I need help from all you lovely knitters!

Hi everyone!
I’m currently trying my hand at a poncho sweater made from ribbon yarn, which I’m knitting in stockinette stitch with a thicker needle. Because of the pattern, the whole thing is now extremely stretchy across the width. Should I measure it with the pattern fully stretched out or while it’s lying loosely? I want it to be roomy, but really just for me—not big enough to fit two more people xD

In any case, I’d make a larger gauge swatch, wet it, stretch it out, let it dry, and then measure it to calculate the poncho’s dimensions.

Okay, thanks! Should I stretch the gauge when measuring, or should I just lay it flat?

I think it also depends on how stretched you want the pattern to be. After all, you don’t want to look like a sausage in its casing. I’d stretch it a little, but not too much.

Based on my gauge swatch, I cast on 135 stitches. That should result in about 65 cm. But when I stretch out the roughly 30 cm length that I’ve knitted so far, it measures 85–90 cm wide. The sweater probably won’t stretch that wide, though, since the weight will cause it to stretch a bit in length. My gauge swatch measured 20 x 25.5 cm. I then washed and dried it, but didn’t block it, since I won’t be blocking the sweater either...

Knit-purl patterns are always extremely stretchy and pull together a lot.
I wouldn’t really find it suitable for a poncho.
But if you still want to stick with the pattern, I’d first recommend making a gauge swatch, which you then measure lying flat in its unstretched state   (so don’t pull it apart). Based on that, you can then calculate the number of stitches you need. 

Thanks, Michaela!
What pattern would you recommend instead? It should be simple and without cables or anything like that.

I just took a photo of one of my other sweaters that my aunt knitted for me a while back. Unfortunately, I don’t know what kind of pattern it is, and I can’t ask her since she’s been gone for 5 years now.

Hi Nadeleule

I’d also recommend a different pattern. Michaela’s right about that. I think your sweater is knitted in garter stitch, where you only knit stitches—in every row!

How about seed stitch? It’s also easy and doesn’t warp as much.

Best regards, Marion

That looks like a pretty standard garter stitch pattern to me. So just knit every row with knit stitches. Why don’t you post a photo of the yarn you’re planning to use?

This is “Sarah” ribbon yarn by Melanie Wolle (identical to “Mango” by Gründl)
125 m/50 g for needle size 4–5, material 50% cotton–50% acrylic
I’m knitting the whole thing with a size 7 needle

I have 1000 g of it, so pretty much anything is possible...

That’s a lovely one.
1,000 grams — you’ll probably easily get two pieces out of that... If you want something simple that won’t pull in as much, why not try seed stitch?

I’ll give it a try. I know how to do it. Thanks to everyone!