luxe

so…first, i got cocky with tivoli. i was meticulous. i counted. i thought, you see, follow the instructions closely, place markers, no problem. i do all the increases, i do the raglan sleeve shaping, i am binding off and casting on for the armholes. i realize that i have taken out my markers, as suggested, and have managed to fuck up the number of stitches or something and made the armholes uneven and lopsided. i was able to…rip out…cringe…those rows and….cringe..reknit them, but managed to bung up the raglan stitches that are at the armhole. i am unsure how to fix this, due to the increased stitches and all that crazy stuff, so i am going to leave well enough alone and go from there. the neck and armholes are even now, and hopefully no one who didn’t write the pattern or knit it will notice. even thinking about it, i want to rip it out, but i may never finish it them , the rows are loooong and my attention span is short. i may make another after this one, now that i know what i am doing. this is the first adult item of clothing i have made with any sort of sleeve…and knit in the round. and everyone knows how poor lelah came out. it didn’t.

next, i had a consultation to fix permanent eyebrows for someone. it was blue, lopsided, uneven, had a double line…i can’t express how bad it was. and the woman haggled with me. she thought i was too expensive. i told her that i could fix it, but i charge what i charge. it is her face. it has already been fucked up fairly badly. i would be really really upset it my eyebrows looked like that. and she had eyeliner that had turned blue as well and was done really poorly. it made her eyes look droopy. i won’t say more. it was super super super bad. it will be a good before and after if she comes back. she is going to be a pain in the ass if she does come back. she told me it cost 100 bucks less at the other place. that screwed her up. good deal. sigh.

i am going to nurse my headache with some diet cherry vanilla dr pepper. later dahlings.
smoochies? n.

more booty from joann’s
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

so last night, my eyeliner appt that i was excited about cause i can really use the money, called to cancel. she is just really strange i think, she may still get it done. who knows. i still have a consult later. i am really worried about her being an old lady and being freaked out by me. i hate this.

i think i am going to work craftybastard. did i blog that already? i will do yarn, the toys gabe and i are working on and gabe will do paintings and whatnot. methinks.

otherwise, my hubby woke me up at 3 am to tell me that the vw’s back tire was flat and he was taking the mazda. ok. so i have to have aaa come out.

i can hear one of the cats, kahlo, puking downstairs. she probably ate something like a stick that she can’t eat and will do her daily puking all over the couch or something. sigh.

so that is all for the moment.

sigh. smoochies. n.

ooooh
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

so actually everything but the finishing is done on the little guy. i am lazy!

i feel yucky today. still.

i talked to jacey from insubordiknit…check out her gorgeous things!! we may do a fiber/homespun exchange…so exciting! her things are gorgeous!

here is a really gross article one of my college pals sent me…ALBANY, N.H. — A man is facing charges after police said they pulled
him
from a tank under a women’s toilet that was filled with human waste.

Police said that Gary Moody, 45, was under a log cabin outhouse off the
Kancamagas Highway in Albany. “You can draw your own conclusions as to
the
conditions we encountered,” said Capt. John Hebert, of the Carroll
County
Sheriff’s Department. Police said that they got a call from the parents
of a
teenage girl who said that when she went to use the facilities, she saw
Moody’s face staring back at her from the hole.

Moody was hosed off before police cuffed him. “It’s a very filthy
environment, and before we put anybody in contact with him, we had to
decontaminate him,” Hebert said. “We treated him as if he were
hazardous
material.” Hikers using the outhouse on Tuesday said that the story was
enough to make their stomachs turn. “He just must be sick to put
yourself
in that muck. Disgusting,” said Harriett Voysey, of New Jersey.

Police said they don’t know how long Moody was in the tank, but they
said
the door to it was locked, which means he must have gone in through the
toilet. They said they don’t know why he was there. “I started this
business in 1980, and I have never in my career encountered anybody in
this
type of situation,” Hebert said.

Police charged Moody with criminal trespass, and they said he could
face
more charges. He is out on bail and due back in court next month.

ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!

this whole post disappeared? how strange! it wasn’t that exciting anyway!

ooooh
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

just a quickie here…first of all…the gorgous object with the birdies is a vintage sifter. i left the price tag on it to rub it in that it was so cheap and awesome. i love it!! look at my flickr to see the other great stuff i got at the thrift store.

i have a dr’s appt today, and am supposed to meet heather for lunch or whatever, i guess. she has been having a really bad time of it, and i am really worried about her. when did i become the stable one? i am also going to stop at knitwits to get some yarn for my tivoli top, and i want to start a one skein wonder, as well, jump on the bandwagon. i have tons of stray skeins that would work nicely. also, i keep hearing things about “shine” from knitpicks, which is only $2.39 per skein and is supposed to knit beautifully. hmmf.

i spun a few hundred yards last night, that came out really pretty. i started blending the variegated, because i can’t do anything plain. it drives me nuts. short attention span theatre. if i wanted plain, i could buy it. that is why i got a wheel. to make crazy stuff. i am working on thinner stuff for the people i promised yarn to…you all can keep posted to what i have made and make suggestions for what you would like if i have offered you something…

the baby sweater just needs to be blocked and put together, which i may do today, if i have time.

in other news, i am also spinning yarn for my secret pal, i need to start sending her stuff, although i may just send one big one. i am not sure. it is nice to get lots of stuff at once.

oh, i am not sure where to vaseline my louet, it is getting smoking hot when i spin, which is pretty cool, but i think i should be greeezin it, and i am not sure where. my teacher has an ashford that she oils every time she uses it, and i know that louets don’t need oil, who knows? in my spinning book, it doesn’t tell you for my sort.

i want the pluckyfluff book and i have no money on my credit card!! i need to figure something out. i neeeeeeeed it!! ok, gotta get up and go.

smoochies y’all!!

ooooh
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

see my gorgeous hairclip from my awesome secret pal!! no? go to my pics then and check it out more closelyshe also sent me some fiesta yarn in poppy, which is my favorite flower, and i am too cheap to buy that yarn for myself. gorgeous!!

also, i saw this on the sexy bonnie’s website, craftalicious, linked to the side,

what flavor pocky are you?

[c] sugardew

otherwise, i wanted to start tivoli tonight and all i have that would be enought to finish it is crappy ass cotton ease and in black. what was i thinking? and the lys is closed to-morrow. shit! i have a bunch of all season cotton, just not enough of one color, i considered mixing colors, i dunno. i will just wait. i can make something else in the meantime. calm down!! i got new embroidery snippies because my gingher ones that do not stay in their sheath, are begging to really hurt me from my sewing bag…these are really nice, although they could be a bit smaller, the blade protection snaps on, so that is nice!! also, i got some stuff at the UFO antique place, i will photo it to-morrow. really awesome stuff!! here is where the scissors arefor your enjoyment. i wish i had a chance to go to the lys. although they are open on mondays now, and i can pop in after my drs appt.

also, i have problems getting any eye makeup to stay on my eyes, they are greasearific, and i was told at a makeup counter to buy cheapo eyeliner, it works way better…it does!!! i put shimmery blue wet n wild eyeliner on this morning and at 8 tonite, it was really bright and not smeared at all!! and i also have a shimmery olive one that stays on. sweet!!

i had a nail and cuticle incident with my middle finger of my right hand, so i am going to read some of your bloggies and go to sleepies. i am so tired. more pics tomorrow, check out the new photos though, ok? here is the link for now…amazing stuff!!!!
smoochies y’all!! i got cooties yall!!

short sleeve baby sweater
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

and i have these beatrix potter buttons i have had forever, i didn’t know why i even bought them and now i know why! and they will match wonderfully. this had buttoms at the collar and little ribbed cap sleeves. really adorable. and i lost the entire back to a misread pattern, and still it only has taken me since tuesday. this pic is from a few days ago, i will take new onces to-morrow, i only have one little sleeve left to go. pretty good. i have been dead at work and knitting a lot though, or when i am busy, a few rows at a time. this has been a great learning tool. i love trying new things. i try to be as fearless as i can be and just do it. as nike would say. i got to do short rows for the first time, which are genius!! so cool. i want to do them on everything, for no reason. lots of bilateral decreases, raglan styling, so i got to see how to do the nice neat pattern, that i am told makes seaming easy. that will be the last frontier, not screwing it up at that point. and cottonease is nicer to knit with than i thought it would be. not that it matters, since they do not make it…last call for anyone needing any…my joann’s has some left in the bargain bin for 3 bucks a ball.

my next project will be grumperina’s tivoli t-shirt sweater it comes in multiple sizes, is knitted in the round, is nicely fitted and is not knitted in some laceweight yarn or anything. i don’t know if i could spin 600 yards of yarn. but, maybe that would be a good first thing, first garment for me by me and first thing knit from my very own homespun. i am getting really excited now!! although, it is merino, and that will indeed be too hot. so nevermind what i just said. i need to look in my stash and see if i need to buy anything, or if i can make do, maybe just get some more cottonease, or use that tlc stuff. maybe a really good kelly green? hm…

otherwise, i had an ok day. made some money, and tomorrow looks like it will be busy. sunday is my ad in the local paper, everyone please continue to send out good thoughts for me. we really need to have a bit of a financial boost, and i feel like this may be the start. renew my faith that i am doing the right thing. it is so easy to drift away from that part of my life, i am so jaded, so tired of the scummy clientele, even though we don’t get them so much anymore, all the money owed for all sorts of stuff, and then leaning so heavily on my dear husband who in turn overextends himself and works on saturdays volunarily. not even 12 on fri night. he has been asleep for 2 hours. i want to badly to be able to help pay for things, rather than be what i hate so much in other people, a mooch.

on a happier note, gabe and i started hashing out ideas for the dolls. i want to do small ones to start, he wants to do elaborate ones, and i worry a bit that they will not translate because he won’t listen and will do something that looks really crappy and falls apart. he is not so good at putting things together, he tends to do it a but ass backwards. don’t worry, he doesn’t read blogs. i have this vision, for amazing things we can make, and he starts making it much more complex, to the point of not doable.i dunno.

i ate up all of our few raspberries on the bushes. and strawberry season appears to be over. i need to call the berry farm and get some berries. ooooooh, are they good. yum!!

oh, edit, in my own advice, i tell amy not to use black yarn. i started tivoli in it. don’t do it. and cottonease is for kid clothes only. only. buy nice yarn. sheesh. that is all.

amy’s hair
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

so, i feel better. i found out that it was a full moon during my freak out. now i am back to my usual tired self.

gabe and i are going to use 2 journals that we switch once a week and work on a new project every week. he was in a frenzy state yesterday, so we’ll see i guess. the first thing i think will be doll versions of some of his drawerings with embroidered details. not that i am such a good embroiderer. i think it would make a really cute mobile.

otherwise, we went to crackerbarrel, last night, because we are crackers i guess, and ate gross food that tastes like cafeteria food. but my in-laws are awesome, so it doesn’t really matter. and they had some really cute strawberry salt n pepper shakers and a strawberry cookie jar in their shop. i love berry things!! do i ever.

i got a note from my amazing secret pal, saying she sent some things, so i cannot wait. she is awesome! she checks in on me even.

oh, i went to st v de p yesterday and got some awesome stuff, including an owl toaster cover and a really cute fabric bird print that i am tempted to send to the amazing girl at little birds or bird in hand. or keep it. i don’t know. i also got a 50s dishtowel that i will photo. it is amazing. i may make a top out of it, or maybe even frame it, it is that good. and a ton of old zippers and buttons and things like that. and a gorgeous sifter that i will also photo. check back later.

well…smoochies, i reckon.

pavel again
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

so, after my hysterics last night, and not answering my phone, to the point that butter texted me to ask if i was mad, i finally fell asleep, and woke up at 3, when jake left and had an awful panic attack, which i rarely have anymore. my skin was crawling, i couldn’t breathe, i think my pain patch had run out, and i had also worked myself into a hysterical frenzy. i was scared to take a xanax because it makes me really depressed the next day, but it didn’t. i got up and showered, for the third time that day and went back to sleep. i need to chill out. i apologize for that awful post. i feel like i should delete it, but that wouldn’t be a journal, would it?

i got some really nice emails, and it makes me feel so good that not only do my friends and hubby act nice to me even though i am a lunatic, but people i don’t yet know are concerned. that is so incredibly nice.

i feel somewhat better today. i will see what happens. and i may take my wheel to work. that always makes the day go better. you know. and i owe some of my sweeties out in the blogosphere some yarn!! i just need to make things and i will feel like myself. my normal crazy self.

oh, i forgot to say, i got a dressmaker’s form, complete with the original shipping box from monkey wards from 1950, in really great shape. i am going to build something around it, if i can figure out how to do it, to display knits on…i would love to find a kid’s one…maybe a doll?…but i am thinking that i will try to make a woman’s blody with branch like arms to hand the knits on…can i build it? dunno. i will try though. it was 35 bucks and i talked them down to 25. a steal .there was also a huge star shaped victorian wall hung coat rack that was not that expensive, but i have made next to nothing this week, so i held back. i forgot to take photos of the farmer’s market again. drat!!

the sheepy in the above photo is from my secret pally, and that is pavel’s favorite sleepy place, since he was little, as you can tell, since he doesn’t fit there anymore. that is my drop spindle spun yarn.

tidal wave
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

there is a cloud that intermittently rains following me around. it even has made the cats stay away, as they hate getting wet. anyway, i have been really dragging lately, and trying to be positive. i never feel well, and have not been doing all that i feel like i should be doing, the constant problems of anyone who is sick a lot. the story of my life. anyway, i have so many guilt issues over this, i feel like a loser, lazy, a mooch, lame-o. my feet feel so cold that it feels like i have frostbite. blah blah blah. oh, and because that stupid baby sweater with the neck buttons didn’t have a schematic, i screwed up the back and had to redo it. i thought i was almost done. why can’t all patterns have schematics? it would take like a minute to add one, so now, i draw my own, before knitting anything. i will shut myself up about this, or may go on forever and piss everyone off.

anyway, i dragged my sorry ass out of bed, feeling tired and crappy and get to work, only to find these two creepy electrician dudes waiting for me that have to put in the new fire alarm, unbeknownst to me. i have to cancel my meager appts and then i go around the corner to the coffee shop to wait and i get calls who i can’t make appts for because they want to get in today, and i don’t know when the numbskulls will be done. they cracked my floor tile, stunk the place up with their bo, and SMOKED in my shop!! and looked at my in a pervy way. and ask anyone, i never thing that. creepy people always think i am hot. pretty much only creepy people and hopefully my hot hubby…anyway, i got pissed off and tired of waiting and went home.
i started thinking about work, and it being slow, and all these crappy stores popping up, and people wanting their 9 year olds pierced and tattooed and getting shitty with me, and how after more than 10 years i am so sick of it. i don’t want to do it anymore. i say it every so often, maybe i have pms, but i haven’t been helping with the bills, not even breaking even lately. what is the point of that? then i think…what would i do? my health is so unpredictable, i could never work a regular job. and then the guilt…i should be able to push harder, maybe i am just lazy, and that is all…i know i am not. aaaaaaack. i didn’t talk to anyone today, except gabe and terrie from the coffee shop, both of whom bummed me out more. jake told me that all that mattered was us, and even if we had to sell everything it wouldn’t matter. sweet sentiment? it was supposed to be. it made me feel like crying, we went from not rich to homeless. that doesn’t help at all. now i imagine him selling his beloved motorcycle, one of the only things that makes him happy, and me selling prescription drugs and walking around town in a housecoat and slippers. no. anyway, i have a good ad in the local sunday paper this week and the following sunday for the permanent cosmetics, so hopefully that will generate some buzz. also, i need to talk to some local spas, get my guts up. furthermore, i need to talk to the people that want to buy knitting and see how much they want, if it would be more profitable than the ton of money i need to make just to pay the stupid overhead on the shop. it is like a ton of bricks. maybe i will change my mind tomorrow. maybe not. i hate being so miserable and pissy. maybe i have pms. i never know. hmmf.
my last question, to those who knit for profit and design things, if it is a very simple pattern, almost identical to many many other patterns, especially with baby things, if you know what i mean, what constitutes plagerism, what is just shitty to do, i mean i can certainly write my own patterns…if i use someone else’s pattern and change the stitch or add a hood or collar or zip or change where the buttons are, is that still being a bastard, or no biggie. i am talking widespread patterns, not from a boozehags site or anything. any opinions? i don’t want to be a skeez.

smoochies.