn’t find any other mistake.

My Gauge
5 shells = 4 inches
9 rows = 4 inches

So, I am a bit short in the width, I guess. But I will take it as a good gauge. I don’t know that it matters that much.

Points on Poncho
I have noticed that this poncho has extremely long front and back points. She does have you shorten the points about Round 31.

I think that’s about half way through the poncho. No one else has made any comments about whether they followed the instructions for shortening the points or not.

Pattern Picture vs my Poncho

I think that she used a much larger hook that 4.5 mm (G) because her stitch pattern is SOOOO much bigger in her picture. Either that or she is a super loose crocheter. Or maybe she dried her poncho in a hot dryer and her gauge is “after laundering”?

I would use a larger hook except that I was looking at gauge and not the pattern picture. My poncho has a pretty solid (and fluffy) stitch pattern. It looks like it’s about half the size (or less) of the gauge in the pattern picture.

At this point, I am just hoping I have enough yarn to make a nice sized poncho. I intend to continue to work the pattern until I run out of yarn.

The length of my poncho (neckline to tip) is about 12 inches right now (Row 25) and I have used the 1/2 skein and am about 1/3 or so into the full skein. It does have me worried that this poncho may be very small.

Modifications
On Round 26, I moved to the H hook (5 mm). I cannot see a visible difference in the size of my stitches. I was hoping it would make the poncho larger.

On Round 27, I moved to the hdc corners for the tips.

Ran out of yarn on Round 32 - 1.5 skeins at 885 yards. Size adult small with no hood. Waiting on more yarn to complete the poncho. Lion Brand says delivery in about 4-6 weeks.

11/27
Well, the pattern certainly uses more than 1.5 skeins of Mandala yarn. I have finished all of the 1.5 skeins that I had and the length of my poncho (from neckline to tip) is only 19 inches. It looks like it will fit a child.

I have ordered more yarn to match. Not very happy that I have to purchase more yarn. The idea was to use this up and NOT purchase yarn. A word of warning to anyone else who believes the pattern only takes 885 yards. Just not true.

This project is on hold at 60% complete while I wait for more yarn. I was told that it could take up to 4 weeks for Lion Brand to send the yarn.

Goal
A small adult size poncho is supposed to aim for a measurement of 23 inches.

12/5 - New skein of yarn has arrived.

I have been adding the extra skein. Halfway through this skein and I decide to FINALLY put it on my mannequin to see how the length is working out. Maybe I am just not looking at it right? It still looks short to me.

I should have put it on my mannequin sooner. I am so disappointed. Even though I am using a larger hook than the pattern calls for, my poncho is SMALL. I have to really tug it down on the shoulders of the mannequin to get the neckline to sit where it should. The neckline seems to be the right size, but the rest of it is SO SMALL. Like it’s child size.

I knew my stitches looked proportionately smaller than they do in the pattern picture. I think my only hope at this point is to dry it in a very hot dryer and hope the stitches relax enough to make the poncho wear better. Otherwise, it’s going to be going in the thrift store bin.

I am going to finish up this last skein, which should give me a few more inches in length. If it fit correctly around the shoulders, I think even this extra skein would still be a short poncho.

So disappointed in the fit of this thing. I should have checked it on the mannequin sooner.

Dimensions
pre-wash
neckline to front tip - 25 inches

post-wash and dry on high heat
neckline to front tip - 29 inches

Hindsight
This ponch does not sit “down” on the mannequin’s shoulders. Which forces the neckline to push up around the “neck” in a strange way. The shoulder section is just too narrow. I am hoping to relax the yarn by using a hot dryer. If it doesn’t work, then I will be looking for a child to gift this to or put it in the thrift store box.

I dinged my ratings for this poncho because the sizing is so bad. I used worsted weight (4) yarn and a larger 5 mm hook. It’s still very small.

If the sizing was better then this pattern would get 5 stars for being well written and a lovely stitch pattern.

This was put in the dryer (by itself) on high heat for 1 hour 30 minutes. This did relax the yarn a little bit. Not as much as I had hoped.

A friend came over and saw it on my mannequin. She loved it. I gifted it to her on the spot. She was the same size as my mannequin and she liked how it fit. I personally thought the shoulders should have been more relaxed. But as long as she loved it, that’s all that matters.