Mustard Bandit

So, this has been a long time coming. I actually don't remember when I officially finished my Mustard Bandit Shawl, but I do remember that it was last year. It's been happy, finished, and blocked since then, but I just recently took a few photos of it.



The pattern was Springtime Bandit, an incredibly popular free pattern. I knit it out of Malabrigo sock- it was my first experience with Malabrigo, and let me just say, I understand what all the hype is about. The yarn was delightfully soft, and it had a great elasticity. Working with it was like knitting with butter, I really enjoyed it.

The first time I worked on it, I knit to the edging and realized that I wanted a larger shawl. Consequentially, I ripped back and knit an extra two repeats of the body section. I'm really happy with the size it turned out. It's absolutely perfect for how I wear my shawls: as a cross between a cowl and a bandana.



The above photo is a really good representation of that. I usually wear it tucked into my jacket with the ends crossed behind my neck, then tied loosely in the front to make sure it stays put. It covers my chest and neck thoroughly, and if I'm feeling particularly cold (or at least cold enough that I don't care if I look like a whackjob), I'll pull it up over my nose and pretend to be a highway bandit.



I knit a good chunk of this while listening to A Red Herring with Mustard, which was great. I don't ordinarily like knitting to charts- I actually sort of hate it. Give me a pattern I can easily memorize and I'm happy as can be. Thankfully, I managed to memorize the pattern reasonably quickly with this shawl, so it worked out pretty well. I like to use my knitting as an activity for my hands- not my brains. I bite my nails rather terribly, so keeping them occupied while I'm listening, or reading, or watching television, or really anything else does wonders to keep them out of chewing range (ew).



At any rate, I thoroughly enjoyed this project. My biggest complaint is actually the edging. The leaf pattern is so lovely throughout the entire shawl, that the edging just feels like a cop out. I really wish it had an opportunity for bigger points. Unfortunately, even after I blocked the heck out of it, it still wound up as a wibbly straight edge. Since I cast off tightly, the edge also has the nasty habit of curling when I don't pay attention (as demonstrated by these photos. It's awfully difficult to style a shawl while trying to take a photo of yourself with the camera balanced precariously on top of a stack of boxes). While I'm pleased with the final product, the shawl edge pretty much ensures I'll never knit this pattern again.