This winter began with finishing one of the ponchos I had begun in October 2021. After that, I was out of yarn. Whatever little I was left with, I used it all to learn the German Virus stitch. It looks so pretty.

While I was learning, my 5-years-old niece Hafsa saw some of my old projects. She liked it, and ordered me to make one.

“Khala, mere liye bhi oon banana,” she said. (Aunt, make wool for me, too)

She still doesn’t understand the difference between the yarn and the finished project. For her, whatever I make is “oon”.

I came home two weeks back, and found three hanks of bright green yarn, all balled up and ready to be used. This, I thought, is perfect for my niece.

This is a 2-corner virus stitch poncho.

A virus stitch is a repeat of 4 rows.

Row 1: Loopy row

Row 2: DC (double crochet row)

Row 3: DC Row

Row 4: dc1, ch1 row

End of Day 1

This is just the beginning.

Looks pretty good, doesn’t it?

Day 2

Pretty, oh so pretty!

End of Day 3

I finished two more rounds (set of 4 rows) today. 5 rounds and one ball done with.

End of Ball 2

And, this seems about alright for my neice.

Just before coming back to Pune, I crocheted three lines of hdc to adjust the neckline for her.

This is my third crochet project this year. I’m so proud.

Shabana Mukhtar