I've made it and I'm wearing it...

What do you think? Thanks for all the help - you were right. Stripes were the way to go! I ended up putting in the pink because I was worried I wouldn't have enough of the other colours and I like it. It's a heavy, fringy colourful, warm poncho and what was it the pattern said? It has a little touch of Mexico about it.

Flourishing Fringes!

yes...there is quite a bit of fringing in this poncho...yesterday was a day of endings. I finished the poncho with a thick flourish of fringing and I finished the book I was reading ("How to be Both" by Ali Smith)too. Now I have a bit of a combined post-craft-project/post-good-book blues....

70's Poncho Patterns

This is one of my favourite pattern books.

I just love the styling of this shoot - lazing about and crafting in the adobe hacienda with your long hair free and flowing. Although they do look a bit like they are imprisoned and waiting for the magnificent seven to rescue them*. A poncho sweatshop?

Looking at the patterns I realise that the old poncho is a very decadent item of clothing. Some of them have 7 balls of wool - just in the fringing!!!
Was wool really that much cheaper in the past?

Oh and I love that the poncho can also be a skirt. Ah the seventies. All long hair, boots and swathes of wool fringing.

*I would happily be rescued by the magnificent seven myself - especially Yul Brynner in that black shirt. Come and Save me Yul! Who-hoo!

Poncho Dilemma

Help! I have a poncho dilemma!

I am planning to crochet this poncho.
I've even bought the wool and all - Cleckheaton Country 8 Ply in Dijon mustard.

So why haven't I started?

Well I'm not sure about the colour. And then Lincraft had Cleckheaton Country 8 ply on sale so I bought some in different colours that I thought looked good with the mustard.

Now my dilemma: Do I make it in one colour ...

....or multi coloured stripes?

I do love colour. And like to wear lots of colour. Perhaps without the pink??? I don't know! Help!

Keep forgetting to show you all this dress...

Yes! I finished it. This tunic dress - which I started way back in April or May  - was from a vintage pattern...  

And yes, you may have noticed that the one I made has lost it's sleeves. Hmm. I did start making the sleeves....but then I thought it would be more flexible as a tunic pinafore and would fit the girls for longer....well that's my excuse anyway and I'm sticking to it.
 
I keep forgetting to photograph the twins when they wear it so I seized the opportunity this morning when Wanda wore it.

Mind you.... getting a photo of Wanda isn't that easy..she hardly ever stays still!

vintage crochet cape

Finally finished this cape - it's from a vintage pattern which you can get HERE and I made it in vintage 10 ply purple peruvian wool(try saying that ten times quickly!)

As I suspected, it was a bit much with my purple hair.... so I dyed my hair orange.

 Yes - it goes MUCH better with orange...

free crochet pattern round up! Ponchos and capes!

It's getting chilly round these parts and I want a crocheted poncho or cape. I had a cape a few years ago but it looked so much better on my teenage daughter that I relinquished it to her wardrobe. So now I've been searching for free patterns to make a replacement one and here are the best I have found.

For groovy girls this on can be found here but I should warn you that the site is full of fantastic vintage patterns and you may be distracted for some time....

For example, from the same website! What says GLAMOUR more than a FABULOUS poncho with MATCHING pants????  Your link to looking like this is only a CLICK away....

And while we are on that website - did you ever consider the versatile nature of a poncho (I know I have!) It can be a poncho....or a skirt! You could probably even wear it on your head!

Here is the pattern for this glorious pineapple lace poncho/skirt

Here's more for the little girls. This Little Red Riding Hood capelet is upping the cute factor somewhat. The pattern can be downloaded for free from Red heart

And this cape "for a princess" is also from red heart - download and print! I do love a cape with a collar. For a short cape or "capelet" I like this one.

This ripple pattern capelet could be made in chevron stripes for a more modern look and the pattern is from Suzie's Yarnie Stuff Blog

 

I'm thinking of making this one with the matching beret. Pattern can be found here on all crafts blog.

For some quick short capes and ponchos look no further than the free patterns on Lion Brand. You do have to register to get the patterns. Here are some of my favourites I found there.

 The "round yoke poncho" Pattern #: L10716

 The "Split collar capelet" Pattern #: L32421

and the "Town and Country Poncho"

For all you Australian crochet people you will need to convert the pattern.  Here are all the conversions you should need! Get hooking! 

Here is a hook conversion table:

Crochet Hook Conversion Chart Metric USA   UK   2.00 mm - 14 2.25 mm 1 / B 13 2.50 mm - 12 2.75 mm C 11 3.00 mm - 11 3.25 mm D 10 3.50 mm 4 / E 9 3.75 mm F - 4.00 mm 6 8 4.25 mm G - 4.50 mm 7 7 5.00 mm 8 / H 6 5.50 mm 9 / I 5 6.00 mm 10 / J 4 6.50 mm 10 1/2 / K 3 7.00 mm - 2 8.00 mm - 0 9.00 mm 15 / N 00 10.00 mm P 000 15.75 mm or 16mm Q -

Steel Hook Chart (thread hooks) Metric USA  UK  .6 mm 14 6 .75 mm 13 - .70 mm 12 5 .8 mm 11 - 1 mm 10 4 1.15 mm 9 - 1.25 mm 8 3 1.50 mm 7 2.5 1.6 mm 6 - 1.7 mm 5 - 1.75 mm 4 2 1.85 mm 3 - 1.95 mm 2 - 2 mm 1 1 2.25 mm 0 00 3 mm 00 -

Here is a stitch conversion table:

US	UK
chain(ch)	chain(ch)
single crochet (sc)	double crochet (dc)
double crochet (dc)	treble (tr)
half double crochet (hdc)	half treble (htr)
triple crochet (trc)	double treble (dtr)
slip stitch (sl st)	slip stitch (sl st)

And here are some tips for wool weight conversions. Worsted weight translates to Australian 10 ply. DK weight is 8 ply and Sports weight is 5 ply.  

Standard Yarn Weight System	Nm (length per mass, SI (International System of Units))	Yarn Type (US)	Ply (UK, NZ, AU)[3]	m/100g	Wraps Per Inch (WPI)[3]	needles / circulars recommended, mm
0 or Lace	6 - 8	Thread, Cobweb and Lace	1 - 3 ply	600-800	18+ wpi	1.5 - 2.5
1 or Superfine	4 - 6	Fingering, Sock	4 ply	400-480	14 wpi	2 - 3
2 or Fine	3 - 4	Sport	5 ply	300-400	12 wpi	3 - 4
3 or Light	2.4 - 3	DK	8 ply	240-300	11 wpi	4 - 4.5
4 or Medium	1.2 - 2.4	Worsted	10 ply	120-240	9 wpi	4.5 - 5.5
5 or Bulky	1 - 1.3	Bulky	12 ply	100-130	7 wpi	5.5 - 8
6 or Super Bulky	>1	Super Bulky		Less than 100	5-6 wpi	>8

May playlist

Wearing: Beehive and plait with Big ( with a capital "B") skirt, hoop petticoat and a shawl wrapped around my hips for extra warmth.

Making: little girl's crochet dress from a vintage pattern. I've changed the stripe because I had several balls of 5 ply wool and thought stripey would be fun. The dress is made from the top down so I can add rows as the girls get  taller!

Watching: "Matewan" a 1987 film by John Sayles - in fact I'm having a John Sayles retrospective festival at my house. I love his films! Next up is "Lone Star" with Chris Cooper , Matthew McConaughey and

Kris Kristofferson.

Which brings me to...

Listening: bbc documentary about Kris Kristofferson, narrated by Steve Earle. I had the privilege of seeing Kris Kristofferson play live last month in Melbourne and a damn right privilege it was. At 77 years old he may not be as nimble on the finger picking or as melodic on the vocals but his songs break your heart. And he sang those songs one after another without barely a word in between  - he stopped to blow his nose at one stage and said "I bet you're all glad you paid so much money to see an old fart blow his nose".
It was like being told a generous bedtime story in song. And he came all this way to sing it to us. Amazing. He was just a beautiful man to see and to listen to.

Lens Flare and Vintage Crochet Dress - a match made in heaven!

I bought the crochet pattern here from etsy but I must admit to changing it slightly. I can't seem to ever follow instructions - be it a pattern or a recipe or anything else. A special defect I have. Yeah. Real special. Anyway I just changed the shell stitch slightly - other than that this was simple and fun to make. I used Heirloom %100 cotton 8 ply.

And yes - the pattern also has adult sizes for matching mother and daughter outfits! Oooh! What colour shall I make mine?

(Thanks Pepper for being such an inspired model.)