luxe

sugar!
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

what did i do today, you ask? well, after a good night of zero sleep, although i did wash a fleece, spin a bit of it, for shits and giggles, and clean up my studio to the point that you can walk through it…i woke up and made a couple of phone calls. the first was to a boutique that heidi had told me about. she told me that she wanted to make an order today and could i come out? um. i guess? i had all sorts of stuff to do and thought i should ask her if i could come out later in the week when i could go to the other yarn stores and jake told me to move my hot ass. not in those words. anyway, i called another shop, a yarn store in squirrel hill, who seemed really excited to see my stuff…so i got a shower and thankfully my stuff was still packed from saturday. i almost unpacked it last night. and off i went. the directions i had were wonky, so i ended up in cranberry, so in the end, i went about 40 miles off course. my sense of direction? well, those of you who were at camp with me know that it is not so good. anyway, i finally got to sugar, which is pictured here, and it is GORGEOUS! i cannot afford to shop there, but i wish i could. not only is the stuff beautiful, but the shop is so posh. the owner, jamie, was very excited and commission some stuff, all of it high end, super soft and unusual and luxe. she said such nice things and really liked the same stuff that i really like. she gave me free reign on what i make for her and that made me feel much more like an artist than the commissions i have had in the past. a few people came into the shop wanting to show her their stuff and she turned them away, so that made me feel good too. i could tell that she was a straightshooter, and wasn’t afraid to say no. she is my kind of badass! yeah!

next stop, pittsburgh bead and yarn, who took think 15 or 16 yarns. and said that she would set up my own section and would mention it in their ad in the city paper and told me to make whatever i wanted to bring in. and she said loads of nice things, also. there are a few other yarn stores i want to talk to that are on the other side of pittsburgh, far enough away that i don’t thing it would infringe on her business. i need to get my shop set up and some stuff on etsy and start on the order for sugar, she is having a trunk show in a couple of weeks with designers from all over the place coming, and wants the stuff for that show, so i want to get stuff dyed and ordered asap. i am too tired to be excited. i just feel a bit stressy. but i think it is the headache and the tiredness.

oh! also, the owner of the yarn store has a friend who has alpacas and doesn’t know what to do with the fiber, so i am hoping i can get a good deal. also, he has baby alpaca and first cut, etc, so i am excited that i may be able to get a good dealio. yeah! fiber. mmm. keeps me regular. as much as is possible.

i toddled up to a thai place up the street and amy took the bus from school and met me there and we drove together to her car, and then i drove home. i am sure she was ready to barf out the window at my excited blabber. but she faked it well, if she did. she also talked to me about something that had been bothering her that i had said and i was really impressed. she didn’t freak out, or get overly emotional, just let me know that it hurt her feelings, and i apologized. so yay amy.

i made her a birthday thing, which i will post once i have given it to her. i also made cat toys for each of the cats out of a recycled sweater, which the cats seem to really like. and they seem to play with their own toys, respectively, although pavel’s is MIA.

i think that is it for now. i will be doing dyeing to-morrow and i swear i will post yarns on etsy…i swear it. oh…does anyone know how i can put a button on my blog for my etsy site? also, i want a skein winder that is also swift, any advice from anyone? i have a ballwinder, but it is not much good without a swift. also, all the plying threads i won on ebay finally arrived, and came in skeins, rather than balls and they are…THREADS, so until i get my winder, they are not terribly useful. unless i want to wind 480 yards of thread by hand. and i don’t. ok, i want to catch up on blogs, but i am tired, i may try to knock myself out early.

i have a bunch of fairly soft brown, gray and cream llama washed…anyone interested in trading for other stuff? it is very easy to spin and would be great for beginners…email me if you are interested in a trade of some sort…it has a really nice texture…and i will be dyeing some soon, i think…

also, i have two big bags of stuff to send to my sp pgh and my sp, and i think they will be jazzed about it. i think i said that at 5 am. who knows. i better go read that post. i don’t even remember it.

thanks to all of you for your awesome comments and support. even my husband, who is a skeptic commented that he is amazed at how wonderful my blog and spinning friends are. and i agree. you are a real source of strength…i feel like a lot of the good things that have been happening to me are due to the good vibes that you all ooze…