Here she is, and there she goes. The red Flower Basket Shawl is already wrapped and ready to be sent off to a very deserving friend.

We couldn’t get a good shot of the back while it was on me, as my photographer is 6 years old and limited in her skill and patience. So here it is on the hood of my truck.

I’ve made two so far, and still don’t have a Flower Basket of my own. There remain a couple of friends I’d love to make one for, so who knows if I’ll ever own one. Even though I added a chart repeat to make the shawl a little bigger, I don’t think it’s quite big enough for me. When I slim down a bit, I might try it. I think it looks like it’s trying too hard to make it around my meaty arms. I tried it out as a head/hair wrap, like in the 50’s, and it looked really cool, however I’m not sure I can carry off that look.

What’s next? Well, I still need to finish up the VCC, and Cable-Eight. I have a gazillion sock patterns laying around, and sock yarn for that matter that I’d really like to try. The problem is that every time I sit down to start, I realize I don’t really want to be starting socks. I still have a couple of dolls to make, but those are quickie projects. I’ve seen some cheap lace weight alpaca in a couple of the yarn-by-mail catalogues I’ve received recently, and I’m thinking about making the Lily of the Valley shawl with it. Lace weight alpaca doesn’t have the halo that a mohair blend has, but it does have more of a soft focus look than straight merino. And it would be considerably cheaper. Plus, it’s alpaca. Sounds luscious.