so, firstly, thanks for the kind emails and phone calls. i have been really out of it. yesterday, i did some dyeing and apparently overdid it, i get so excited when i feel good enough to actually do stuff that i overdo. i talked on the phone, sat outside in the sunshine, did the dyeing, hung it up, sat outside and talked, dyed some more, hung it up, made dinner (jake didn't know what to do with himself) i even packed up the leftovers for 2 days lunches for him. last night, not so good. i had a fever, but my body was cold, i had a bad headache, i think i vomited a couple of times, and to make it even more special, my nose was so stuffed up that i couldn't breathe. it was a miserable night. the night before, i hadn't slept at all, literally, and then got up and did all the stuff, so i guess it was payback. i didn't get out of bed today. i kept trying to get up, but i would fall back asleep. at 5 pm when jake called, i was still in bed. insane, eh?

so let me just send a little note to a long time "friend"...hey lupus...you suck my ass. big time. i always say that we coexist and i accept it and it is okay. it isn't. you seriously, seriously suck. and to make it even better, i can't even use you as an excuse for having to leave things early, not go out at all, etc, etc, because it makes me feel like i am making excuses. and your buddies chronic fatigue, epstein bahr, fibromyalgia, migraine, arthritis, and the awesome bouts of anxiety and depression that hang out with you, they all suck ass too. bunch of freeloading arseholes. if you wanna hang around with me, you need to start paying some sort of rent. bring a bag of chips, chip in for all the medications...something.

i had a custom order for chocolate brown yarn, and for any of you non-dyeing gals and gents out there, brown is a very tricky color. i initially dyed the fiber, and it came out so not right that i decided to spin the yarn, ply it and then dye the finished yarn. it took two shots at that, and it still has some light spots, but it looks okay. unlike oil paints, the fiber dyes just don't follow color theory. they are made up of so many different things that even on their own they pull out odd colors depending on the fiber. i have also heard that different pans can make colors change as well. i got some really pretty fiber. here are a few photos. i will be listing that and the other ton of fiber that i still haven't gotten around to listing. and i finally am getting my my electric carder from angela. yay!


i also took a photo of this "peaks" i have been crocheting. i have some really really big ones. this one was crocheted with noro yarn meant for machine knitting. it is almost as thin as thread. so i used a teeny hook and it took me forever to make. i don't know what they mean, but i feel compelled to draw and paint and make them. here is one, not stuffed yet, finger included for size...and dye stained nail. ew.


xo
n.

so, firstly, here are a few mini-plush/felt things i have been working on. i have done some little doodles to follow, which is not what i usually do. i tend to just get started and see what it wants to be. the pink amigurumi dude, i just don't know what he wants to be. any ideas? i was bagging bits and pieces spinning fiber bags, so forgive the fact that every picture has a ton of fiber in it. gross looking.

so on to that. i need to finish packing orders, as well as finishing the goody bags for shannon's cruise, although i did make a good dent in it, so that is something. the orders i was filling from the shop have sections of different rovings bunched together and then a bunch of different bits and pieces of loose fibers, locks, etc, and i was stunned at how huge the bags got. and fast. they are supposed to be 3oz or a bit more. i haven't weighed them, but they are way over that. when i was first spinning, i would have peed my pants over all of the stuff in there. if you have a carder, it would be fun to run through, but i tend to spin my hat kits and striping skeins right from the fiber. there is so much different stuff, it is insane. here is a non-exhaustive list:soy silk, soy latte, bamboo silk, loose bamboo, tussah silk, silk noils, cotton, camel, ecospun, ingeo (corn silk), 3 different kinds of locks, nylon, sari silk, hemp, linen, angelina, firestar, icicle top (dyed), mohair top, merino top, bits of yarn, alpaca, rayon, i can't remember what else, though. i know i am missing some stuff. there are more than 25 different fibers in there. weeeeeeeeeee. here is a bad pic of some of the bags set up...


zat is all. it took me forever to get the bags done, and i really thought i would get orders packed, too, but ya know. i woke up with a headache and had a fatigue kinda day that was hard to get up, so i took a pep pill and a pain pill so i could get stuff done and it made me super shaky. like 5 pots of coffee shaky. ya know? gah! due to the headaches lately, which i swear aren't bad painwise, just the side effect aura type stuff. my vision is all funky, and has been all week, i have been smelling gross stuff constantly. i think that i smell bad. it drives me insane. i shower twice a day and don't exactly work up a sweat in between, but i have a super snoot when i am not in headache mode, let alone when i am. i also kept thinking that peeps had taken a poo in my room, and couldn't find anything. drove. me. crazy.

mwah. mwah. mwah.
n.

so, new yarns going up on the www.luxe.etsy.com site here, plus more. i used my ott-lite for these photos because it looks like twilight all the time here, and they are a bit washed out. the colors are a bit nicer in person. ah well. i also have the xmas yarns to list and some new knitted gear. i need to get my act together. get on it, girl!

jakie is in california for business so i am on my own here, eating really poorly, at random times...woooot! somehow that is my favorite part. otherwise, i miss him. oh wait, i also enjoy doing knitting on the bed with a whole bunch of bags and stuff all over the bed. i have gotten a decent amount of work done, though, although i can't get myself to go to the drugstore because it is cold and snowy out. dunno about that.

i ordered a faux snow leopard coat and just got it today, it is surprisingly nice quality, but being a short person (5'2ish), i am not sure if it is too much. if i do keep it, i will get the sleeves shortened. they are that kind that you are supposed to roll over, which i don't like too much. i will probably post a photo of it on and see what the public opinion is. it would be warm, for sure. i reckon that fur coats, or their faux cousins are not really meant to be slimming.

i also got some gorgeous loose fiber that i ordered from frenecreek. i have ordered loose fiber from some of her competition and it was disgusting. literally, i gave it away. it smelled, it had straw and burrs and crap (literally) in it. it was cheap, but clearly, cheap for a reason. i am going to try stuff from them again (i am sure i will regret it), but again, i got this other stuff today from frenecreek and i squealed. and i am a total fiber snob. what did i get? a bunch of kid locks that i hope to dye up to-morrow, some fuschia targhee pencil roving that has peacock fronds processed right in...so nice. targhee is similar to merino, it is really soft and spongy and yummy. one of my absolute faves. i also got some natural cream polypay roving that is niiiiice and a batt from her gigantor pat green carder that is like 4 or more of my batts. it is merino and silk and some firestar. oooooh. so nice. by the time i checked the mail, i had already done several hours of spinning and skeining and taking photos and my back hurt. gah!

and lastly, i had ordered some things from sproutjewelry.net, an etsy shop (not to be confused with sproutstudio, which is equally lovely...and i was just blown away by all of it. i got one for myself that is even cooler in person than online...thissee and then i got this for a sister in law, although i am not so sure she will like it so it might be for peeps. okay, for me. we will see. i will order another, if she does like it. and then this for my brother jon's wife. she is really petite and delicate and i can totally see this on her.

i need to do some knitting for some more gifts, i also need to either buy or make some opera length gloves to go with the 3/4 length sleeve coat jake got me a little while ago. i haven't worn it yet for that reason. tj maxx and marshall's both usually have really nice gloves for not so much. so.

i am blown away by the horrible flooding in the northwest. i hate saying this, but i imagine that fima will get on that much faster than they did in the south. the middle class and higher can't be ignored. i hope i don't get slammed for saying that, but still. it really seems like whoever is in charge of all this flooding is trying to tell us something. scary.

georgie bush is on the news and i can't believe he is the president. i can't believe he is in charge of anything. nothing has changed he says. he says he warned us that iran is dangerous. sigh. that is all he can say? gah. i think he has been saying the same thing for years and years, regardless of if anything changes or not. so odd.

i best go to the drugstore because it is supposed to really snow to-morrow and i need the migraine meds. but i don't wannnnnaaaa! i don't wannnaa! for those of you living in the warm places...i shake my fist at you!

smooochies,
n.

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.

i really want to blog more but i am soooo out of it and tired. wanna see? it ain't pretty. but at least i'm honest. notice that it is dark and my pupils are pinpricks. also, that one eye is halfclosed.
blech. i feel soooo out of it. i also had jake some photos of me working in my sketchook over the weekend and pavel lying under my knees.

i am stunned at how fat i look and how enormous my boobs look/are. i hope it is just a bad bad photo, but i think i need to go on a diet, although i don't eat much. i also don't exercise, and hate doing so and would be using what bit of energy i have on it, which doesn't thrill me. when jake and i started dating i wore a size 3/4 comfortably. and that was 6 years ago? i am not even sure, but not that long and now i am not so happy with my body. i am not even sure what size i wear, but i am always super excited to go to the beach and i am not happy about anyone seeing me, especially my in-laws. maybe my enormous boobs will distract from my enormous thighs? hmmm....it just might work. but i will have to walk backwards. i will have to get a sarong or something. that will amke me feel a bit more comfortable. anyway, i need to do something about it. i don't want to end up being enormous and have lupus and god knows what else. and jake denies that have gained weight, bless his heart. he says taht he is fat. yup. he says people on the beach will pity me for being with such a "disgusting slob". i think he has it mixed up. i am an obsessive person as you may have noticed, so the only way i can diet is to REALLY diet. i don't cheat. i don't do it halfway. the problem with that is once i get to the part where you start adding carbs or whatever, i am screwed. when i did the atkins to originally lose a bunch of weight, i did fantastically, but i damn near stopped eating because i had no appetite because i was sick of eating the same low carb food and wasn't hungry. really. i got so skinny that people asked me if i was okay. skinnier than my frame was meant to be. although i was still flabby in the thighs and stuff. so i know that if i want to go back on a diet i can, and i can do well, but i am not good at going back into a normal diet. sigh. i do miss the days not so long ago when i felt hot.

okay, i am going to shower because my nose is super sensitive and i feel like i smell bad. i will postyarn photos and some of the spring knitting and crocheted things i have been doing for luxe. really pretty lightweight stuff...
xo
n.

hey guys! just a quicky to let you know that i updated luxe.etsy.com with soft lovely handpainted superwash merino top, some crazy spinning batts and some yarns, too. so go...check it out...and, matching sparkle as a gift with each order! yay!

well well well. let me kick the post off by saying that jake would love comments. nuff said.

nextly, i have a bunch of fiber to update on luxe and hope to have a bit of time to spin to-morrow after packing orders and such. i did a few dye batches tonight with the 6 different purples i got recently, so fingers crossed on those. i also chucked in a skein of sock yarn for my dad's birthday socks.

in other news, i was attempting to catch up on my blogs that i am incredibly behind on. shameful, i tell you. and realized that lisa s had deleted her blog after a nasty bunch of arseholes ANONYMOUS commenters (along with some really good ones, too, that stuck up not only for lisa, but artists and craftspeople in general) made her feel so upset about her work and money, etc, the things that we all hate having to think about. it is on the designsponge blog which i am sure you all aware of, as well as the guest blog they have that rocks as well. the people that run it do a fantastic job of it, the amount of love and work that goes into it is very apparent, and then there are these arseholes just waiting to jump on anyone for anything (in some of the communities on the blogiverse, i have come across similar nastiness) and it just speaks to me of how friggin bored and pathetic they must be to sit around just waiting to pick a fight or hurt someone's feelings. do they jump up and down clapping their hands with glee? there was a converstation about her work being too expensive (c'mon now, this is art, not milk for your baby) and that ANYONE can do it. this. makes. my. blood. boil. this always makes picasso come to mind and the know-nothings that feel compelled to say that he clearly didn't know how to draw. and he was considered a master at the age of 12. so lisa...if the same arses would say that about picasso, or even worse, gives value to an artwork based on fame. so back in the old days when van gogh was trying to hock his paintings, this same person would say, "who the hell are you?" i am starting to just drift around frothing at the mouth, but i guess i just wanted to say, again...there are several artists that are so open with all of us via their blogs, emails, etc, and give so much back to the world for free. for the love of art and beauty and all that is good. art should not have to have a price on it. we shouldn't have to be a waitress in order to be an artist, or musician or whatever, but that isn't the way it is. we have to eat. and if something someone else makes is out of my price range, that doesn't mean it is too expensive or not worth that amount of money. it just means i can't afford it. there is no reason to be mean, and all i can think is that these snarky jackasses have nothing good to contribute to anyone. they don't have a following. they don't have a passion. they don't have a job that they love. and it kills them. so, they just go around trying to pee in everyone else's cheerios. don't let them. just don't. let them go sit with each other and call each other names. they are the epitome of losers and they know it. i have got my eye on you, snarky losers. and you better watch out for us art school girls, we have breathed in poisonous fumes and eaten paint accidentally and we are much tougher than we look. i assure you.

ok. i will cut it out, now. wanna see what i made for my french spin me a treasure partner? i got this roving from someone on etsy, and as usual, decided that i need to stop doing that, cause it isn't super soft and nice like mine. ah well...the blue and burgundy one was only about 70 yards, so i spun another one in the matching pinky color with about 80 yards...



also, i did a poppy hat for my pal at mohop shoes for our swap (squuuuuueeeeeee!) and the poppy scarfaletta as usual...

and then a hat with a yellow one, with a scarf to match not pictured...


poor pinky fluffadaro never arrived. i fear that i will never see her again. it makes me sad. i haven't tried to do a claim with the post office before, so hopefully that will go smoothly. that was $60-something bucks lost in space. aaargh.

oh, and one last strange thing...remember how the tornado thingy pulled the siding off of our house almost 2 months ago? well! the disaster repair place said they would schedule a time to fix it and then never did. we talked to someone else that gave us a price almost half of what the other place had said, which would then cover our insurance deductible so i called to let the disaster place that never called me or anything to just nevermind. the guy calls me back and says, "natasha? so i got the message that you are going to have someone else fix the siding?"
me-"yes."
him-"why?"
me-"it has been 2 months, no call."
him-"well, the thing is that we have all of the stuff we need, we bought it and it was on the truck ready to go and then it rained, so the boxes got wet and we couldn't come out and now we can't return the siding...so could you give me the contracter you are using's name and i can see if he would want to buy it from us?"
me-"um."
him-"you could just give me the number..."
me-"i will let them know..."
let me say, this is the place that our insurance company, erie insurance told us to call to patch up the house until it could be fixed and give us the price, etc. they aren't some fly by night place. i think not, anyway. that was the strangest, most bullshite story i have ever ever heard. it was so odd that i called jake at work and then later in the day was still confounded. you know they never bought nothing. i am guessing they just thought they could make a buck anyway. so shady. i can tell you who not to call in case of an emergency.

so, off i go. gotta wash out the fiber.
xo
n.