Tour de Fleece: Days 10 & 12

Well, I bet the first question is about Day 11. Yesterday was a day of rest and I didn't spin a damn thing. It was well-deserved and it felt nice to just sit back and take a break and knit for a bit.

Day 10 was Monday. I had a really strangely busy day and didn't get around to spinning at all until about 6:30 while I was at game night. You see a recurring theme? Anyway, I had a lot of fun drop spindling and I'm getting pretty good at walking around while spinning, which is indeed necessary when you've been sitting debating rules and strategy for a bit and you just need to get up off your butt and move around.

Day 12 was today, Wednesday. I wasn't too horribly busy and, honestly, it was quite a rainy day and I wanted to do nothing more than sit and spin while watching random episodes of anime or Battlestar Galactica, which I did until about 5:30 and then went to dinner with a friend and then bought comic books and hung out a bit. Anyway, when I got home I was greeted by a package!

A few days ago, someone on ravelry messaged me after seeing a post I had made about wanting to try my hand with the tahkli. Turns out, she had an extra and asked me if I was interested in her sending it to me. I thanked her profusely and gave her my address and it shipped miraculously fast with some surprise unknown fiber inside, which I shamelessly began spinning before I even took a picture of the spindle. Since that's how I roll.

Anyway, a tahkli spindle is a very small spindle that can be spun sort of like a top and goes at really high speeds, so it's ideal for working with short staple fibers like cotton and, apparently, cat fur?

Anyway, this video shows some of the basics of using a tahkli and even making the puni, which is another way to prepare cotton fiber rather than just roving. It's a good video to just see the mechanics, at any rate.

Anyway, the generous, amazing, wonderful, amazeballs person of amazingness who sent me this beautiful gift has an etsy shop called Unwind Yarn Company and she has some gorgeous fiber and yarn and just... yeah. So, in return for her amazing act of kindness I am giving her a piece of my soul and a shameless shout out to my tee nincey audience that may or may not actually exist. Huzzah!

 Anyway, I made some great progress today and I am looking forward to filling up my bobbin on my spinning wheel, probably tomorrow! Hopefully this is a sign of things to come and I may actually finish all 8 oz of my rambouillet roving I have!

Update on the Yarny Things

Well, I did not mean to be away from blogging for quite so long. Oops! I should have been updating this entire time.

I have been doing quite a bit of knitting these days.  Maybe even to the point of being ridiculous? I'm not sure. It has occurred to me that I did not ever post pictures of the gray Hermione's Everyday Socks I was working on. That is because there currently aren't any of the finished pair, as I am lazy and have not taken any and I haven't even woven in the ends for them yet! However, I do have a picture of the first one right before I began the toe.  That particular pair of socks was rather amusing, as I found out after knitting most of the first one... that I have been doing the knit stitch incorrectly for a number of years. Purl, also.  It's rather sad and I am not happy about it, but I have corrected the issue and the second sock was knit very differently. The difference in how the eye of partridge heel looks between the two is astounding! It also fits much better. I have a number of beautifully done things since, and I will shamelessly flaunt them before you as they come up.

Anyway, nearly immediately after I finished these socks, I started another pair. Surprising, I know! I decided to use the pattern BFF out of Cookie A's book, Knit. Sock. Love. This apparently used to be a free pattern, like Monkey, but I had it in the book and it fit the Sock Knitters Anonymous prompt (cables!) for March... so why not?  I have not quite finished, but I have gotten to the heel flap of the second sock and am really enjoying the knitting. Really.  I have a picture of the first one completed:

And another of the yarn in more natural lighting to show off the color:

I absolutely love this yarn! It's Tosh Sock by madelinetosh and now I understand why people rant and rave about it. Really.  The color is beautiful, the yarn is soft and workable, and the stitch definition is good. All around, a great yarn. 
Another thing I have been getting into recently... is the sock yarn blanket. I know, I'm so shameful! I resisted temptation for over two years before I caved. I couldn't help it. Mine is just now starting out. I don't have a ludicrous number of squares yet, but I do have one picture so far:

I have not been taking any pictures of it, as it is significantly larger than that now, because I have not been weaving in my ends like a good girl and it is spiraling out of control.  It's an off and on project, so hopefully I will remember to take and post pictures as I go along. Hopefully. My grand plan is to knit it large enough to fit a king sized bed. I figure it'll be a wedding present to myself or something... which is nothing to worry about. It's going to take me forever and I'm not even dating anyone right now so I'm right on track!

I also feel like I have been very blessed with the people on Ravelry being so awesome.  I posted the need for sock yarn scraps for this blanket in Random Acts of Kindness, as I have not been a sock knitting fiend until quite recently, and received two packages so far. I only have a picture of the contents of the first, but I will put it here:

I was so happy upon receiving this, that I skipped around the house saying "yay, yarn!" for several minutes.  I'm sure my family thinks I'm absolutely  nuts. Really.

Aside from that, I have a few other little things going on here and there.  I will be sure to post about them as I see fit. This is a horrendously long blog post with tons of pictures, as is. I will say, though, that I went to Yarnivore with Chirp in a fit of madness quite recently and came home with this:

Yes, it is orange malabrigo sock yarn. Yes, I am aware that there is something painfully wrong with me and I do.not.care. I am enjoying this particular fit of insanity, thankyouverymuch. We will see what this becomes. I am also looking forward to the Yellow Rose Fiber Fiesta coming up this month. It just so happens it's the weekend before my birthday and I do most certainly plan to attend and blow every bit of birthday money I may have. :)