Knitted poncho for a sweet girl....or a teddy bear

My granddaughter is turning 3 soon, and in most clothing, she is wearing a size 4. She is very independent and currently likes jackets with hoods. Making this poncho seemed like it would appeal to her independence (no help required with zippers or buttons) and I was familiar with the basic directions as my sister-in-law has made several of these in infant sizes. Here is the link to the infant size pattern, available for purchase from Fiber Trends or through Ravelry. The designer of both the infant and Valerie poncho (sizes 4/6, 8/10, 12/14) is Bev Galeskas. The Valerie Poncho link is here . I made the size 4/6. This is the poncho view shown on the pattern.

My granddaughter is all about pink and purple, sparkles and princesses, and all other girly girl stuff at the moment. I finished this poncho a few days ago and gave it to her yesterday. I'm not ashamed to admit that I wanted credit for this, not the Easter Bunny who arrived this morning at both her house where dyed hard-boiled eggs are found and here where the bunny leaves plastic eggs filled with candy, coins or small toys for her and her brother. The Easter baskets here have mostly clothing with at least one fun thing to play with. 

The little diva did not want to try it on yesterday but she did like seeing pictures of a stuffed bear modeling it at my house. 

The only changes that I made to the pattern was skipping the knitted design in the stripes on either side of the front and back panels. I wanted to use pink along with the purple both there and in the border. Both of those areas and the hood are done in garter stitch. The pattern in the center panel and on each side is an easy repeat to follow. 

A cooperative model who didn't need bribes (which didn't work on the wee human).

Side view, showing the hood.

The hood drapes nicely when taken down and the pattern also has directions 

without a hood if you want to omit it. 

I used Plymouth Encore yarn because it is machine washable and dryable. The colors are Pastel Pink (0029), Purple Amethyst (0158) and the white is from the Plymouth Starz line, White (G208).