I ripped back a Balboa vest to reclaim the yarn for this project. The yarn is much better suited to this than it was to the vest. Having made this before, I used my previous experience to guide mods in this project.

Swatch: I swatched with an aim to get to 17st and 28R in 4”, the gauge I used for my first version (which is not the gauge called for in the pattern).

US7
Pre-blocked gauge: 19.3st and 26R in 4” (note v small swatch)
Post-blocked gauge:18.5st and 26R in 4”

US8
Pre-blocked gauge: 18st and ?R in 4”
Post-blocked gauge: 18st and 25R in 4” stockinette

About Yardage: I had to make this garment shorter than my first version because I have only 400m in stash vs the 660 called for and the 545m I used to make the first version (which I love and wear as often as the weather will permit)… Mind you, this yarn is heavier (maybe even drapier) so it may stretch longer than anticipated… However you consider it, I think the amount of yarn recommended to make this garment is excessive. Admittedly, I aimed for less ease and I’m a short, short-waisted person, but I didn’t have to struggle overly to make this with 160m less than called for. YMMV.

Needles: I used a US6 for rib and a US9 until 4.5” below neck rib. At that point I switched to US 8 for 2 reasons: 1. I was afraid of running out of yarn too soon and 2. The stitches did look much more open than those in my original version. Note: this alpaca yarn (which I remember nothing about) and the FAR are diff fibres with diff densities and weights so they’re not going to play exactly the same way, even if my gauge is similar on both… I used the US7 on the bottom ribbing.

Short Rows: I once again considered doing short rows this time around (I just wasn’t motivated to figure it out) to mitigate the pull/drape at the front neck.

Instructions to make this at my preferred gauge:

• CO 88 st on US 6 and do twisted rib as instructed for 17R (2.5”). Note: I did .5” less depth this time because I was concerned about yarn quantity. Pattern calls for 6”. I found 3” as long as I would want given the length of my neck.

• Then followed vertical instructions for XS in pattern. Switched to US 9 and began raglan Increases by working the set up row, then first inc round, then round 2 (no increases). In retrospect I should have front-loaded 6 increase rounds but I had too many variables to work with. Because I couldn’t make the body as long as my first version given yarn quantity, I ended up having to do back to back increases just before getting to the full circumference, not optimal but the garment fits and I believe that I can block out the fabric such that it isn’t particularly noticeable. See next bullet for more detail…

• My full bust is ~10” below base of neck ribbing (the point at which I had to be at max circumference) so I increased every round as of the proposed “no-increase round” at the point at which I had 192st in total, or 87st on front and 87st on back (that being the 51st round of the body). So on R52-57 inclusive, I increased 4st every round to get me to 216st. This fits fine and I might even have been able to get away with one or 2 fewer increase rounds but, again, I was working with lots of variables.

• Note that I switched to US 8 needle at 4.5” of stockinette depth. Prob could have used the 8 all the way through…

• I had to work at least 1” of stockinette below the full bust (10” below rib) before beginning the hem ribbing in order to achieve the optimal proportion. In a perfect world, I’d have done 3” of straight knitting at 216st and then started 5” of rib on the front but there’s no way enough yarn for that. Instead, I worked ~2” straight.

• At part where I started knitting straight I had 88g of yarn left so I used 112g to get to that point. As of 12R knit in straight stockinette, I had 67g of yarn remaining. Each round took 1.165g of yarn. That was as long as I felt I could go though I probably could have gone another 6 rounds with the yarn I have left.

• One round of twisted rib took ~1.5g of yarn so I got 17R of rib on the front body and 23R of rib on the back body before bind off. I agonized unnecessarily over yarn quantity - should have just listened to the math that I spent quite a bit of time and effort determining. It just seemed like I was off given how little yarn I had to work with and how far it went.

• My gauge felt uncertain as I worked so I used my original FO as a template, laying this WIP over top to ensure I maintained the same dimensions…

Pre-blocked Dimensions:
Collar depth: 2.3”
Collar circumference: 13.5” at top where meets neck
Length from base of neck (where it meets body) and hem (front body): 14”
Length from base of neck (where it meets body) and hem (back body): 15.5”
Front hem rib depth: 2.75”
Back hem rib depth: 3.75”
Widest circumference: 24”
Depth from widest circumference to hem (front body): 4.5”
Depth from widest circumference to hem (back body): 6”
Depth from widest circumference till hem ribbing begins: 2”

Post-blocked Dimensions:
Collar depth: 2.3”
Collar circumference: 14” at top where meets neck
Length from base of neck (where it meets body) and hem (front body): 14.25”
Length from base of neck (where it meets body) and hem (back body): 15.5”
Front hem rib depth: 2.75”
Back hem rib depth: 4”
Widest circumference: 23.75”
Depth from widest circumference to hem (front body): 4.5”
Depth from widest circumference to hem (back body): 6”
Depth from widest circumference till hem ribbing begins: 2”

Final Thoughts:

• This design is a gem. What an easy, customizable, elegant, sensible accessory. I could easily have 5 of these in my wardrobe, in diff colours (I live in Canada after all). And the way I make them, they use up very little yarn and are great for stash busting.

• I have no idea how I used thinner yarn than called for, thinner needles at a smaller gauge and I still ended up using only 55% of the yarn called for in my size (size 1).

• My measurement, wearing shirt, over full bust including arms is 45.75” and, given the narrowness of my frame, I prefer closer fitting garments so I deliberately went with the xs. Because the garment full circumference is~48”, I made mine with about 2” of positive ease, using a very drapey yarn. I positioned the split at the elbows for ease of movement. If the split is lower than the elbows, it makes it difficult to move in this. Also, the stitches are fairly open at this gauge so there’s movement in this fabric. It is in no way tight.

• I do think that making this garment as written, even in the first size, would have been somewhat too wide and way too long. There’s no schematic provided with this pattern and I haven’t done the math to see how long the first size should be at gauge but I do note that many of the versions in the project pages are exceedingly long. I am a narrow, short person with a short waist but I do have projected boobs, which takes up yarn. YMMV if you are broad shouldered with fuller arms. Having said this, it still makes no sense to me unless this pattern overstates the amount of yarn required.

• This version has basically the same dimensions as my first version though it does drape differently and I put most of the circumference at the bottom of the garment to save yarn because my shoulders are very narrow. While I had to block the part at full circ above the ribbing a bit actively, to diminish a smidge of 3-dimensionality, it blocked out just fine and arguably it fits better for this alteration.

• I do recommend customizing this accessory - it’s very easy to do and then you’ll end up with something that suits your neck, shoulder and torso vertical and horizontal dimensions. If this is proportionately too long or too wide (and I do think that 10” of positive ease is a lot / inclined to make this elegant garment veer into the domain of sack), it compromises its chicness, IMO. Ponchos are tricky in this respect.

• Once again, I didn’t do short rows at the upper back, though I though about it. I still don’t know how that would work given the turtleneck and the front pull on both my first version and this one is very minimal. There’s no back pull. I didn’t want to spend any yarn unnecessarily.

• Given that my version is shorter and less voluminous than instructed, I can wear it under a coat, though just.