Slow starts

The weather has been beautiful this past week. We spent lots of time outside biking, hiking, and exploring the past several days. I felt motivated to start 3 knit projects. This is the hat.

The pattern taken from 24 hour knitting projects. It's even on the front cover of the book(the lower left corner). I'm ripping it out. I knit it for someone living in a warm climate in the winter so the holes aren't a problem. I just really hate the look of it.
The second project is a scarf from Men in Knits. It's a reversible cabled scarf in black alpaca blend. I think I've finally figured out the chart no thanks to poor advice from a local yarn store who threw me off course.
Next is a cabled poncho from this book, Knit and Crochet Ponchos, wraps, and shrugs. I am pretty sure I am reading the directions correctly but it sure doesn't look like the picture of the completed poncho in the book. I'm hoping my fellow kniting comrades can help me figure this out.