cookies 'n creme poncho in progress! (finally)

i finally got started on the poncho for amy, trav's cousin. i spent a lot of time yesterday knitting. the pattern i'm using is from "teen knitting club" -- it's basically a 20 inch by 45 inch rectangle, and then you are supposed to fold it in half and sew up about 2/3 from the end towards the center on one long side, leaving the middle part open as the neck opening. it ends up hanging down on a diagonal off your shoulders.

instead of sewing up part of the long side, i think i'm going to sew on a row of buttons. that way, it can either be worn as a poncho with the buttons buttoned, or if you undo the buttons it can be worn as a wrap. plus, i think the buttons will look nicer than a sewed seam (keeping in mind my poor seaming skills). what do you guys think?

inspired by a fashion show i saw at the dc knit out and crochet, i bought a bunch of different texture yarns in black, taupe, and cream (hence the nickname "cookies 'n creme"), and i'm making up the stripe pattern as i go along. my original plan was to knit horizontal strips on a 36" needle but the size 10 36" needle i bought for this purpose was not working out -- it was knitting WAAAAAAY too tight. after wrestling with it for a while, i gave up and started knitting the short side on a size 11 16" needle. so, in order to make sure the stripes line up when the buttons are closed, i'm going to make the stripe pattern mirror itself from left to right -- clever, huh?

i'm really nervous that she won't like it, because i don't really know her too well. if you recall the origins of this project, trav's family does a "secret santa" thing where you are randomly assigned one person to give a gift to, rather than everyone buy gifts for everyone else. this year, i got amy. this is what i know about her (other than the fact that she is really nice): she is my age, artistic, she wears a lot of black, and she has a pretty "classic but fashionable" sense of style. so i wanted to keep the colors basic and neutral, but snazz it up a bit with some funky textures and irregular width stripes. as far as i can tell, it will suit her. still, i'm worried i'll put all this work into it and she won't like it. i'm considering putting in a note that if she wants to "exchange" it for a custom made poncho, i'd be happy to make her one in any color and style she wants. but maybe i'm just being silly.