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.

Stitches West
Wow! I think this is the only word to describe this event. It was my first time at an event dedicated strictly to the fibre arts and it was almost overwhelming. It was held in the Santa Clara, CA convention center which is huge, and the event took up the entire ground floor. There were over 200 vendors, book signings, demos, fashion show (which I missed) and lots and lots of people.
And Yarn! Oh, the number and kinds of yarn! It is geared more toward knitters, but yarn is yarn. There were beautiful knitting needles and crochet hooks, spinning wheels, yarn winders & swifts. One booth advertised brushing your pet, sending them the hair, and they would make it into yarn and send it back to you. With four cats, you would think I would have gotten their card, but had brain fade.
Many of the vendors had items made up and then sold the supplies in kits. In fact, my friend Kitty bought a kit for a gorgeous sweater in beautful oranges. Not a color that I would have imagined for Kitty, but she said she wanted to expand her horizons.
I saw booths for vendors and yarn suppliers that I have seen online. So nice to be able to see & pet the yarn. Now I have a better idea of what some of them are when I see them mentioned on the web. And the prices! I was so impressed. No wonder Wilma and her daughter, Cathy, came down from Sacramento on the train. I saw her shortly before we left and she said she hadn't really bought any yarn, yet, but her daughter had.
Kitty brought me some handcrafted kettle dyed wool from Uruguay when she went to NYC last week. At the Web's booth, I found Skye Tweed by Classic Elite yarns for 3.99 for 110 yards, so I bought 5 skeins to go with it and am going to make a felted messenger bag from it.The yarn Kitty brought is a copper color and the yarn I bought is kind of a linen color w/small specks of the copper in it. I can't wait to start this project!
Then we were in the demo area and I saw Newton's booth. Big sign $7.00 skein, min 5 skeins. Well, had to go check this out. I got approx 1200 yds of cashmere/merino in a gorgeous yellow tweed. It is so soft. I don't know yet what I'm going to make with this, but it will be for me. The other yarn I got at Newtons is something call Frenchie which is wool/acrylic/rayon in a red. This yarn has a really unique texture and I have no idea what to do with it, but I had to have it.
As expected, saw lots of people walking around in things they had made, all the way from scarfs to skirts. Most of the things were wonderful, but there is always someone who has no sense of color or function. But they are happy with what they did, so that is the important thing.
I am exhausted but happy. Will do this again next year, and will make every effort to get Margaret here from Florida to go with me. She would love it. If you have the chance, go next year.

New Projects
Well, I finally started my Sunbonnet Sue graphghan. As I get older, I am having a really hard time reading graphs, so I spent a couple of hours translating the graph to an excel spreadsheet. I did this same thing last year when I did the ABC's afghan. Finally got hook and yarn in hand. After 3 days working on the 1st square, I've decided I hate the yarn that I got for this project. I'm using Red Heart and Caron. Think they are just too heavy. So now I have spent a lot of time on the computer looking for a dk yarn in the colors I want. I am doing this for me, so I want it in the yellows and reds that are in my bedroom. It also needs to be washable because we have 4 cats, and I'm sure at least one of them will think this was made just for her. Think I've settled on Plymouth Encore DK. Looks like the colors are what I want. My LYS in Castro Valley is listed as a retail outlet so need to get by there and see if they have the yarn.
So, since that project is now on hold, I decided to try the new Tunisian baby blankets that I got Kim Guzman's pattern booklet for. I chose the houndstooth afghan, which uses 2 colors. Well, the only thing I had enough of is Lion Brand Jamie Baby in blue, and variegated pastels. So that is what I am using. I haven't done tunisian in years. In fact, the last time I did any, it was still referred to as the afghan stitch. Think I figured out why it has been so long since I've done this. It works up really, really slow. I have worked on it for about 12 hours, and have only about 3 inches on 145 stitches, using an I hook. And this is probably the least complicated of the patterns in the booklet.
But I had a talk with myself and have decided that speed is not everything. It's the process. So I am moving forward. Just glad there isn't a baby waiting for this. Probably be in college before I finish.
My friend Kitty is in NYC this week on vacation. She is a knitter, so she tracked down an LYS in Greenwich Village that she wants to check out. She asked Penny and I what color yarn we wanted and said that is what she is bringing us from NYC along with a refrigerator magnet. Penny chose yellow, and I chose either copper or rich dark brown. Been thinking about what to make w/one or two skeins of this. It's not really cold enough here to wear too many scarfs and hats, so will have to give this some thought. Any ideas?

FEELING SAD
A few days ago, an issue started on our crochet group, and it has made me very sad. Our rules state that we can not use religious or political statements in our signature lines, or use in our posts. I don't usually pay much attention to the sig lines, even tho I read them. Some make me chuckle, some make me think, etc. But, rules are rules, and we all agreed to them before we signed up.
Apparently, some one had a religious theme to a sig line and the list owner asked (her/him) to remove it. Well, this started a religious war on our list. People are leaving the list because they think the rest of us are not Christian. Well, that is probably partially correct! We are an international group, so come from all walks of life.
I have enjoyed the crochet wisdom of many of these posters, and will miss them. I'm sorry that they feel this was an attack on their beliefs. We all have our own beliefs but a crochet chat group is not the place to share those thoughts.