luxe

well…i made some great contacts at handmade arcade and met loads of nice people…i sold an ok amount of stuff, i got really great comments and made a scarf on the spot for someone, as well as getting a commission…so that was cool, and i was given some names of shops that i need to talk to about selling my things…so that was worth it in and of itself.

the setup was different than last year and was not the best, but what can you do? nothing. so all of the vendors upstairs, which was supposed to be the better place to be, didn’t do nearly as well as the people downstairs. ah well. i did get to chithchat with heidi, not as much as i would have liked. i got some adorable stuff, not a lot, which i will take photos of to-morrow.

i had to clean house today, because our cleaning person couldn’t come saturday, because pavel was in less than stellar shape after his…um…alteration. he is feeling better now. still a bit quiet, but seems much better. the vets office told us that he had freaked out and tried to kill em all. he lost the fight, but he went down fighting. he managed to break his back claws in the process, which gave me the idea that someone got hurt. i feel bad for his poor shaved little sack. i thought of getting some prosthetic nuts for him, but my vet is rather low tech. i dunno that in poland they have many fake nuts. you know?

in other news, i got the plying threads i had ordered, as well as some multicolored law llama fleece, which i am soaking in the washing machine as we speak. i am hoping it comes out ok. it felt really soft and was pretty clean, especially compared to the nasty sheep fleeces. mainly dust and hay. but it is so much cheaper than prepped fiber. and money is a factor at the mo. the plying threads, gorgeous as they are, are in skeins, even though they are threads, sigh. and i have no skein winder or swift, so if anyone has any ideas on a good way to wind them, let me know. when i have attempted to use a chair back or husband, it always goes awry. and that is yarn not thread. you know? sheesh. i sold some stuff on etsy, so i think i may just go order the papa bear, cause i need it. i am sold clean out of yarn on etsy, so i need to list stuff, to-morrow…

ok, i need to go check on my fiber. i will post photos and talk more in depth. i have a bit of a headache, i overdid a bit today, and yesterday, knitting a crazy necky thing of my own design, and then another, out of handspun and the nice rowan big wool that boo sent me, and it is cool. methinks people will want to buy them. and it is a great use for the handspun. it is a bit like the necky thing in loop-d-loop, and i imagine it will be super warm. i want to figure out a shrug pattern that i like, i think i will just find a sweater with a nice neckline and sleeves and knit from the top down and bind off. let me know if anyone has any ideas.

lastly, i lost my secret pal’s address, somehow and have a big sack of stuff for her. i also accidentally signed my name to the email out of jake’s account to her, sigh. so now, both secret pals know who i am, my sp pgh, i but my name on the package. duh. duh. doy! remember doy? no doy? anyway, my secret pal pgh…you reading this? has some stuff coming her way in a couple of days also. i have been a crap secret pal, but i think the packages i am sending should make up for it. i hope so anyway. i have some soy silk handspun and some really pretty soy silk for my sp, who is allergic to wool, and they feel really nice and soft. and then i have some handspun for my pgh secret pal, and some cute little stuff for both of them…

so to-morrow, a bunch o-phone calls, getting packages ready for stuff i have sold and my sp’s and some dyeing and spinning…i am so excited to dye and spin this llama, some of it is different shades of brown, which i will leave as is, it is gorgeous and the rest is creamy, which i will leave some and dye some. it will be nice. i was told it was longer than it is, but it should be ok. it feels so different than wool, but the texture will be nice.

oh, also, i sent off a batt to the winner of one of my contests to australia and puppy momma has some handspun yarns that she won coming her way, at long last. i think she will be excited to get it. finally. she has been really patient. ok, gotta rinse the fiber. so more to-morrow.

thanks for all the sweet, kind comments. i missed you guys so much without my computer. i am amazed at how much inspiration i get from all of you. really. it means a lot. i feel very connected.

xo,
n.

yarns 11.06
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

just a quickie…our computer is getting a tune-up over the weekend, so i will not be back until monday night. and i will miss you.

a quick rant. on my material whirled spinning list, some people were really frustrated with their spinning and felt lame that they weren’t selling their yarns all over the world. i have felt like this. i feel like a lot of blogs paint their lives as perfect, and it gives people this skewed view of it and makes them think that they don’t do enough, or can’t do enough. it seems like some people feel the need to tell everyone about the great things that happen, but leave out the disappointments, their fears, low self esteem. don’t get me wrong, no one wants to read the most depressing blog in the world, but it must be a great burden to carry the secret around that you pretend to be much more perfect than you probably are. i have never been someone that compares myself to others. i am hard enough on myself with no help at all. but i found recently that i was really getting down on myself and thinking that other people did better than me, more than me, faster than me, whatever and when i really thought about it, that was the end result. some people just don’t seem emotionally honest. from cranking out all this yarn, i realized…or re-realized that when you work consistently on things, they get better, you get faster, it becomes easier. i have started to get an idea of the best way to do things that can get the most done and it is working well. but still, i have ups and downs and worry about things, and think i didn’t make enough or people won’t like it. all i can do is try to be positive and not beat myself up, because i am doing the best i can. and that is all any of us can do. got it? good.

so, this is probably it until monday.
xo,
n.

11.06
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

so firstly, my honey is 30 big ones today! woah! and i was forboten to get him anything, so i will give him some handspun yarn. nah. i plan to get him something at handmade arcade on saturday. maybe a tampon doll? there are tons of cool vendors coming, i am really excited about it. yay! i actually just got myself motivated to go spin some more in a mo…anyway, if you are local, GO! and if you go…STOP BY and say HELLOOOOO! it is a super long day-10-8ish, unless i sell out, i guess. and anyone who knows me know that i need a rest after about 4 hours, tops. so maybe i can use little tara, my booth mate as a pillow. all of you from camp know i am a leaner.

last night i knitted up samples for my kits, and they look really pretty. the yarn knits up so nicely. i am really happy with it. i dyed some rovings yesterday and need to dye the prespun yarns either to-nite or to-morrow. i have yet to spin the new stuff. i may take some batts to sell also, lest there be some spinners there. who knows. there might be. there might! i managed to get some bigger skeins, so that will be good for hats. and they are all soft, so that is a nice thing also.

oh, also my biz cards came, so that is a really good thing, i was really sweating it, although they were supposed to be pink with brown print and they have black print. ah well. they look good otherwise.

so i need to get the labels made, which i may enlist amy or heather to do, and i have not been measuring the skeins for yardage, etc, so that needs to be done also. i had planned to make a little sign to pin on the booth and i have yet to do that.

lastly, if you recall, our youngest kitty, pavel choppers jojo clark herring is getting fixed (i say fixed because neutered and castrated and harsh ugly words, fixed makes it sound like he is broken and will come back even better) to-morrow. i am really stressed about it. my feline soulmate, egon, went in for a tooth cleaning, and died like a week later, so i am a bit anxious about my animules and anaesthesia. i am freaked out. and i can’t feed any of the cats after 6, and i hate that, too. i am no good at this stuff.

i guess that about sums it up…feel free to leave birthday wishes for my sweetie, his mum left him a happy birthday message on his phone that ended in…”sorry you have to work on your birthday, but that is how it is when you grow up..” i don’t think she realized it was so depressing. she is a sweet woman, but you know….

my parents will be in town for a day or two, unfortunately, they want to get dinner to-morrow…and as you all know, i do nothing but work on this stuff, and i know i can’t take a few hours off to go to dinner when i am finishing everything up, so i am not sure that i will see them. gotta make the donuts. you know?

ok, back to the fiber. it calls out my name.
mwah!
n.

11.06
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

my husband played a funny joke on me and told me that today was his birthday and i had missed it. i thought it was to-morrow. it is. but i am unsure what day it is, so i was doubtful.

anyway, i spun all day, as usual. i have gotten a method down now, that i am able to get more done in a sitting. a do most of my carding in one sitting and most of my spinning in another. if i could do all the setting the twist action at one time, which i really can’t unless i get another niddy noddy or two, which is probably a good idea, i could really be a machine. even at this rate, spinning for about 6 hours a day, i get maybe 5 or 6 70-90 yard skeins done a day. i dunno if that is slow or not. maybe it is. and those or plyed , wound, skeined and set and ready to dry.

i am almost out of fiber, all but merino and some silk, so i dyed a few pound of fiber today, two batches with food coloring, which was fun and easy and came out really pretty. well, one of them did. my first small test batch looks a bit crazy, but it may spin up nicely. as lexi from pluckyfluff says…there is no fiber you can’t card into something. how true. i will post photos to-morrow. i will try to spin tonite and card tonite, but i have a bad headache. so i will see.

my secret pal sent me a package, two rebecca mags, she was worried that my pgh secret pal had sent me one, but it was the summer one, so it worked out well. the one is in german, but has the english insert, but i was excited that i could read it in german still, although the knitting terms confused me because they use different words than we do, like in england they say “make up” for the seaming and finishing of knits. but still. now i need to get a french one and see what i can read. nothing? not much. spanish? hmmmm…there are a few patterns that i really liked in them a few sweaters and a few hats that are really cute and not super hard, so i hope to do some of that stuff….she also sent me this funny fat black cat thing that poops jelly beans. i wish my cats pooped jelly beans. the toy has the build of my zaftig cat, (do you know that zaftig is in spellcheck? crazy…who knew spellcheck was jewish?) so it is extra cute.

ok, jake needs the computer and i need a pain pill. or something.

smoooooooooo…..breath…..chies!
n.

soooo…i talked to my friend who is going through a separation at the mo, whilst spinning, what else? and was rather worked up, because although my relationship is not in any way like that, i empathize with her intensely. i feel like she is my sister, really, i do, and i cannot imagine how hard it would be. i love jake so much. he is my life. if he stopped loving me, or i thought so anyway, i would be beyond crushed. and then if i would need to sell the house and ….too much. she has had a really hard life, and all things considered, is an incredible survivor. like those people who gnaw off their own arm to free themselves from a crack or something and live to tell about it, that strong…and would show off their hook for an arm. like that! and it would seem sexy, too. she would have accessories for her hook arm. dress like a hot pirate chick.

punk rock princess

continuing on, i was unhappy with the amount of work i got done today, and thought my stuff looked really poopy and started to worry about my cards getting here on time, and you know…but, i found a way to knit the boas that the length is a bit better. but then i thought…why not just spin it as dense and thick as possible and let people wear it like that, or twist it together…and then, for a 5 or 6 foot boa in the shag, really gorgeous…what would you pay? i had thought around 60 or 70? they take quite a while to prep and make, and are unlike anything you find anywhere. jeannette, this is your forte…let me know…most of the plainer yarns will be 35 for the crazy carded ones, because even though the yardage isn’t super high, like 50 yards, they are one of a kind and really gorgeous. the yarns that are a bit more yardage 150-200 yards, are all hand dyed, etc as well, and i think i will charge 40 or a bit more for them, and they will come with a pattern for handwarmers and a simple hat, for people who are more advanced, they will at least have an idea for a project they could do, or soup up, and for the newbies they can make something that looks awesome even though it is simple, the yarn speaks for itself. these yarns are plied with really unusual thin threads, some of them are beehives or other neat things added in. and then, i hope to do a few crazy art yarns, i will bring my vintage aprons to sell, and some scarves, and i will have bookmarks i think and hopefully business cards. so please feel free to tell me if there is something i am missing. further, i will have my kitty hat pattern in with the patterns, a have a simple pattern i made up for the ears, and i think i may include the felt for the ear hearts. and maybe a few hats that i have made already with ears to sell.

a corespun crazy mohair. so nice!

so, i have given myself a migraine, and haven’t slept yet. i actually want to get up and spin some more, but when i get up i feel queasy and my vision is a bit funny, although i am typing in the dark and that is ok. i may take a shower to try to get sleepy and get up if that doesn’t work. tonite i spun and plied 5 skeins i think, maybe 4. no 5. anyway, they are drying and then i will take photos for you. i carded 3 crazy skeins that i will spin to-morrow. i think my main thing is that i need to make a weekly quota that is the minimum so i control myself and don’t freak. i haven’t listed anything on etsy for obvious reason, i need to have everything for the weekend, and i am stressing about that, as well. it will go up as soon as i get back. i notice that some people leave a lot of their sold stuff up even though they have loads of other stuff i think just to seem like they are selling out of everything super fast. i will have scheduled updates and then notify my list, but it is silly to try to fool people. it seems like some of these people fool themselves maybe as well. you know?

also, i found this adorable new crafty e-zine that came out on halloween that is all goth…too cute! i am trying to cook up a submission before someone else beats me to it! so…here it is, the anticraft. there is a knitted voodoo doll, a boyfriend sweater for if you want to get rid of the boyfriend, a wire heart shaped box…snort!…and and snowball’s chance in hell armwarmers, so adorablethe names are so so cute. although if i submit, i will need a witch name. wait, i already have one. and some might say, i already am one. is that a compliment? hard to say. but if it isn’t, better watch out.

ok…i am going to go spin, methinks. oh, and if anyone wants to do a fiber trade…i am looking for washed but uncarded fibers, they can be dyed, but don’t need to be, and it can even be a mishmash of stuff you aren’t into anymore…as long as it isn’t as stiff as a brillo pad. also, if anyone has a salad spinner that they don’t use and would like to trade for fiber or yarn, please email me. or i could knit you something if you don’t knit. or, if you were planning to get me a birthday present….salad spinner. or as i will call it, my answer to having to fling yarn in my back yard to get the water out. ok…spin! be free!

oh, and i almost forgot, pavel has been very bitey lately and mean to me and the other ladies in the house and we busted him spraying, we think, and jake said we have to get him fixed, we feel awfully guilty but we know it is the responsible thing to do…so when i make the appt and they are repeating the info back, they say, “that is for a CASTRATION on friday morning…blah, blah…”so harsh! i know it is sexual frustration, as socky cannot fulfill his needs, thank goodness, really, and it is not good for them, they don’t live as long, etc, but still. his poor cute fuzzy nuts. although my last boy cat didn’t seem to even notice they were gone when he had it done. jake’s mom suggested that maybe he is mean to women because he is gay. i thought that was funny. he is just a man’s mancat. ladies are for tearing up. we are his playthings, sadly. my feminist beliefs do not apply to him. he walks all over me. literally. and bites the hand that feeds him. literally. so, hopefully he will be a bit calmer and less evil. the girls get smacked and bitten all the time, also, so that should be better.

i am sorry that i rambled on and on and on….
no, i’m not. you know you love it. and that is why the codependency continues.
i do it because i love you. you make me do it.
n.

11.06
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

what did i do today? well, we got groceries and i spun half a bobbin of yarn. and then i got super tired. and i fell asleep. and tried to wake up, knitted and then fell asleep. again. sigh. so to-morrow, i must spin a lot. argh!

xo,
n.

7 great iPhotos
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

jake went with me to joann’s and bought me all the stuff i needed. cause he is the nicest husband in the world. he. totally. is. so i got yarns to do a brown and pink shag yarn/boa and then a brown and light tealy version, i made one of each and will probably make at least one more of each. super duper pretty. really pretty. hard to part with? um. i am fine. no problem. you can’t keep it all. i can’t? no. i can’t. i also got sequins to spin into yarn, hopefully to-morrow, and the fabric i needed to make my tags, etc. so yay! coming down to crunchtime. ay momma!

then, we went to barnes and noble and i got a million magazines. ok not a million. but like 6. interweave crochet, a brit knit mag, fiber arts(!!!!), vogue knitting, and spin off at jojo’s but now i think i may have it already. i am not sure. someone in australia who is owed some yarn may be getting it if i do….hmmmm? i made a crazy punky batt, well, i few of em, and i think that may be what she gets. punk rock princess.

ok, i slept not at all last night and am super pooped, so more to-morrow, plus the photos, so check back!

pray that i sleep. please.
xo,
n.


You are a Deconstructionist Weirdo. Although
ostensibly originating with Derrida, the
theories of your particular school have long
since passed beyond intellegibillity; half the
time you don’t even understand what you’re
saying anymore. That’s okay, though. You’re a
lot more fun to party with than a bunch of
stodgy new historicists.

What kind of postmodernist are you!?
brought to you by Quizilla

more yarn
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

i spun for about 6 1/2 hrs today. the only breaks i took involved peeing. and i am tired, but want to go do more.

i crocheted the shag yarn into a boa and it looks great and took no time at all, so i will definitely make more of them. they are just really cool. and you can use almost anything. and you guys know by now with my packrat ways, i really like that. really.

so i spun 7 skeins of yarn today, which is really good for me. i was up in the middle of the night putting the batts together so it would be ready to go, and that is probably what i will try to do in the future so i can just be ready to go. i need to go and get supplies and go to the crafty store to get stuff for the show, and otherwise, i may dye tomorrow, i am not totally sure. i spun some beehive yarn today that came out pretty, and i was really shocked at how my hands just knew what was going on. trust us, they told me, we know what we are doing. so i will post a bunch more photos to-morrow. i feel like i really learned more than i ever thought i could at the class. simple things that make a huge difference. the yarn pictured was a single i had spun a few weeks ago and today i plyed it with the copper thread and it looks so much more polished. i cannot believe the difference it makes. i am really eager to see what other people from class are making now…if you read this, please send me a link to your work! jeannette! all of you! i miss em!

so i am in that state where you are tired, really tired, but in a strange hyper state. crap. i want to sleep though. i want to.

wish me luck.
xo,
n.

more yarn
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.

ok. first things first. i have the handmade arcade next saturday. it is my first to-do with luxe…so i want to do as well as i can..for sure…so…i am not sure what to take with to sell…i will bring yarn and hopefully some hat kits, fingerless glove kits, scarf kits, i hope…and i have some really amazing shag yarns that can be single crocheted to be a boa, basically. here is my question….should i make them a boa ready to go, or just bring the yarn? it takes me a couple of hours, maybe more to make enough for just one…i am thinking they should be premade? next…how much of my homespun should i made into stuff, hats, scarves, etc? or should i just bring loads of yarn. i have not a clue…

anyway, i have my cards ordered and am working on my labels and some other cutie things, so i think everything will look pretty. i want to have something on the front of the table with luxe on it. it is a good thing it is a short word! ya know? so once i know, i can knit during the day and spin at night. but the stuff i have been making is head and shoulders a million times cooler than what i made before and a lot of that is owed to plying. how insane? insane!

so…amy came over for a bit today and hung out with me whilst i spun, and then we were hungry and broke so i made some beans and rice for us, which jake ate for supper, so that was ok. she showed me her first hat knitted in the round from a pattern that she changed and it came out amazing! she did a really pro job on it. kudos to amy! keep pushing that envelope!

so..you want to hear a ghost story? ok…yesterday i was watching tv whilst i was making the bed. there was a show on about the electric chair. all of a sudden the volume goes all the way up…i rush over to pick up the remote and i get the volume back down. i assumed that the sheets were squishing the buttons or something…well, 5 seconds later, and it is going back up, fast, the remote won’t work at all. i turn of the tv, confused and take the batteries out of the controller. i turn the tv back on, the volume goes back up again. at that point, i go to the tv and hold the volume button down because it keeps going back up. i am a bit freaked out. what the hell? why is this happening? is the tv broken. then, i realize that while i am near the tv is stays down and as soon as i turn away, it goes back up. well. you probably figured this out a while ago, but basically, there was another remote that we never use that was squished under the sheets with the volume button pushed down. how embarrassing? not the sharpest knife in the drawer. no offense to dull knives

so…i posted yarns if you wanted to click on the zeitgeist to the left of this page…i hope i can get the website up sooooon, but my friend doing the actual artwork is not around at the mo, so until she can get it to jason, we are kind of waiting, really. however, my friend that is doing it for me is a pro, and is selectively taking on website design work, so contact me if you need such a thing. he really knows what he is doing. with the internet. he does. he is a professor! very fancy. and i knitted him a hat that managed, despite being kept in a plastic bag whilst i knitted it, to get cat hair in it, which he is rather allergic to and got big hives on his poor noggin. it is impressive. torture. for those of you who knit, do you know if a simple gentle wash would get rid of the problem? it is baby alpaca.

also, if i haven’t said it already, for those of you locals, there is a stitch n bitch meeting to-morrow at dv8, contact me if you need info. i dunno if i will have time to go, if i do, i will have to pick their brains about what to take to the show…

to-morrow i am going to joann’s to get the fabric for my labels, among other things, like food coloring to dye fiber with, as jenny neutron star suggested. i need to find out if i need a mordant or not. dunno.

i am suddenly exhausted. i actually did a good bit of spinning today.

i talked to my mom tonite and she asked me all sorts of questions about what i was up to and said she had seen a book called stitch n bitch and wondered if that had anything to do with out group and said that she wore one of the scarves i had spun and knit for her and loads of people complemented her on it, so i appreciated her being interested in what i am doing. very sweet. my parents are getting a condo that is still being built so they are living in the marriot or something for a month and the cat is in there too. i think hotels are cool. other than the crap tv, as long as i had internet, i don’t know that i would mind room service and maid service. not so bad.

oh, the yarn, is the product of crazy carding, where you grab all sorts of stuff and run it through the carder and then spin it. done. and then i plyed it with thread. cause i am into that.

ok. sleepy.
smooches.
n.

yeah, i just deleted a big chunk right there. ah well. it is best unsaid maybe.

i spent the day spinning and feel like i got nothing done. sigh. what i did get done looks awesome. where are the photos i promised? well, i worked until it got dark at 3 pm, ok maybe not that early, but you know, and it was too dark to do anything. hopefully to-morrow. the crafty fair is soooo soon and i have nothing. ok, not nothing, but not a lot. i need to get cracking. amy offered to come over and help me do whatever to-morrow, so i best take that help.

i also fell asleep at 1p for about an hour. how embarrassing.

i had quite a few spinning epiphanies today, as well as yesterday and the things i thought i would learn at camp were not what i learned. i feel like the harder techniques were easier for me than simple techniques that i never was taught. my one spinning lesson was from someone who spins very different yarns from the ones that i spin, so you know…i am excited to go to the next spinning guild meeting…this time i will go when everyone else is there. that seems like the smart thing to do.

i feel like i should get up and call one of my awesome camp friends to see if they want to meet for breakfast. we could, it just would be a really long drive. it would be great to organize another get together. we all got along really well. we were each so different, but had something else to bring to the table. and if anyone was freaked out by my tattoos, they hid it really well. although, i did notice loads of little ones peaking out of sleeves. angela has a little yingyang behind her ear, that badass republican! and we still really like each other! who knew? really it is more remarkable that she likes me. that is an openminded gal. and she has a little boy that may have came from heaven. toooooooo cute! and i don’t normally think kids are so cute.

ok, things to do…gotta run!
smack! smooch! yawn.
n.