We’re getting ready for fall with our fall knit-along! For the first time ever, we’re featuring a brand new pattern from a guest designer, and we can’t wait.
For this season’s knit-along, we’ve teamed up with a special guest—Elizabeth Smith! We’ve worked with Elizabeth before, in Berroco Portfolio Volume 2 and Berroco Portfolio Volume 4. You may remember her Brooklin Vest, Addilyn Capelet, and Camden Hills Poncho.
Elizabeth has created a brand new pattern for us this season, using a brand new Berroco yarn! The Happy Harvest set features a seamless poncho with a little bit of lace and a pop of color on the back, plus a cowl that can be worn with the poncho or on its own. 
The set is knit in pieces from the bottom up and joined at the shoulders with a three-needle bind-off. Buttons are added under the arms to create a bit of an armhole, but the sides are left open to create a cozy layering piece that’s perfect for throwing on for chilly autumn days. An easy lace pattern adorns the front of the poncho, while the back has a little bit of the lace with a pop of contrast color across the back yoke—you could just as easily knit the back all in one color if you preferred.
The Happy Harvest poncho and cowl set is knit very quickly with our brand new Berroco Ultra® Wool Chunky! This 100% superwash wool has 145 yards in each 100 gram ball and is currently available in 31 different colors! Elizabeth knit her sample in 4329 Buttercup and 43104 Driftwood; I’m thinking I’m going to use some neutral shades for mine to go with everything, but I’m still deciding on which colors to use! Once you’ve chosen a few colors, you can use our Store Locator to find a shop near you that sells Berroco Ultra Wool Chunky. (There’s a note below about some other Berroco yarn ideas.)
Are you ready to join in the knit-along fun? We have a few ways for you to chat with us!
- First, there’s our Berroco Lovers group on Ravelry. You will need a free Ravelry account to post within the group.
- Then there’s our Happy Harvest KAL group on Facebook! You will need a free Facebook account to post within the group.
You do not have to participate in both places! If you have a Ravelry account but not a Facebook account, you can join us in Ravelry. If you have a Facebook account but not a Ravelry account, you can join us in Facebook. If you have both and would like to participate in both places, that’s fabulous! We will be sharing important information in both spaces, so you won’t miss out on anything.
If you don’t have a Ravelry or a Facebook account, that’s fine too! We’ll be posting here on our Berroco Blog as we knit—with some handy tips and tricks from Elizabeth to share with you as you work your way through the Happy Harvest set. We also have an email list that you can choose to join and we’ll send you just a handful of emails (six in total, I think) to help you along the journey.
If you’re super active on social media, we’re using the hashtag #happyharvestkal to share our adventures on Instagram and Twitter.
The Knit-along begins on September 14, 2019, and will run until about October 20, 2019. Elizabeth has a progress outline that she’ll share with us to help keep people on track to knitting success, but as with all of our knit-alongs, we encourage knitters to work at their own pace. If you’re a speed demon and you finish quickly, wonderful! If you’ve got limited knitting time, we totally get that and we don’t care if it takes you a year to finish. We believe it’s all a part of the journey.
That said, there will be some sweet Berroco prizes awarded at the end of the knit-along—and some of them will be based on participation, so even if you don’t think you’ll have time to finish your Happy Harvest poncho and cowl with in the time frame, come join the fun!
If you don’t want to use Berroco Ultra Wool Chunky, we’ve got some other yarns that you could try—as always, we strongly recommend swatching your yarns (even when using the yarn called for in the pattern) as everyone’s gauge can be wildly different.
- Berroco Vintage® Chunky is a blend of 52% Acrylic, 40% Wool, 8% Nylon that is machine washable and works up at a similar gauge to Berroco Ultra Wool Chunky. There are 54 shades of Vintage Chunky, so if you feel a little limited by the Ultra Wool Chunky colors, give Vintage Chunky a look.
- Berroco Comfort® Chunky is 50% acrylic and 50% nylon, making this a great choice for people with wool sensitivities. This super-soft easy care yarn comes in 37 colors.
- Berroco Ultra® Alpaca Chunky combines 50% super fine alpaca and 50% Peruvian wool, and it’s not machine washable but it is a lovely yarn. It only has 23 colors at the moment but one of them is Berry Pie Mix and I feel like that makes up for a lot of things.
- Berroco Vibe™ starts off our “kind of out there” options. The gauge is similar but not exact, but this blend of 45% organic cotton, 45% organic wool, and 10% nylon is super dreamy and would make a lovely poncho and cowl.
- Berroco Mercado® is a little bit lighter than Berroco Ultra Wool Chunky but it’s a lovely 100% Peruvian highland wool yarn that would show off the lace beautifully.
- Finally, Berroco Catena® would definitely require some swatching to make sure you get the gauge and a fabric that you like (chainette yarns can be pretty flexible on gauge, which is both a blessing and a curse). This crazy soft blend of 94% merino wool and 6% nylon comes in some beautiful colors, including long-striping shades we debuted last year, which could be really fun—use a solid shade for the body and a stripy shade for the back shoulders and cowl and you’d have a really beautiful effect.
The Happy Harvest poncho and cowl pattern is available now on Elizabeth’s website and Ravelry, and knitting officially begins September 14—we hope you’ll join us!
I’ve never done a KAL, but this looks like it could be fun. Plus this piece is ADORABLE!
I would love to join in on this KAL.
I am barely 5 ft tall and weigh 119. I would love to make this but I fear it will be huge and I would look overwhelmed in this poncho.
Hi Marge! If it helps, the poncho is being modeled in the smallest size with about 16″ of ease—the model has about a 35″ bust. The poncho itself measures about 25.5″ flat in the smallest size. You could easily shorten the poncho by a few inches if you’re worried about the length!
If I wanted to do the poncho in one color, how much yarn would I need?
That’s a good question! I think you just need to add one ball to the yarn requirements (so 6–8 balls instead of 5–7) but I’ll double-check with Elizabeth.
Hey Cathy! I got confirmation from Elizabeth that if you want to knit the back section all in one color, you would just need to add 1 ball of your main color to your totals; so 6, 7, or 8 balls of your Main color, and 1 full ball of any color to knit the accompanying cowl.
I am in!! I love this pattern and can’t wait to cast on!
We’re so happy you’re joining us Sarah!
I would be interested in joining in
Wonderful Donna! If you use Facebook or Ravelry you can join either or both of the chatting groups (there are links in the blog post), or you can just follow along with our posts here on the blog.
Beautiful combo of poncho and cowl! I love the possibilities of layering with a long sleeve tee shirt!
My favourite colour combo would be Butternut and Fog. Yellow boost my mood in a very grey Scottish winter !
I want to make this beautiful poncho in Lavender and Stonewashed Berroco Ultra Wool Chunky! So many gorgeous colors in this yarn. I love Berroco yarns for the quality and beautiful stitch definition.
Looks great! I think I’d choose sunflower and fog! I love Berroco yarns!!
Denim and sunflower
Would love to do this. Favorites colors are iris and granite!
I havent worked with chunky yarn in many years and I’m more than ready to try it again.
Ultra Wool Chunky is a really nice chunky yarn!
Frost and snow would be my choice!
Love the pattern “Jessie’s Girl”!
I have never done a KAL before, but sound fun. I have some beautiful verigated Aran at yarn. Can I use this. I am 4’11” 127lbs. Would not mind if it ended up a little narrower or shorter on me
I love this pattern! Would love to make this. Her tolland pattern is beautiful too.
I would love to make this pattern. I would choose the ultra wool chunky in the colors of lake and Frost. I love working with chunky Yarns. Things made up so quickly. They are usually really soft and cuddly.
Stonewashed would be my main color, with Granite or Fog for the shoulder accent and separate cowl. I have several of Elizabeth’s designs in my Ravelry queue (I think Farrow is next) and have knit Little Coffee Bean twice. It’s nice to see her as a featured designer!
Oh my gosh – gorgeous! I’d love to knit this set in spruce & rosemary!
Also Elizabeth’s patterns are gorgeous and I would love to knit both the Abbi and the Abbi light, plus a bunch more!
Butternut and butter. It’s so hard to pick a color, there all so beautiful.
First time joining a blog how do I join in this one. I’m buying the yarn today and going with one of the blues for a solid color
Wonderful! Welcome 🙂
I’m in! Love this pattern
Yay! Thank you 🙂
Do we need to purchase the pattern? I presume so but wanted to clarify. I love the poncho.
Yes- the pattern is for purchase, it is available from Elizabeth Smith the designer, and linked in the post above.
Love, love, love this pattern! I’m using it as a way to help me learn to use charts. Looking forward to seeing the projects.
Beautiful! Love the pattern!
I’m just coming across this Knit A Long and would like to participate. Hoping it’s not too late. I’ll go to my LYS today and get some yarn! I may be a few weeks behind but this will be fun!
I just got the email featuring tips and tricks. The email mentioned next weeks tip was on adjusting length.
That was a concern for me as I’m petite. I haven’t started the poncho yet, planning to tonight. But should I wait until next weeks email? Does the length adjustment need to be done by shortening the acorn part or is it in the yoke section? (I also posted this question in the ravelry group)
Thanks!
Hey Cathy! You probably want to take length out of the acorn lace section, as you want your shoulders and upper arms to have enough room to move around. But I’ll also ask Elizabeth to weigh in on the Ravelry question (and update my response here) if she has a different idea.