Here we are! Already on week 3 and I'm almost finished with my poncho. How about you? I hope you've been having fun knitting along with me. I truly cannot wait to see all of these finished pieces! If you're following along with us than hopefully you've reached the stripe portion of your poncho. If not, no worries, whenever you finish, we can't wait to see! 

 

Follow along in the below video to get an overview of how the stripes knit up.

A few things to keep in mind first:

* You will have 4 Cast Away stripes plus the cast off edge is knit in Cast Away, this will look like 5 Cast Away stripes in total when you're all finished. 

* The number of rows per Cast Away stripe varies throughout the pattern - be sure to follow the written pattern for exact details.  Here's a quick overview- your 1st Cast Away stripe will be 3 rows, the 2nd: 2 rows, the 3rd: 3 rows, the 4th: 2 rows and the final stripe 1 row and then the cast off row. 

* We mix in purl rows to create more texture in your poncho - see video for a detail of what this looks like. 

* The Sister yarn portion of your stripe will always be knit in simple stockinette knit stitches - 4 rows total for each Sister yarn section.

 

Start knitting your Cast Away Stripes

Simply start knitting with the Cast Away yarn. There is no need to knit to cut the Sister yarn until the last Sister yarn row. When it comes time to knit with Sister yarn again, simply start knitting. This will create a little yarn float on the backside of your knitting (see video for reference). As long as you don't pull that stitch too tightly your knitted fabric should not pucker.  I prefer doing this as opposed to cutting the yarn for each stripe and then weaving in a bunch of ends.

This week, try to get through your stripes. Next week we'll be casting off and showing off our finished ponchos- yay! Right in time for Thanksgiving :)