Poncho or pillowcase?

Several years ago, I got together with a few friends and learned to knit....sort of.   I didn't really retain the know-how and lacked the time/energy/motivation to pursue it further.  It didn't come naturally to me as it does to some, and I had other interests. The beginnings of a "scarf", the rope-like yarn, and the swords-for-needles sat in my "knitting bag" for about three years before I picked them all up again.  

*digression: I use "quotes" to emphasize the ridiculousness of everything connected to me as a knitter*

So about a year ago, there was another gathering.  I decided to give it another shot.  This time I had a bit more counsel and definitely some more motivation: I was pregnant.  {And my "Martha Stewart-friend" had already advanced from scarves to socks and mittens: I also had competition.}

I pictured my baby wearing cute baby knits like the ones you see in Baby Gap, and I wanted the satisfaction of knitting clothes for her myself.  I picked up those swords and finished that blanket, err....scarf.    It wasn't pretty, there were loads of mistakes, but I had finished it!!!  Knitting project # 1. I was so stinkin' proud of myself.    And I decided to look into this knitting thing a bit more....  I bought some smaller swords and actual yarn, figuring the rope-like stuff I'd used for the scarf would be too bulky for baby items.  Then I hopped onto knittinghelp.com.   AND THERE IT WAS:  a video showing how to make a poncho for a baby.   "I can do that!"  I thought {ahem...disillusioned}.  Knitting project #2: baby poncho. 

All it required was the knitting of two rectangles (boxy scarves, basically) and then sewing them together.  Easy enough.   My "Martha-Stewart-friend" taught me the stockinette stitch and I was on my way!   This was around December of 2008.   At the time, I was working as a resident director in a college dorm where knitting was neither a priority nor a release.  I'd pick up my needles to find I'd forgotten where I'd left off.  Which needle?  Purl or knit?  (I couldn't decipher between the two...)  It was a lot of thinking. Too much thinking...

Needless to say, I wasn't ready to seam the two pieces untill May of 2009.

At this point I was again proud of myself---like I was with the "scarf".  I had completed two rectangles, and they looked pretty good! Baby was on the way, and she was going to be super cute in her new poncho from mommy that looked like it was from the Gap.   I tried to figure out the proper way to knit seams and found it would not compute.  None of the pictures, drawings (please!), or videos looked clear to me.  I decided to just freehand it.   That worked alright because, as a novice, it all just looked like green, braided yarn to me.  I remember sitting on the couch beside my husband as I tied off and cut the yarn from the last seam.  Wa-la!  I picked up the "poncho" to reveal to him this wonder, and as I did, I realized that I had sewn the whole thing together....  The only gaping hole left in it was for the head.  Explain to me how a baby gets her head in the head-hole when she cannot get her body or her arms into the rest of it??!!!   What  I had in reality was a v-shaped pillowcase, free for the stuffing.  Easy fix, right?  Just pull out your seams.  Easier said than done.  Try removing a seam sewn randomly with the same yarn that the rest of the piece was knitted in.  It was a nightmare.  I ended up cutting through the seam edges with a scissors.  Now it looked like a rabid dog had gotten ahold of my baby's "poncho".  At this point, I was miraculously still hanging on.  I was not going to be defeated.  I was going to be able to show my "Martha-Stewart-friend" that I had made a poncho!  I bought pink ribbon and glue, deciding that I'd just frame the piece and hide the ripped seams.   Didn't work: you could see through the pink ribbon to the mossy green yarn.   And, the glue didn't hold. 

Defeated, I set the piece in my "knitting bag" and thought that maybe I'd try knitting again in the future.  Baby was coming (or Baby G as the college students referred to her), and I had to run to the Gap.