Super easy poncho

This is a great pattern for a beginner, as all it is is a rectangle (yes).

Design elements that make the look

• The yarn. The one I used was dyed so that it naturally worked gradients into the knitting as I worked the rectangle. 
• The asymmetry and rolled collar. That was accidental. I made my rectangle too wide (hence the rolled collar) and did not have enough yarn to make it long enough (hence one sleeve shorter than the other). But I could totally own that as intentional.
• The brooch. It's really an inexpensive clip I found at Walmart. It clips in the hair, on a purse, on a poncho... A great little accessory.

Pattern instructions

1) Find a big ball of warm, fluffy, interesting yarn.

2) Pick a stitch to make your rectangle. Since my yarn had a boucle effect to it, I used plain garter stitch.

3) Determine the width of the rectangle. It should go from your neck to your wrist, or desired sleeve length of your poncho (maybe you want it to come down to the elbow).

4) Work up a swatch and determine the stitch count (e.g. how many stitches does it take to make up 4 inches?) The row count doesn't matter.

5) From your gauge, determine how many stitches you should be casting on, in order to obtain the desired width (see step 3). After you knitted a small length of the rectangle, test it out (hold it at your neck and see where it falls on your arm. Adjust as necessary (it's better to restart before you did too much work).

6) As your work your rectangle, regularly fold the bottom edge over to line up with the row of live stitches, hold it at the side of your neck and drape it across your body, to see where it falls on the opposite arm. When long enough, stop and bind off loosely.

The live stitches would be along the side hanging off my arm.

6) Fold the rectangle in half so that the rows are vertical, sew the sides together horizontally along the top of the rectangle starting at the loose ends away from the fold (for a visual, see picture above, he seam would start on the arm, up the shoulder). Leave a hole big enough to pass the poncho over your head. You can decide how wide you want the neckline to be.