luxe

bad hair day
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

so first…

otherwise, i am home, my friends and hubby went to a show. i am really pooped and i didn’t want to be a drag, so i will stay home and knit and maybe spin, too. ooh, i should dye some stuff. maybe. anyway, i am planning to start the geisha stuff…i got a great idea to put 3 or 4 markers on the circs to mark where each needle would be if i used dpns and just use the regular pattern….i hope it works. i am too dumb to make the pattern into a circ one. maybe in a while, i will. i want those damn socks. and they are anklets so it shouldn’t take long.

i best go eat.
xo, n.

baby pavel
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

here is another example of how adorable pavel is, even when he was only two weeks old…through some bad luck, his mum had been unable to take care of him, so i took him home, and we bottle fed him. we were told later that they were surprised he lived. boy, did he ever. he is big and bad…he is about 9 months old now, so he is pretty wild. he made a connection with jake, i think that he thinks of him as his mum…he sleeps with him and kisses him and bumps heads with him, and he bites me and scratches me. if you want to vote for him on the knitting fiend’s cute cat contest 2005…please go here…to check it out…he is cute in a really evil way! make it worth it for me. and also, check out lucia’s amazing blog, if you haven’t before…. please vote!!

woolsey
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

firstly, i appropriated this adorable photo from neauveau. if you haven’t ever checked it out, please do. she has really cool tutorials, including unraveling thrift store sweaters and also dyes and sells the recycled yarn, among other things….

anyway, last night i slept roughly 14 hours. i woke up really early for a little bit, but when i came home, early, i didn’t work, i went to kathy’s to get some yarn to dye, and sock needles. i actually only got what i needed. i was sweating and my stomach was churning, so i came home and crashed. i fell asleep for about an hour, i think, and then for another hour or two and then fell asleep early. i am having a hard time with being so exhausted all the time. my hands hurt so much last night that it was hard to knit. enough about that…

i started a sock on two circs, my #2′s are too big for me. i am a tight knitter. i also realized that the sale yarn i bought is acrylic. it is really pretty though. ah well. at least they can be washed. i think a toe up would make more sense, but i don’t know how to do a provisional cast on. i should take a sock class, but i have been so pooped that i dunno if i could handle it in the evening. snb is tonight, and i hope i feel ok to go. to-morrow night is a show that jake bought tickets for, amy, butter, jake and maybe gabe will be going, i worry that i won’t feel well enough to go, we will see. especially after snb tonite.

i got a somewhat large crockpot at the thrift store yesterday for dyeing in, i’ll see. and it came with a little shelf that may work well for steaming. although jaycey’s method of heating it in the stove and finishing it in the oven, seems pretty good. rachel puts it in the microwave, which seems good, but i don’t have an extra one, sooo….i just have to try it, you can only get so much info. i am not normally such a chicken. i just trashed all the fiber that i used the kool aid on.

so i will hit my local thrift store and see what they have for oven safe big pans….

have a good weekend all…

pinktreebox
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

so firstly, this box is going to be in the show that elisabeth of birdinthehand is having at schmancy toysi love all of her things, but this box…i want it so badly.

furthermore, i hope i didn’t return too many emails last night. i was feeling really out of it and shitty and sent amy and email that was complete gibberish, with a misspelled english word tossed in here and there. also, it didn’t end with a signature, just abrubtly ended. i know this because she emailed back and i saw the email. oooh. not good.

i got soo much great advice from all of these different fiber people, including jacey from insubordiknit, so i feel more confident. i need to hit my mom up again for her scale she used for dieting to weigh food and some glass bowls and pans, etc. i also plan to hit kathy’s kreations, about a half an hour away, sigh, to find some white wool sock yarn and the circ needles i need. i plan to send winnie some sock yarn, since she is a new sock knitter, that is dyed by me, in super pretty pinks and i dunno what else…it will be the perfect payback for the alpaca she gave me when i was a stranger. such a cool gal!!

i am about 20 rounds away from finishing tivoli…unless it needs to be a bit longer…so that should be done soon. and they are plain rounds, boring! if i get the needles today, i hope to start the geisha socks. i won’t get my hopes up too high, but kathy’s has lots of needles, it is a pretty big store. my next stop would be bonnie knits in monroeville. someone with a blog works there, i can’t remember which of the million bloglined blogs i have is she…hm…otherwise, i have several bootie mates to do, and i need to figure out some tags, a brand name and some packaging for the baby stuff. i also need to call the women who got the shoulderette’s to have them pickem up. i also need to go to jm boutique and pick up what they don’t want and get paid. i don’t wanna. so, if i do all that, i don’t have to feel guilty about skipping work? or may just skipping out early? yeah. early. gabe loves ligonier, so he should dig that.

i had a dream that my mom was reading my blog, which would never happen, and i panicked and tried to think of anything negative i said about them, or any white lies i told her…it was really odd. i have all sorts of crazy dreams every night, but i never remember exactly what was going on. does that dream mean that i am glad that they don’t participate in my life more? i find that i don’t want to talk to them. i have nothing to say. my life is boring to them. all they really want to know is if we are broke, and then pick on me about it. i don’t know if she realizes she does it, but she seems surpised when i make something she likes, and expects me to give it to her..i.e. she tries it on, so the silk and linen drop stitch wrap i made, i gave to her and i bet she will wear it once and put it with her million other articles of clothing. it isn’t like giving something to most other people who would actually wear it now and then, or even, OFTEN. hmmm. it is handmade for you after all. i need to make my mom in law something, but i dunno what. i waffle on it. and she will probably try to wear it, so i want to make sure she doesn’t feel obligated to wear something that she isn’t very fond of. she hates anything at all itchy, either, even if it is something i wouldn’t consider itchy, for example, she wears cotton most of the time. so even merino may seem itchy to her. i dunno if she would wear a wrap. a cardigan may be good, but it will take me forever. and i HATE knitting with cotton. you know? ok. i better get up now. i will photo all the aprons and stuff i got, i swear. check back later….have a good day my sweet, beautiful, smart, incredible bloggy friends! you make my day, most every day!
mwah! mwah! mwah!

wow. i had such a rough night last night. i was overwhelmed. i woke up really early and knitted a bit, got up, took a really long shower and went in to work. it was kind of busy, so the day went by fast, which is nice. the farmer’s market was today and i got some really good stuff, some yellow beans, baby zuchini, black raspberries, which gabe and i scarfed on the way back, blueberries, baked goods for jake. then i stopped at UFO like usual, and got this awesome rooster sugar dish and a ton of vintage linens and aprons. some of you can expect some in your packages. i have some good stuff piling up. also, i got a cross stitch picture that says “the kitchen is closed due to illness, i am sick of cooking”. i hung it up straight away. good stuff. i will post photos to-morrow.

at the end of the day, i left to go to knit wits to get some addi turbo circs for making socks. this is my third attempt in some months to knit socks. guess what? no dice. and no sock yarn that was so great. i did show pudge some of my baby booties and hats and she flipped. they are really cute. so i went to michael’s thinking, well, maybe they will have SOMETHING. nah. nope. i didn pick up some moda dea sock yarn that was on sale and a clover clicky row counter. i used a coupon for that. score. anyway, once i got home, i felt grumpy and tired. took a long shower, was too grumpy to talk to jake, fell asleep, at like 7, don’t remember falling asleep. woke up at 9 and jake was asleep already. i am so out of it. so i went online to knitpicks to get said needles and some undyed hanks fo yarn to dye for sock yarn, to experiment, firstly, it won’t take my registration, the screen keeps erasing my info, over and over and over. i go to look at the list of stuff i got, almost 100 bucks worth of stuff i do not have cash for, to just order it over the phone and the hanks of undyed yarn are out of stock!!! fuck it!! forget it. forget it! it is not meant to be. if it is, they will magically show up. i will probably hate knitting socks anyway. i will order it later.

on the upside, my fiber came!!!!! yay! it is washed and carded, but smells like a farm. and not in a good way. ewwwwww. i sprayed my all fabric freshener on it. i may just spin some of it. i may dye some to-morrow. i need to figure out why. oh, also, at ufo in the dollar section i found a candy thermometer, which i forgot to get this weekend for dyeing, so that was cool.

so, i may dye some roving to-morrow. that is exciting. a roving i will go, a roving i will go!! i will post a bunch of photos to-morrow. so check back.

oh, also, my secret pal had apparently been trying to email me (?) and i never got them? if that is indeed so, i feel like an ass, but i don’t think i have had problems like that before. i had them going to jake’s yahoo account. anyway, also, she moved like a month ago, and just now sent me the new address, so that isn’t good. i refused to send anything until i heard from her, but still…anyway, i am planning to send her some aprons, some bath stuff that is in a really cool japanese package and some other small stuff for the first package. my fantastic secret pal email to say that she is sending my something soon. i feel that we will be friends after this! yay secret pally o mine!!

baby stuff
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

i apologize for the entry yesterday. i felt really sick and really sorry for myself. i am better today. here is one of the booties, i have done 3 different ones for the baby boutique, as well as two different hats, besides the 3 styles i dropped off. i need a baby model. really.

my pal jacey from the awesome blog insubortiknit is interested in going to spinning camp…yay!!!! camp!!!

oh man oh man oh man. over halloween weekend, the gals from pluckyfluff are having a spinning camp…it is 200 bucks to go, and of course you need to know how to spin and bring your wheel…it is near harrisburg, pa, so not really close to me, but not more than 4 hours, i think? i think i may be going. i would like to, just have to see how money is…they said that they can’t dye stuff due to the place they are holding it, which is really disappointing, no? i would love to organize an event myself with dying included. oh yeah, here is the link to camp pluckyfluff.

bad hair day
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

i spent the first part of the day doing a quick sort through my out of control underwear drawer, i must have easily 100 pairs. i chucked a bunch that i never wear. i then sorted through the wardrobe of stuff that looks awful on me/i never wear. further sorting into stuff for heather/garbage/goodwill. i also did the last bit of emptying my suitcase from vaca and put my shoes away from vacation. and jake didn’t even notice. i asked him if he saw and he didn’t. and normally my mess bugs him.

i finished another baby hat, new pattern, that came out well. i learned a basic ann norling hat pattern, and now am proud to say that i have tweaked it several different ways and can do the decreases without directions. not that it is so hard to remember, but small victories. the hat looks really cute. i worked on tivoli, which is my guilty pleasure, i feel like i should work on things i will get paid for, although i want to get circs to make socks on. i really want those geisha socks even more after winnie knitted them. she is so slick, that chickie.

so i was watching hell’s kitchen and jake muted it right at the end to listen to something on the computer. when i questioned him about it, he said i knew what had happened. this is so unlike him, it is amazing. anyway, i think i overreacted, mainly because it surprised me and he told me that he doesn’t know how i watch reality tv at all, and then i cut on his boring motorcycle racing he watchings and told him that i will watch my shows downstairs. then, my hands, which had been hurting all day, started to really ache, all the way up my arms. i started to feel like a little kid, like i will start sobbing at any time. i took a shower, felt better, but now, i feel really poopy and my legs are starting to ache and my feet. just when i think lupus and all her minions are away, it all hits me. i start to feel panicky when everything starts to hurt, like when you are a little kid and get hurt at school, and you feel the sob overtaking you, but try to fight it so no one will see you lose it…and you feel your face twisting up, and you are cryyyyyyyyying….anyway, i am going to take some pain meds and get under control, or this could be a bad bad night.

i attempted to photo my gross finger wound, but it didn’t show up very well…

gorgeous arrangement from my gorgeous hubby
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

yesterday is a blur, although i did realize that my neighborhood art supply does have the jacquard dyes that i bought, so that is good. i was up and down all night, and at some point, ate a bag of popcorn.

i woke up and went to shower. peeps had a big knot, which i went to cut out. in the past, i had accidentally cut her skin, she is so fluffy it is hard to tell. so i did the hairdresser thing and cut it between my fingers. or did it? actually, i used big fabric scissors and cut a triangular flap of skin from the inner crease of my middle finger on my left hand. my hands have been the worse for wear lately. in a big way. i called jake, i knew that it was bad. i was sure that i had cut the tendon or something. i couldn’t look. i made gagging noises. it is gross. but i am ok. i am such a baby. but that is how much i love my kitty. i would rather maim my supermodel hands, than risk cutting her.

i went to ann taylor loft for the first time and was blown away!!! adorable clothes, really nice cuts, waistlines that are low-ish, but flattering for adults, lots of things that look vintage. really nice. and most of the store was on sale. i will be looking there in the future first. i want to look more put together. on top of feeling fat, my wardrobe is very unflattering. i feel so sloppy. it took me past 30 to want not to look like a slob.

we have an ant issue in the kitchen, the tiny ones, we had to get traps, and i got some garden pruners and went outside for a while in the extreme heat to cut stuff. in fairness, i did put together a flower arrangement and trim up the yard. with my luck, it is a wonder i am not missing any fingers. or parts of fingers. that i know of.

i picked up a few things for my secret pal. i don’t want to badmouth her in case she someday reads my blog, but she just started a blog, like a month ago, blogs maybe once a week, and i have sent her several emails and comments and she never replies. it really pisses me off. i am not the best secret pal, i am not that great at getting back to people, but that is just rude. i want to send her a pile of poo. i don’t even know what to say. rude as hell!! and i read her blog, on the rare occasion that she posts some boring thing, so she isn’t sick or something. i don’t understand.

oh, i have photos on my flickr of the booties, one of 3 different types, i have been working on, baby hat, only one of three, among other things, so click the zeitgeist to the lefty there….

smoochies y’all!!! mwah! mwah!

doggie coatrack
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

wonders never cease. the lady that called me about fixing her really really really bad permanent eyebrows who haggled with me, called back. she told me she was calling some other places who were cheaper, and after talking to me for 30 minutes, she realized that they didn’t know what they were doing. i am so proud of her. she asked if her sister could come with her to make sure everything looked ok, and seemed relieved when i said of course. that is really all, i was just really impressed and glad that i made a good impression on her even though i don’t look like a hairdresser or something.

also, heather gave me this really cute patchwork skirt and the things she gives me are always way too big, but it actually fits really nicely…and looks nice, as well. i will post a photo later.i got my hair done on wednesday and it is growing out finally, and i like it. i will like it better in a few months, but it isn’t too bad. and the color is pretty good.i want the blonde parts to be white. like santa claus.

we are going to the casbah for dinner tonight, the restaurant that we got engaged at, and i got a gift certificate for an art supply store like 2 years ago for christmas and i looked at their site online and they have jacquard fiber dyes, and they got really good reviews for dying roving. yay! i am going to order some merino roving at 6 bucks a pound and dye a rama!! yay!!