Rainbow Fibers

This post isn't going to have anything to do with the weather.  Or politics (I'll get into that later, I'm planning a rant at a later date).  This is gonna be all about the projects I've been working on since I last posted stuff about my projects.

Since I last posted, I finished my own Christmas stocking, an entire set of coasters, unmade the two placemats so I could remake them (the pattern I originally chose sucked), completed a placemat with the improvised pattern, finished my Christmas tree skirt, and started yet another blanket.

Placemat with PS3 controller for scale.

The story with this placemat is that I realized how much I hated the pattern (since I couldn't get it to stop buckling), so I made this one and unraveled the pink one since I hadn't finished it yet.  Unfortunately, I had to toss the purple one because I'd already woven the ends in and I couldn't unravel it without having to cut it into little pieces, making it useless to crochet with.  So I bought more purple yarn.  I don't think Matt actually knows I bought more yarn.  At the moment the kitchen table is more of a catch-all than a place to eat, so having the placemats isn't terribly important right now.  That situation probably won't change until at least after this stupid, stupid semester is over.

Both Christmas stockings.  I may revisit the stocking situation at a later date because I don't love these.

These are the Christmas stockings.  They look okay, but I'm not in love with them.  The one that is mine is definitely not what I would call "me" - it's a little more traditional than I would like, but I couldn't decide on a color scheme that was still kind of Christmasy while being a statement of my personality.  So I'll make a new one at some point down the road when we actually have a mantle or something to hang them from.  I still haven't figured that one out.  We have stockings for Matt's parents' house at Christmas that go with their decor, so these are exclusively for our house.  Might look up some ideas on Ravelry or something later.  These will do for the next few years, though.

My completed Christmas tree skirt.  It is 48" from point to point.

This is my Christmas tree skirt.  Finally, finally done.  I only started it in July, so I guess that's less of a finally than some other projects.  (I have a blanket I started in 2007 and finished in 2013, and another I started in 2010 and I still haven't finished it, among other projects.)  I love this Christmas tree skirt, though.  It's sparkly and awesome, and it's not the shitty fake snow with the crappy glitter that I've been using as a tree skirt.  The package on the fake snow may have said "Christmas tree skirt" but it is horrible and I hate it.  Which is why I wanted to finish this project so badly - then I can not use the one I got for $2 at Walmart.  But yay!  It's done!

So, just under two weeks ago, I got very upset at my homework (there was about 3 hours of crying involved and no progress made), and said something along the lines of, "Fuck my homework, I'm making a blanket."  So I started making a blanket and it's basically taken over my life for the last 11 days.  I think maybe this blanket was meant to be made or something, because I can't stop working on it.

Composite of the progression of this blanket.

It has never taken such a short amount of time for me to get to this stage of a project this large.  This is also the largest thing I've ever made.

Current progress as of the writing of this post.

That is the Skittles Blanket, as Matt has so dubbed it.  It is currently 5 ft square.  I am on the final color, but I'm unsure of how many rounds I'm going to do of the really, really intense pink I'm currently using.  I love this blanket.  I feel happy just looking at it.  Maybe that's why I needed to make it.

It is also already big enough to cover pretty much my entire body head-to-toe, and I'm not even done making it BIGGER.  As you can clearly see, it's already almost large enough to use as a bed blanket.  This thing is a monster.  I love this blanket and can't wait to finish it.  Of course, I still have to weave in all those damn ends (this is the only thing I'm waiting on for another blanket I made), but I don't think I'll mind so much because it makes me feel so happy.  I think I might make a rainbow hat or something just for grins and giggles so I can take the happy with me wherever I go (at least when it's cold outside).  That's a definite possibility, actually....

Anyway, that's about all I have to talk about.