ooooh girrls! (and boys)i have some good stuff on the update in the luxe.etsy.com store tomorrow afternoon! very exciting stuff. seriously. so make sure you are signed up for it. if not email me at natashaluxeatgmaildotcom to let me know you want to be on it and i will add ya. you want a peek? well...
i am literally fighting with myself to figure out what to keep and what to sell. i know i can dye something similar again, but still. the sock yarn that is grayish green and the pinky purple color...oh my. i love her. love. i started a pair with one skein of the two colors of green sock yarn for jake. it is fun to knit with. i am just doing a standard sock magic loop two at a time. as usual, i had to screw it up on the cast on and do it ass backward before i got it fixed. i am doing a strange box rib on it so it isn't insanely boring, but is knit on every other row, i can handle that. not too hard.

i also listed some vintage clothes, this amazing dress... and will be listing some vintage aprons and this rockin' dress which i wish would fit me because it would be mine. i am so tempted to do something to it to make it fit, or cut it into a skirt and a top, but it was handmade by someone and is in perfect condition. i just can't do it. it doesn't seem right.

i overdid it a bit yesterday and totally conked out, so i will be doing dyeing tomorrow unless it rains. again. sigh. we went out for groceries and stopped at marshall's where i knocked over almost everything i passed, but did manage to find a really nice escada perfume, i always get similar things that are sweet and passion fruity. it is all that i can usually wear without making me sick and i get lots of compliments on them. what can i say, i am sweet and fruity! i also got two cute dresses for summer and a bra. jake treated. what a nice boy!

i need to go and buy felt this week. as you can see on the big mosaic for the update, i dyed all of my felt and it looks lovely, but because i used it in a big ole sheet, it wasn't as splotchy as i like. the good thing was that it went from feeling like cheapo craft felt, even though it was 100% wool felt, to feeling like nice quality felt because i was really rough with it and kind of felted it, i think. it worked out well. i feel much better about that. i am planning to start dyeing sheets of felt, as has been suggested by several different pro artisans. they said it is impossible to find in any colors (i know!) and it is poor quality, and handpainted...forget it. so there we go. and it is fun to dye and i don't have to worry about messing it up. love it!

i have been using my gigantic electric roaster for dyeing and just bringing the contents up to a simmer and turning it off and leaving the lid on and bob's your uncle. i have sockyarn to do for the upcoming club, so that is on the list tomorrow. i have a bit more fiber to dye, but i am nearly out, so i need to order my giant 25+ lb bump. woot woot! i think i will get some bulky cotton for summer, too, although i had using fiber reactive dyes. you have to use it right away or it is no good. i hate that. and i am not good at mixing those colors. grow up. i know. it has been so damn humid that nothing wants to dry around here. sheesh.

we were supposed to have the in-laws over for a cook out tonite, but the weather did not permit. maybe tomorrow, we will have to see. i have work to do, so i need to get some stuff done, whether they are here or not. maybe i can drag the carder outside if it is nice and save my nose and lungs from the fuzz. i swear, the fuzzy lung is bad stuff. seriously. i really get a lot in my nose and mouth and hopefully not any further.

okay, i am growing very sleepy, it is rather late, coming up on 2a. there was a bunch of stuff i wanted to talk about, but...you know how that goes. what things? alec baldwin? yeah, that was one. oh, i know, a question for the fabric peeps out there...i have been thinking about doing lots of summer things that have a deconstructed but really simple feel about them...think mad maxx but a wee bit more romantic. what fabrics would work well for frayed edges and distressing without falling apart and being summer weight? any ideas? i am thinking neutral colors...chambray in any color, i would like tops and skirts and dresses but things that could work well with a pop of color, too. i would love the waist to be that way as well as the hem, sleeves, straps, whatever. idears?

mwah!
warm (damp) fuzzies
n.

the photos i meant to post didn't show up for some reason...so here are some for the ladies (and fellas, if you fancy)...
hot gardener:


and at the beach last year...


and how about for the lady kitties out there? okay, here is pavel and papa crashed out...


sooooo. today, got up, did dyeing, some sockyarn (6 skeins) a bunch of 2 oz bundles of the soy/merino fiber, 4 oz bundles of superwash merino and to-morrow i need to dye the rest of my merino and some more sock yarn for the sock of the month club i will be starting. i am doing a batt and roving of the month club also. oh, i also dyed a couple of yards of wool felt. i have yet to see how that looks. i forgot to cut it into sheets before dyeing it, so it may be more muted than last time. i dyed all of the aforementioned stuff in my vintage electric roaster, which is really rather large. i piled roving in and got the dye throughout and then put layers of plastic grocery bags to separate color layers and then the next layer and on the top, i had the sock yarns wrapped in plastic wrap on top of plastic bags and mesh. i will let you know if it worked out okay. the sock yarns were fine, i was running low on saran which was why i didn't wrap everything up. i wasn't sure what temperature to set it to and it seemed to be getting way to hot, so i turned it down to 150 degrees, the lowest temp and left it on for about an hour and then turned off the heat and let it sit for a few hours. i will post photos to-morrow. i hope the weather is dry enough to hang things up outside. some of the fiber came out soooo pretty. i used the orchid purple, which is a more pinky purple and olive drab with some rasberry mixed in and that olive drab is from the gods. you can put it with anything and it looks fantastic and adds depth. i also did a sock yarn with the olive drab and avacado for jake. it looks purdy. fun, but still something a boy could wear. i knitted up some of my own sockyarn and i have to say it looked really pretty. i love the louet gems yarn but it is so expensive (worth it, but expensive) that i am not sure if people woudl be willing to pay the difference. the superwash i use now is really good, but the louet has a nice sheen to it. anyway.

i went to michael's after picking up the car from being inspected and got maroon and purple silk flowers to use in a yarn for my brother's fiance. i hope to have some time to spin tomorrow. my hands are really hurting me, so i am going to try not to use them at all tonight. sob!

i emailed nava to tell her that i loved her book and then had looked for her fine art work and it is just lovely. i would love to see it in person. i think it is really rare that a photo can really give you that great of a vibe of how the work is in person, but in her case, the work is very tactile, so i imagine it is super duper incredible in person. anyway, we have emailed back and forth several times and she is so incredibly nice. i told her that i feel really out of the loop in regards to my fine art and how to go about approaching galleries, etc. she gave me loads of great ideas and it made me realize that it scares the crap out of just about everyone to do it. not just me. i am probably more confident than i deserve to be, i always have been, even with work that really wasn't so good. at all. yeah. i admit it. i guess that when you are passionate about your work, that passion just makes it look extra rosy, you know? anyway, i dropped out of the art world for fear of being so disappointed in the people that run it that i would want nothing to do with it. for that reason, i didn't go for my MFA. i have a big back and forth about being a professional artist because i have manic spurts and then have short periods where i need a break. the thing is, just like spinning and knitting for a living, it is a job. you don't get to only do it when you are into it. that is called a HOBBY. savvy? anyway, once again, i am astounded by the amazing degree of open hearted generous women out there.

i have lots of thing i need to take photos of, weather permitting, tomorrow and if i can get my dyeing done, photos taken, i would like to do a bit of sewing. i have a slew of patterns that amy butler sent me and some designs i have sketched up, too.

i strung a gazillion flowers onto different threads for the upcoming yarns and i popped into tj maxx before i ran home. i need summer shoes, i am attempting to not wear any gross shoes anymore. at the beginning of the summer, new flip flops. i tend to wear nicer ones and it is hard for me to let go of em, but i am doing my best. i picked up a pair of wedge sandals that have this squishy nice footbed in them. they are a bronzy color, but i am not sure if i will keep em or not. i will walk around the house in them and see what i think. there were tons of really really cute tops there, too. if i make a bit of money this weekend, i will buy some new summer clothes. mainly i just need some tops. i will make some more skirts and hopefully some dresses, if that is realistic. i need a swimsuit, too. i am not sure if any of the ones i have fit. i need a cover-up or two, as well.

i grow sleepy. i am fighting myself not to knit or sew or embroider or type anymore. i am behind on blogs, but too sleepy to read em. oh, also, whilst dyeing, i listened to lime and violet for a while and actually rather enjoyed it. it was more like listening in on someone's conversation, but while i was busy, it wasn't really a big deal. they manage to bounce off of each other really well without any one of them seeming to be more dominant that the other. which is a really good thing. i would really like to work on my luxe podcast that just goes along with my blog basically. has some clips of what i am doing, or tutorials or whatever. maybe some footage or photos of me in action, dyeing, spinning, whatever. i think that there needs to be more things like that around. methinks.

oh! i almost forgot! michael's recently got in a martha stewart line of stationary, craft supplies, papers, boxes, frames, all kinds of things and they are just gorgeous. honestly, they are really reasonably priced for the quality. it actually kind of reminded me of amy butler stuff. there is ribbon and ...if you have a michael's nearby, go check it out...i can't find a link. sorry. really lovely, though. and i am a snob. so take my word for it. you might pee in your pants a bit. they have these "collector" boxes for displaying stuff that are different colors and have a scalloped design on them...so many things you could do with them. they are a bit pricey, but so purdy. if i was rich...

thanks for all of your sweet comments on this and the blogger bloggy. you guys rock. and you made jake blush. he loves it.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

okay, so the podcast...we were set to do it last night and i fell asleep and woke up about an hour and a half late for it. so barbe and i haven't cought up yet, but it will be soon! thanks for the emails about it though...i appreciate that you guys are eager! and sorry. i stink. i am a stinker. stinker. soon. as soon as i catch up with barbe. i swear.

in payment of that, i have some linkies for you guys...on whipup.net, one of my most favorite bloggies, a link to the campaign for making helmet liners. click here for the skinny. i am hoping to be one of the pennsylvania hosts for it, i will keep ya posted when i hear back. i am against this stupid war, but the soldiers deserve to have what they need and deserve to know that we appreciate that they are risking their lives for their country, even if it is a bit...well...okay, end of that.

then, i found this hilarious mockumentary about knitters' thinking that crochet sucks and it even made jake crack up. the woman in the video makes a comment about people who don't know how to knit (or crocheters) have no right to come into her yarn shop. sadly, i know people like that. it is so odd, isn't it?


and from craftzine.com, a budgie that does needlepoint. awww spike! too damn cute.

here are some of the fruits of my labor, if you are interested and i know you are...


i spent the day packing up orders and winding sock yarn (i haaaaate winding yarn.) probably 2000 yards give or take. there should be a bigger crank on the winder, you know? anyway, i worked up a sweat winding it and had to take a break and do packing. i only got to spin a bit, and i am chomping at the bit to spin up the fiber i dyed on saturday, pictured above. i took a lesson from the yarn wench's gorgeous yarns and fibers and put a much darker accent color for depth on just about everything. i have been using the olive drab to do that. it looks purple before it sets, and the color that it is when it has steamed varies wildly. it is like the mystery dum-dum. really odd. but my go-to dye. i tried brown. tried black. when i diluted them they were too unpredictable, full strength, they are also unpredictable and they don't spread, they just often ruin yarns. in fact, i tried putting a bit of black on a sock yarn and it is all inky and gross. anyway who wants a black sportweight 8 oz skein can have it for shipping and a few bucks.

i got to talk to my pally poo the knitgrrl herself today for a while. she is a whirlwind. and i love her! she is such a badass, and i mean that in the nicest possible way.

the black donnelly's is on tonight, fantastic show. i lurve it. i couldn't figure out where i knew tommy donnelly from, and he was in the virgin suicides, a fantastic, if really depressing movie with a super duper soundtrack. also, the riches on fx with eddie izzard and minnie driver....soooooooo goood. i cannot get enough.

i will be tagging all of the new yarns and fibers, plus some new sock yarns, so i will be doing an update again to-morrow probably.

okay, off i go to do some drawerings.
xo
n.

short and sweet...tired. tired. tired. i did a lot of WORK today. yes! me. i did. i dyed a bunch of stuff, including soysilk which dyed very similarly to silk, so not solidly, but i think it will be pretty. i cleaned my grody studio and it looks purdy good, although it could use a vacuum, but i don't bother with the vacuum on that carpet. no go. too much fiber. i also got lots of drawerings/collage done (did you guys see the puuuusssy anon commenter ripping on my sketchbook/journal? seriously. so sad.)

i have been a bit focused on drawing furniture. dunno. wanna see a few dyeing photos? and there are a gazillion more where that came from, jake got a bit overexcited. also, there was a big salad bowl full of water in it that pavel played in for about half an hour, splashing the water, drinking it out of his paw, splashing it. that boy loves water. he claims it is his tiger ancestors. could be! so, update around 6ish, i hope (i have lunch with the inlaws and then the updating) and then the podcast will be a bit later (10 eastern time, i think...i bit later, maybe. ) but i have some good stuff to be mentioned.
mwah! mwah! mwah!
n.

okay, so some awesome linkies...a wonderful new drug that will solve every problems you can imagine havidol and then, for the lomo fans, and moleskine fans, a really cool new journal that you must check out...here and i found it all via barbe's link to some really cute embroidered things that say rude stuff on this wonderful site notcot.com. so fantastic. how did i never hear of it before?

yesterday i FINALLY got my package for the french spin me a treasure swap. let me say that it was so worth the wait. so. worth. the. wait. my partner was none other than...laine zin zin!!! no way! no. way! i got a gorgeous mohair yarn. pink. me loves pink. i imagine it as a wrap or something. and a whole bunch of really cool plying threads. oh my. thanks so so much! i loooove it! i am sorry i complained. i just thought i had been forgotten. had i known it was you...i would have patiently waited. anyway. yay!



and then, for my spin to knit swap, my final package came and it is no other than carry, the of the knitwit podcast she sent me chocolate sheep including a black one that were yummy! plus, two little books of her patterns (how cool!) plus this bright red variegated yarn. i will probably make it into a neck, i think. anyway, thanks so much carry, and i will definitely check out your podcast!


what else? well, i dyed a bunch of fiber, mainly loose fiber, and then two batches for a couple of custom orders. i used merino that wasn't superwash, plus other loose fiber and the colors are so much more muted than with the superwash, even with the citric acid. i seriously was stunned, even though i know. i am used to having to dilute everything way down, but it dyed much lighter than the dye appeared. still gorgeous but much lighter. anyway. i got mohair from rhlindsay, it is just uncarded, but is rather soft and washed. it has a good bit of vm (vegetable matter for the non-fiber peeps out there) in it, lots of brambles and burrs and such. i also dyed up the rest of the loose polypay that i had from homestead farm, it wasn't so great, but i can put it in batts and it will be fine for texture. i also used the rest of my washed targhee, some loose merino in brown and nataural from lindsay that is a short staple, but the chocolate brown looked fantastic with the pink, again, for batts. i have it all over the kitchen. i reuse my zipper bags as many times as possible before they expire, but i manage to poke holes in them via the dishwasher rack. i was thinking about it, and unless the zipper stops working, i could really just tape up the hole with duct tape. hm. any ideas for a more environmentally sound thing to use instead of those bags? i use them an average of 4 times before they don't work, the zipper breaks, etc. i thought of maybe just using the plastic grocery bags we get. we use em for scooping the cat litter, and i think at giant eagle, you can return them in a box, but i wonder if that would be any better than what i am doing? is there any kind of waterproof gallon or bigger sized bag that i could close well that would be biodegradeable? it is all this watching the living with ed about ed begley jr (really a funny show) and just the general state of things, like the 70 degree days we had in january, that makes me attempt not to be really bad. i could use shopping bags, but they don't degrade either. i would be better off taking them back to the store. we never throw them away without using them, or anything.

oh! the bird in the attic! jake and i went up there, birdie actually slept last night, i was worried that he was dead, but at the rescue place, they told me that they sleep at night, and like they said, he was up as soon as the sun come up, tapping tapping tapping. anyway, when jake got home, we went up with a towl and the cat carrier, he had eaten and made a huge birdseed mess and really, in the winter, i imagine he was excited to have so much food and water! there was bird food in the water and seed all over the place and jake put the towel over him, scooped him up carefully, we put him in the carrier, he kept sticking his head out of the cage and sticking his beak out. he got his head semi-stuck at one point...we took him outside to see if he could fly. i was worried he wouldn't be able to. he peeked out of the carrier, went right out into the grass, looking for bugs or something for a few minutes and then flew into the eve of the house behind ours, the gutters fells down, so there is a big hole going into the roof, so loads of animules live in there. anyway, he was fine, and we were happy. jakie is a hero! i looked online to see what the bird was, but couldn't find anything. he was about the size of my hand, and black and gray spotted with sort of blue on his head. a longish black beak and small black eyes. and surprisingly laid back for a birdie. good guy.

not much more to say, i have a headache and i am a bit tired. i actually got a few bobbins of yarn done, so an update is forthcoming. woot. woot.

smoooch. smoooch. smooch.
n.

to kick off the post, please send well wishes to lynn whose daughter is pretty sick. from what i know at this point, they are running tests and are not sure what is going on. i normally have a good guy feeling of whether something will be major or not, and i feel like it will resolve itself fast. let's all send good vibes to them that i am right! if you read this lynn, mwah! mwah! mwah!

what else? well, i have been living in migraine city lately. i had a super bad one yesterday and have it brewing again today. i packed orders yesterday (yayayayay!) and had to finish the piece for the show that is long overdue and of course nothing went as planned, so 10 different approaches and a huge mess later, it worked. by then, it was too dark to take a good photo and i had one of the worst migraines i have had...ever. okay, in the last year, anyway. so the photos i took were bad, dark and i didn't care, either. so. wanna see anyway? okay:
this is the top of it. handspun red yarn (it kept breaking, grrrrr) and a little nest with japanese orange coral for eggs and a little bird that velma gave me...


here is a detail of the bottom. as you can see, i embroidered muslin and attached it with copper tacks, strung copper wire and attached the boxes to the copper wire (which was a real challenge)


and here is the whole thing. dark. blurry. migraine. sorry.


also, there are some of my paper beads with the resin on em at the bottom of the box and one on top. the little boxes have torn out dictionary words including "heart", "heartbreak", "heartache" and then there is a ton of resin and copper and gold irridescence on it. i really like it and hope it doesn't sell. i would like to keep it. additionally, i realized that i need to make sure that i MAKE time to do fine art every single week. no matter what. i love it more than anything and it makes me forget everything.

what else? well, on the regular electric spinner, which works really really well, much better than the bulky one, i spun a bunch of really pretty singles in sport/worsted weight that would be fantastic for socks. i didn't skein it yet but, wanna see?

the photo is a bit crappy, and it doesn't show how vibrant the colors are. emerald greens, purples, blues, gorgeous! i am almost tempted to keep it myself.

we were supposed to see butter yesterday and i had to call it off. and we were supposed to meet the new girlfriend! so not cool. additionally, i had wanted to go shopping today and knew it would be unwise. flourescent lighting and migraines do not mix. also, i would be like a drunk and blind driver. it tends to hit me full-on very quickly. anyway, i did some dyeing today, some good ones, i think. i am trying to get more depth in my dyeing, ala lynn, the yarnwench herself, because it is the thing that really takes it to the next level. i love bright colors, but bright colors with a few pops of something darker or deeper....oooh lalala! i mixed up new batches of dyes because i was out of a lot of things and used the olive drab i got a while ago which in the dye form doesn't look at all like olive drab. it looks like a super dark purple black. we will see how it cures. i will hang it to dry a bit later and be listing fiber to-morrow. woo hoo! i would have done it today, but you know...no good yesterday. bah!


so, the anticraft has a new issue, with a knitted penis and um...nuts...it is rather funny. what do you do with it? don't ask, okay?here it is! there are also wire crocheted pasties, which cracked me up, too.

also, i came across this fantastic fancy shmancy makeup called besame (i am sure you have heard of it. their red lipstick is very famous) anyway, you can order samples! they are $1.50 each and .63 cents shipping! can you beat that? it is a makeup lovers bonanza! do you remember those teeny lipstick testers you would get from avon and your mom would let you have it and make you think she bought it for you and it was a kid-sized lipstick. oh, i loved those things. i know this will shock you, but i hoarded them. i didn't want to use it, then it would be gone. also, you know the cologne testers, the glass ones? i would add water to them in an effort to make it last longer. anyone ever put water in perfume? it makes it smell like a skunk. dunno why, but it took a longtime for me to learn. or else, i would do it still.

on the line of being a hoarder...i hoard medications. i push myself not to use pain pills and antibiotics in case i run out...and there is a zombie war or something. dunno why. i am the same way with tissues. it is torture for me to use it once and throw it away. before they diagnosed my lupus, i had false allergies that were so bad that my nose ran all the time. constantly. nothing, including rx medicines or benedryl made it stop. i sniffed every few seconds. in fact, in college, one of my profs would YELL at me for sniffing. i had a half a box of tissues in my bag at all times. i would use the entire stack by the end of the day. i would use each tissue until it was completely saturated before moving onto the next. back then, it made sense. now...not really. but i still feel guilty throwing it away. because i won't throw it away, they end up in my pockets and in the washer. jake doesn't like that so much.

when i was a kid, if my parents gave us each a pack of gum, my brother would put all of the pieces in his mouth at once. i would break each piece into a zillion pieces and eat each tiny piece individually, and not put a new one in until there was no flavor left. my brother would mock me, but a week later, i still had gum. so, there! when they came out with mini chicklets...ooh, i loved those! perfect!

i eat candy one piece at a time. in most cases, m & m's for example, i suck on it until the shell is gone and then eat it. or keep sucking on it. m & m minis are a fav for that reason. i eat em one at a time. why am i not really skinny? when i eat cereal, i eat it one at a time, too. not with milk, though, that would be stupid. sheesh.

i am terrified of the dentist. as a kid, i had really messed up teeth and had horrible orthodontic work done, a nightbrace (boy did that hurt) retainers, and i had to have several teeth pulled because i didn't have room. plus the wisdom teeth when i was 14 or 15 because they were impacted and would mess up my teeth. needless to say, i hate going to the dentist. i take pain rather well, it is just irrational, i guess. i am scared. so.

i have had chronic migraines since i was in 1st grade (that i remember) although back then, they didn't really have anything that helped. at all. so if i got one, i had to go to the ER. if i eat MSG or bleu cheese (found in any sort of doritos or cheetos) i get a super bad one, in minutes. as a kid, i would lick my hand, pour accent on it (it is pure msg, i am not sure if they still make it) lick it off, repeat. i also would suck on bullion cubes. and if we had a party at school, i would scarf doritos, we never had stuff like that at home, not being american, and i loved salty, needless to say, bad bad things would follow. even now, if bleu cheese has touched my food, like if the salad comes with it, i tell them that i am allergic to it, and the remove it, like i won't know, i am sick almost instantly. it stinks anyway. not such a big loss.

okay, dinner is ready, so off i go.
xoxoxoxoxo
n.