non-photogenic knitting

I've been knitting lately, but none of it makes for a good picture.

I made the trifold rim bowl out of the Second Treasury of Magical Knitting. That means that I followed two patterns in one month! I think this is a record! Unfortunately, I have not had time to felt the bowl yet, so it looks a lot like a heap of purple and black knitting. My soon-to-be husband modeled it as a hat, but I'm too nice to post that picture here. Let's just say that it wasn't flattering.

I've also been working on the last of the wedding shawls. That looks like a heap of red knitting. But I have made progress. My junior bridesmaid is now more than 1/3 of the way to having a shawl to wear. That would make the shawl about 43 inches across the top. I'm not sure if that is a good size or not. I only have two increases every other row, so it is very pointed. I don't want it to be too long on her, but I do want it to be big enough across the top so that she will be able to wear it when she is older. She is now 10 years old, but has a very small frame. What do you think? How long down the back is too long? What is a good length across the top?