One of the things I got distracted by recently was the need for a cosy shawl. I realise I’m writing this on what could be the hottest day of the year so far! However, it has been chilly in the early part of May (particularly in my office) which made me think about wrapping myself up in soft, handknitted goodness.

I had two skeins of Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend in ‘Indian Ocean’ in my stash which I bought a while ago in a sale. The delicate pale green reminded me of leaf buds, so I thought a Springtime Bandit shawl, with its repeating leaf-like lace, would be a good choice for the yarn.

Manos del Uruguay 'Indian Ocean'

I used two skeins of yarn (=600 yards) and 4.5mm needles. I repeated the body chart 8 times, instead of the 4 times suggested in the pattern, because I wanted a biiiiiiig shawl.

Springtime Bandit close up

I thought I would have plenty of yarn left over. Alas, I was wrong. I ran out of yarn 20 stitches before the end on my bind off row. Rarrrrr! So I ripped back the bind off row and the last row (row 34) of the edging chart. Then I did a p2tog bind off (p2tog, pass stitch from right to left needle) on the last row. It’s not ideal, but I don’t think it’s noticeable on the finished shawl and it made a nice, stretchy edge.

The obligatory arty shot

I enjoyed knitting this shawl, although I struggled with the cast on. I’ve done a garter tab cast on many times, but the instructions in this pattern really confused me. However, once I’d figured that out the rest was plain sailing. It measures 68″ wide x 28″ deep after wet blocking. It’s huge and very cosy.

The full shawl

This shawl for May means I’m halfway through my 10 shawls for 2010 challenge!