So this all started out as a plan to crochet a mandala vest – a birthday present for my friend Sharon.  She’s a fan of bohemian fashions and turquoise.  And I had wanted to crochet a mandala circle vest for ages.  I had seen all sorts of pictures and patterns for them, but this was the one I ended up going with:

https://moralefiber.blog/2016/06/05/lotus-mandala-circular-vest/

I used Scheepjes Whirl in Turquoise Turntable and a 5mm hook, which is smaller than the recommended hook size for this pattern, so I added some additional rounds on the outside.  It turned out great!  I don’t know if you can tell this, but the yarn is variegated. It starts out as a fairly dark turquoise and ends very light.  This vest used the dark to medium section.

There was plenty of yarn left over, so I thought about other items I could make.  Sharon often posted pictures of window hangings, beaded accessories, etc.  So I made a five-foot long decorative string of little nothings to hang over her painting desk (or a window or wherever she wanted to hang it):

But I still had yarn left over – roughly about three hundred yards; not enough to make anything substantial, but enough to make a summer scarf.  So I made one.  This picture of both items being blocked shows the contrast between the shades of turquoise (in case you’re wondering, that board is two feet wide by four feet long):

So what started out as one birthday present ended up as three.

An item of note:  although these vests are lovely, they are not flattering to women with hourglass figures, particularly if the woman is top-heavy.  Something to think about if you are considering crocheting one of these for yourself.