Sparks – The Poncho

Wear it over a simple top and slim trousers, and let the fringe hang free. The orange base lifts a grey day and lets the rest of the outfit stay calm.

• A garment you can put on without thinking
• Your first poncho — no sleeves, no decreases, no seaming
• Ribbing that does not curl and does not need counting
• To decide both the length and the stripe width yourself, as you go
• A pattern that counts rounds, not colours, so leftover yarn works

• Digital knitting pattern (PDF), built for the phone
• Eleven steps with tick-off boxes along the way
• Cosy Cues with technical tips throughout the pattern
• Video links for the stretchy cast-on, eyelet border and fringe
• Stripe sheet where you tick off each stripe you have knitted
• Print section and notes page at the back
• The pattern in Norwegian, English, Swedish, Danish and German

The name comes from the Coldplay song Sparks — one of the quiet songs on Parachutes, which glows more than it makes noise. That was the feeling the garment was meant to have: a warm orange base, and a light pink stripe settling over it like a glint of light.

This is the simplest poncho in the family. No popcorns, no hood — just ribbing, two eyelet rows down from the neck and a stripe whose width you decide yourself.

Sparks belongs in the poncho collection Adventure of a Lifetime, together with Don't Panic – The Poncho, I Want Something Just Like This and The Magic Woods. The same calm construction, different looks — soft, bohemian, easy to move in and effortless.

One Size

• Length from neck to eyelet border: approx. 69 cm
• Fringe: approx. 8 cm in addition
• Width at the bottom, flat: approx. 104 cm
• Neck edge: approx. 7.5 cm

You decide the length yourself. The pattern tells you how to measure as you go and where to stop.

Recommended yarn

Puno – Rauma Garn

• Orange 1358: approx. 8 balls, of which approx. one goes to the fringe
• Light pink 1357: approx. 2 balls

The fringe turns out fuller and tangles less in Puno than in mohair. Leftover yarn from Garnspesialisten works well for both the stripes and the fringe.

Needles & notions

• Circular needle no. 7 – short for the neck, long for the body
• Stitch markers
• Darning needle, scissors and tape measure
• A book or a folded sheet of paper to wind the fringe around

14 stitches × 17 rounds = 10 × 10 cm on needle no. 7. If you knit more loosely, go down to no. 6. If you knit more tightly, go up to no. 8.

The poncho is knitted in the round, top-down, in ribbing. It is increased out from two centre stitches with yarn overs, so it falls in points at front and back and gets a clear eyelet row along each V.

At the bottom it is finished with an eyelet border that the fringe is attached to. The stripes sit as one thin and one wide band in light pink against the orange base.

• Stretchy cast-on
• Ribbing in the round
• Increasing with yarn overs from a centre stitch
• Colour change in ribbing
• Eyelet border
• Fringe

Techniques explained in Knittipedia: Stripes and colour changes · Fringe

Scandinavian · Bohemian · Colourful · Roomy · Layering · Everyday garment

CosyMonday is founded and run by Anne-Turid, a Norwegian knitwear designer trained in fashion at Moteskolen Esmod AS. Every pattern is designed with clean lines, real quality yarn and the details that make a garment your own. When you choose a CosyMonday pattern, you become part of a growing community of knitters who share the same love of good craft and timeless design. Welcome into the universe.