Malabrigo Peony Cape Knitting Pattern

Malabrigo Peony Trellis Inset Poncho

What is Being Made

The Malabrigo Peony is a flowing poncho designed by Laura Zukaite, featured in Malabrigo's Book 17: Ponchos & Familia collection. This garment is a trellis inset poncho that combines decorative cable and lace elements with structured garter stitch sections. The poncho is designed to be worn as an elegant, draped layering piece with generous proportions at the lower edge that taper toward the neckline.

Garment Dimensions and Fit

• Width at lower edge: 58 inches (147.5 cm)
• Width at top edge: 22 inches (56 cm)
• Depth: 18 inches (45.5 cm)

These measurements create a dramatically flared silhouette that provides ample coverage and movement, making this poncho suitable for layering over various garments.

Knitting Techniques Used

The Peony poncho employs several key knitting techniques to achieve its design:

• Bottom-up construction: The poncho is worked from the lower edge upward toward the neckline, allowing knitters to try on the garment and adjust fit as needed
• Seamless, worked in the round: The entire garment is knitted circularly using circular needles, eliminating the need for seaming and creating a continuous, smooth fabric
• Cable work: Decorative cable elements are incorporated into the trellis inset sections, adding visual interest and texture
• Lace and decreases: Strategic decreases and yarn-overs create the trellis pattern, with purl decreases (p2tog) and knit decreases (k2tog, ssk) shaping both the pattern and the overall garment silhouette
• Garter stitch panels: Sections of garter stitch (knit every round) provide structural contrast to the lace and cable insets

Stitches and Stitch Patterns

The pattern combines multiple stitch techniques to create visual complexity and structure:

• Garter stitch: Worked in the round to create textured, reversible fabric panels that frame the decorative elements
• Cable stitches: Worked with a cable needle (cn) to create twisted, dimensional effects within the trellis inset
• Lace decreases: Combinations of k2tog (knit two together), ssk (slip, slip, knit), and p2tog (purl two together) create the openwork trellis pattern
• Chart-based pattern work: The trellis inset is worked from a stitch chart, with pattern repeats occurring over 26 stitches and 20 stitches in different sections, allowing for precise shaping and patterning

Materials: Yarn and Needles

Yarn: The Malabrigo Peony is worked in Rasta by Malabrigo, a superwash merino wool yarn. The yarn is supplied in 5.29-ounce (150-gram) hanks, with each hank providing approximately 90 yards (82 meters) of yardage. The pattern calls for 5 hanks in colorway #689 Valentina, providing approximately 450 yards of total yardage for the completed poncho. The superwash merino fiber provides softness, breathability, and easy care for this flowing garment.

Needles: The pattern requires one each size 15 (10mm) circular needle in both 24-inch (60cm) and 16-inch (40cm) lengths, or size as needed to obtain the specified gauge. The two needle lengths accommodate the decreasing stitch count as the poncho is worked from the wider lower edge toward the narrower neckline. Size 15 needles are appropriately sized for working with the bulky Rasta yarn to create the intended fabric drape and gauge.

Additional Notions

• Cable needle (cn) for working cable stitches
• Stitch markers for tracking pattern repeats and shaping decreases

Skill Level

The pattern is rated as Beginner to Easy