Blocked Flower Basket shawl

If you have good neighbors (like I do), living in a duplex can be a handy thing—for example, if you need someone to model your freshly blocked Flower Basket Shawl.


I would have liked to make it a couple repeats larger, but I had a deadline, so I hope this size will work.


Details in two previous posts.

It's blocking

I picked up a 40 x 60 inch piece of foam board, which, of course, did not fit in my car. So I had to put it in the trunk, and then, of course, I didn't have anything to tie down the trunk. So I found a large plastic sack stuffed away, ripped it open, managed to feed it through the latch on the top of the trunk and tie it to the matching latch on the inside of the trunk.

I drove home with the trunk more or less open, but at least the plastic tie held it somewhat, and I was able to take side streets.

The colors ran quite a bit when I soaked the shawl, even with vinegar. Then I rolled it in towels and laid it out on the foam board.

I've never made a shawl before, so I now see the advantage of buying blocking wires to keep the straight edge of the shawl straight. As a substitute, I thread dental floss through the eyelets along the top edge using a double-pointed needle that also has an eye on one end and pulled it tight. Then I tried to pin the edge without making too many bumps. The scalloped edges are easier, although it's difficult to stop re-pinning to make the scallops as symmetrical as possible. I was still re-pinning after I took this picture.


I knitted three extra repeats of the main pattern for ten repeats total. The Flower Basket shawl is still slightly smaller than the dimensions suggested. It will be more of a scarf/shawl than a shawl to wrap up in. The dimensions are about 55 inches across the top edge and just over 26 inches from the top edge to the bottom point.


More pictures when the shawl is dry!

Unblocked Flower Basket shawl

For the past few weeks I've been working on a Flower Basket shawl for my former boss and colleague. Today was her last day at work, but I just finished knitting the shawl around mid-night last night. So it still needs to be washed and blocked. I gave it to her anyway at her good-bye picnic and then took it back so I could block it.


Pattern: Flower Basket Shawl, by Evelyn A. Clark
Pattern from: Interweave Knits, Fall 2004
Wool used: Cherry Tree Hill Glitter Alpaca, Martha's Vineyard colorway. I used about one and three-quarters skeins (50 grams, 222 yards each) single strand.
Where purchased: Unwind in Burbank, CA
Needles: Clover bamboo circular, U.S. 5
Started: Mid-May 2006
Completed: Mid-June 2006

I like the bumpy texture of the back of the shawl, again, unblocked.