Lots of notes and modifications.

Final measurements laying flat:
17” from top to bottom
15” wide at neck
27” wide at bottom

I’m following this Raveler’s project (susanadanna).
-…- Instead of a 5.5mm hook, I’m using a 6mm through R ??, then a 6.5mm through R ??, then a 7mm. (I reached out to her to get exact row counts, but haven’t heard back as of 2/15/24)

-…- On R7 instead of increasing to 192 sc -increasing in every stitch-, I’ll only increase to 136 sc (increasing every 3rd stitch like susanadanna … EDIT …. that did not increase accurately. It needed to be as follows: … 2sc,sc,sc repeat that sequence x2, 2sc. Repeat that whole sequence 13x, then sc,sc,2sc,sc,sc to get 136 sts).

-…- She says that she used the 6mm hook through the first 4 rounds of shells, the 6.5mm hook for 4 rounds of shells, and then a 7mm hook for 5 rounds of shells, BUT from what I can tell from her photos, she only has 10 total rounds of shells and those numbers add up to 13 rounds. The pattern is written for only 7 rounds of shells. (Maybe it’s 4, 4 and 2 (not 5)? Or maybe she meant that she used the 6mm through the 1st (not the 4th) round, then switched again after 4, then did 5. That would equal 10 rounds.

Round 1 of NECK: I started the poncho with a chainless foundation round of 80 sc stitches that will replace R1 of the neck.

2/5/24
I went ahead and switched to the 6.5mm hook (on round 9) before the first round of shells.

2/15/24
Realized I missed the 2nd dc in one of the V-stitches in round 12 the other day. I tried to make it work and did 3 more rounds, but decided to put it in time out for a few days and then frog it back. Did that this morning and will work on it again after I stop being annoyed by it.

2/17/24
Needed to make progress on this. I’m not highly motivated because I’m not loving the yarn. I’m continuing under the assumption that steaming/blocking it will make it better, i.e., less stiff. I finished the first skein and will add a different yarn (hopefully I won’t regret THAT decision, too) to add more shells/rounds. As it is, when it’s on it hangs to my elbows.

I also decided that I will not switch to a 7mm at any point. It does not seem to be necessary with this yarn.

3/3/24
I knew I’d run out of the Big Twist Soft, and I finally did before the last shell on Round 22. I switched to Main Street Shiny and Soft which is the same color, but it’s shiny and it’s also thinner, so I also went ahead and switched to the 7mm hook for the last rounds with that yarn. When I added Round 2 to the neck (Round 1 was already done), I used a 6.5mm hook.

Just like the first time I made this project, that last round of working into the chains was torture, but it reached the length I wanted early, so Round 32 of the pattern was actually Round 26 for me. I had 6 rows of shells.

Still needs to be blocked, I think, to help with drape.