Lake Idro Pom Pom Poncho (One Skein Caron Cake)

Whilst camping in Italy with my family, I made this fabulous versatile poncho for my youngest daughter. My eldest daughter decided she was going to do the modelling, which made me realise how adaptable a garment like this is. She now wants her own of course! Here I have written up the simple pattern so that you can make the poncho yourself. I used a Caron Cake (Strawberry Trifle), but you could use any Aran Weight yarn. I have used US crochet terms, as I learnt this way from you tube videos! The pattern consists of two rectangles sewn together, with pom poms attached as a border.

Yarn: Caron Cake (Strawberry Trifle)

Hook: 5mm

ABBREVIATIONS:

Ch: Chain

Hdc: Half Double Crochet

Dc: Double Crochet

Sl St: Slip stitch

Sk St: Skip stitch

Ch 68

1st Row: Hdc in 3rd st from hook. 1 hdc in each ch to end of chain. (66 hdc) Turn.

2nd Row: Ch4. Dc in same st. *Sk 4 st. Dc in next st. Ch1. Dc in same st. Ch1. Dc in same st.*

Repeat from * to * until you reach the last st. In last st: dc, ch1, dc. Turn.

3rd Row: Ch2. Hdc in each st to end of chain. (66 hdc) Turn.

Rows 4 - 22: Repeat 2nd and 3rd rows. (ending on a repeat of Row 2) Fasten off.

You have now made one rectangle!

Repeat all previous instructions until you have another rectangle. (I will make another one and get a better photo of this part of the process.)

Sew the two rectangles together using your preferred method. (I like the mattress stitch. There is a good tutorial on www.cherryheartcrochet.co.uk )

Next you need to attach a border. I chose pom poms because they are really popular right now, and my daughters think they're fab. (I used this brilliant tutorial here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B62rMydQxBo )

You could also choose tassels, although you may need more than one Caron Cake for this.

I added two rows of single crochet to the neckline to tighten it up a little and give it a neat border.

I hope you enjoy making your poncho. They really are the perfect accessory for those cool summer evenings down the beach, or in the garden.