Pineapple & Pinwheel Doily

Finally finished it! Started last fall as part of the set for my bedroom. But--it got set to the side to do Xmas gifts, and I finally got back to it. It was almost done. I had the url for the doily posted here, but apparently its not working now. Will see if I can find out how to post it. I'm sure this person is on CP, so I'll put out a request for address.OK! found it, thanks to one of our Crochet Partners. I used the link and it worked. http://www.angelfire.com/folk/celtwich/

Seems like I have posted a lot recently, but some of these things are things that were started and they just all came together in a short period of time. Yea! Love to move things from WIP to FO.

Mango Mesh Pullover
I have made 3 of these pullovers, and 2 came out just fine, with a little finessing at the shoulders on the larger one. But the 3rd one I can't figure out how to make the neckline smaller and not ruin the shape of the sweater. So, for now, it is in a plastic bag (PIGS) and is set aside until a better time to work on it. I am thinking that maybe it can be worked on the last several rows even rather than putting in the increases for the neck shaping. This thing is worked from the center to the underarm using increases for the neck shaping, and when made for larger sizes, the neckline becomes lower and lower, think below the boobs lower! Or, it could be frogged and the yarn reused for something else. Just am not quite ready to completely give up on it yet. So it sits!

First Felted Project
Well, I finished my first felted project. This is a memo bag, pattern is from www.joann.com. The yarn is a combo of yarn that my friend, Kitty, brought me from New York, and some wool that I bought at Stitches West. You can see more about those in earlier posts. The copper color felted faster and tighter than the linen color. I really like the pockets that I put just under the flap for keys and cell phone. The before measurements were 14" X 15" and the after are 10" X 12". The strap felted up shorter than I had hoped for, but it does fit over my shoulder, and that's what counts. I have enough yarn to do this exact project again, so may try it to see how I improve. I think if I do it again, I will user a smaller hook on the lighter yarn, hoping that will make for more even felting. Do you think that would work? And the strap needs to be a little longer. It was fun, and another goal for the year completed.

Sun Bonnet Sue

It's finished! And I love it! Penny, my roommate thinks I should enter it in the county fair this summer, so it is currently folded and put away so the cats can't get to it. I crocheted it with Dark Horse Yarns in Fantasy bright yellow, burgundy and cream. This yarn is wonderful to work with. I found it at Adela's, my LYS. I went looking for Plymouth Encore DK and they directed me to this. It's my intention to use it in my bedroom as a throw. When I was a kid, my grandma made me a Sunbonnet Sue quilt from scraps and I carried it around everywhere until there is nothing left of it. So when I found the pattern, I just had to do this. Of course, I never do anything strictly according to the pattern, so--- I converted the graphs to excel spreadsheets, which are easier for me to read these days. Then the inner panels between the squares in the pattern are stripes, and I didn't like that, so I used the baseketweave that is used on the border. The border on the pattern had the basket weave on 2 sides, and stripes (kinda) on the other 2. Too much for me! So I just did the entire border in basketweave and had to figure out how to get around the corners. I love the finished look. What do you think?

P.S. One of my Crochet Partners pointed out that one of the hats looks a little peculiar-do you see it? And she is right! Too late to frog it, but Penny says she thinks she can camouflage it w/cross stitch. So no fair entry for this item! And that's OK, that wasn't even in my head when I made it. Just glad it was noticed now, not later. Thanks, Nancy!

WIP/WIM Update
I am working on square 5 out of 6 on the Sunbonnet Sue Afghan for my bedroom. It is small, so more like a lapghan. After the squares are done, there are panels to crochet between the squares, then it has a nice big border on it. The designer has several different textures going on in the panels and the border, so I may pick my favorite and tone it down just a bit, as my room is already pretty busy with plaids, flowers, braided rugs, etc.
I found a pattern for the felted bag I want to do with the combo of yarns from Stitches West and what Kitty brought me from New York.
http://wildyarn.blogspot.com/2006/01/felted-memo-bag-corrected.html
I am dying to start this, but am holding myself down until I finish Sunbonnet Sue.
Then, my latest obsession is this sweater. http://www.anniesattic.com/detail.html?prod_id=19762
It's only problem is that it is knitted, and I can knit, but very basic and I don't really like it. So I am mulling around in my brain how to do this in crochet. Someone at CP said that mitred squares can be done in crochet or tunisian, so I am going to practice so I can figure this out. I was also looking on the web and a knitting group is doing this as a knit a long, so I was reading some of their comments and suggestions. Never know when you can apply some wisdom from another art to yours. I want to do this sweater from the yellow cashmere/merino that I bought at Stitches West.