luxe

yesterday we hung out with jake’s best friend from high school that was in town and nichole came out, too. we went to eat’n park for dinner, where i couldn’t stop thinking about all the people coughing on me. it is getting worse and worse, to the point that i have hard time eating or enjoying myself. it feels bad to admit it.

i was feeling icky so i went home and everyone went to the bookstore for a little while. when they got back, nichole and i just did crafty stuff, i worked on some poppy scarves and chatted. when we hang out, there are no lulls, no awkward silences. we get along really well, i have a really nice time with her, and that is a rare thing for me.

today, i got up and showered and was absolutely exhausted. i slept all day. not just snoozing, SLEEPING. i hate it. jake got groceries, did laundry, etc, etc, etc, and then brought in my xmas pressies. the cats got me a really nice leatherman tool, which i have been wanting for ages, i managed to cut myself on the saw blade right away and….a DIANA FAYT vase! i totally was shocked! i loooooove it! it is funny because i read her blog and saw that she had a bunch of mishaps with glazes, loads of pieces and things collapsing, and apparently, one of those mishaps involved the vase originally intended for me! i love it! loooove it! i want to put a shelf up meant just for that. i have all kinds of artwork that needs to be framed and/or hung. badly. thanks jake! it is the coolest gift ever!

barbe sent me a box full of awesome stuff, i will take photos and post the, and my new vase, too. and she sent chocolate for jake, which was so sweet!

also, one of my clients sent me a christmas gift which was really sweet. some funny kitty ornaments and a handturned giant crochet hook, which i used already and rocks! and a purse that she made herself! gorgeous!

we leave on tuesday for iowa to visit my parents and brother and nieces and nephews, which should be fun. hopefully our travel is not a nightmare. fingers crossed!

i am mad at myself that i was sleeping all day. totally zonked out. i guess i overdid it a bit this week and i always pay for it sometimes. now or later. not my choice.

i am actually getting sleepy again. i think i will send this post, read a bit and go back to sleep.

have a super holiday everyone…and make sure to let everyone that you love and respect know how you feel about them. that said, you guys mean the world to me! your support and interest in my and my work has propelled me farther than you can imagine.

xoxoxoxoxo
n.

i was just reading this fantastic post by erica, one of my favorite reads. what a wonderful post. i left her a comment about people thinking that only sick people are gonna bite it soon. you know what? we don’t have that long. there might not be a to-morrow. or someone you love might not be around to-morrow. so don’t spend your time being a self-consumed, phony dork. be proud of who you are and what you love and what you do, no matter what it is. in the long run, it doesn’t matter what other people think of you. no one is on their deathbed wishing they had more money, or were cooler, or thinner…i hope not anyway. it would really stink to finally “get it” when you were about to croak.

on that happy note, i am going to try to read a bit and unwind. i am either sleeping or feeling gross. i think i am having mediation issues again. aaargh. i will not let that stop me from making a ridiculous amount of stuff, though. nope.

xo
n.

i think i overdid it a bit yesterday. today i had planned to work on paintings but i was so exhausted that i got some yarns skeined and steamed and took photos and that was it. hmf! wanna see? okay: pindrafted silver corriedale with peacock fronds carded in, tons of sparkley poofs.

this one is lavendar top with different kinds of locks spun in. took forever. i am planning to do some locks that are plied in to make a flower effect. we will see. it was a customer suggestion.

and then one of my crazy batts spun up with a bit of top to stretch it out more:

there is more stuff on my flickr if you want to check em out. what else? how about some cute links?
christmas tubes in the mail? how cool is that? wilbur has a mostly drawing blog called ghost school that i looooove. some pig!
who else but regina can come up with such an awesome hat? who? tell me!

not much else, just really really exhausted. i hate it when i get like this, but what can ya do? nothing.i fell asleep around 5ish, i think and just woke up about an hour ago, around 10ish. sheesh! i am so out of it.

i am planning an update for the day after xmas, so get your xmas money ready! there will be some super good stuff!

xoxoxoxo
n.

let me just say i have been spinning. a lot. and it is fun! did you know spinning is fun? as of late, i have been spinning exclusively to fill orders and get stuff on the site, as opposed to being inspired and spinning. so, i decided i would make some no-plied yarns with nice big sparkly fluffy poofies all over the place, and have done so. 6-100 yarders in the past 2 days, which for these kinds of yarns is pretty good (right, spinny peeps?) i can do more when it is a plain single and then i ply in the stuff, the prep time for the stuff to be plied is more, but it isn’t too bad. anyway! i did that one late last night, i did a few more today and it was too dark to take photos.

over the weekend, i spun up a purdy batt that i (tried to buy) got from my pally barbe and of course added even more sparkle than it already had cause i have a problem with the needle for sparkle. never too much. you know? never enough til your heart stops beating. (if you knew where that was from, i know you are 35 or older) anyone?

i am generally too lazy to spin from batts, so it is so different from my usual when i do. fun, though. go! buy! i mean buy my stuff, too.

one of the packages i sent ages ago to philly (sorry amanda!) never got there yet, when i tracked it, it said that they had left a notice (why?) and then it had been forwarded twice after that. i have no idea what that means and when i try to call the post office, i am unable to speak to a person. so. irritating. i live about 4 hours from her and it has taken 10 days or something. aaaargh. i will try to figure out what the deal is to-morrow. i started printing out my postage and labels via paypal, so i know that i didn’t write anything down wrong, thankfully! but it still drives me nuts. i cannot handle stuff getting lost. i imagine where it is, in whose evil hands and i can’t stop thinking about it. i had a package i addressed a while ago that came back to me after a month because i addressed it with the wrong zip. i will probably send her a new batch if it doesn’t get there to-morrow. so not cool.

i am going to read a bit of my blog backup and then go spin some more.

xoxoxoxo
n.

goodness. i feel like an awful blogger. i have been on another planet for a while, it feels like.

yesterday i got a box full of angelina…several POUNDS worth! i am going to be putting batts together with angelina on the side for you to add in yourselves. personally, i don’t like the sparkle to be subtle. i am not much for subtlety and i want SPARKLE if you know what i mean, so i like to spin it on top rather than carded it. i got some gorgeous new colors, and also some thicker angelina, although it is rougher, i am not sure what i think about it, but i spun other fiber with it to soften the edges. i have a yarn to show you, but i accidentally fell asleep this afternoon and didn’t get a chance to do it. sorry. aaargh.

i am having medication issues (i think that is what the problem is, anyway) and have been sleeeepy and nauseous all day. le sigh.

everyone’s package is sent so hopefully you will get it fast! thanks for the orders girls (and guy!).

sorry to be a poopy blogger, i am a bit out of it.
xo
n.

so, go over and check it out, okay? i have some really purdy yarns, like thissy one here…

in the iris colorway, i have some of the top that i spun it from left, too, that is listed. what else?
pretty pony lite spinning top (see i listen to ya adrian! i didn’t call it roving, which is incorrect terminology.

my pretty pony top:

and amanda, i have some warmer tons of top like you luv!

what else? well, i made my boy butter 2 neckywarmers for his birfday, his is the orange one, the one on the left, i added cute buttons to, no worries:

also, i have worked up some poppies for scarves and some poppy yarn! i had been kicking it around for a while, the poppies will be separate, like the yarnwench does with bigger things, which i think is really smart and works better for working yarns up into something and adding things where you want to. i have been wiring the buttons on with thin coated jewelry wire and a sewing needle and then i make sure no wires come out the back, and that button is not coming off. no way no how.

otherwise, my new friend nichole came over and hung out with me whilst i did some workywork and we just chatted. it was really fun. my friend josh (her man) came over for a bit before work and then we just hung out alone. and mud wrestled. nah. not around my fiber! never!

i also got to chitchat with one of my most favorite people in the universe, gabe, today, and am hoping to pop in and see him at some point this week whilst i do errands. so.

we popped into joann’s to get yarn for jake’s hairdresser’s xmas present, i didn’t have anything in plum, somehow, and the didn’t either. i got a bunch of flowers to spin into yarn that i thought were on sale, but actually weren’t and was a bit peeved when i realized it, because some of them were kind of a rip-off. grrrr. i got a super cute outfit for my little niece with a black velvet military style jacket with big brass buttons and a red plaid skirt with kickpleats! so cute! the skirt is this odd swishy fabric, but it is just soo soo cute. peeps wanted to wear it, but you know how cats are, they want it until they get it and then it just sits in the closet!

we got groceries and headed home, i did my update (and while it was a million things or anything) i actually got it done by the time i said it would be done by! what?

i feel like i haven’t done a personal blog in ages, but i am feeling a bit emotionally and physically tired lately. i will come out of it, i swear.

oh, i almost forgot! i got the new knitscene that one of my favorite artists/people/craft mavens, regina did some adorable hats in…there is one online, it is number 15 on the link up there. if she was able to ditch her fancy job, i think she would be the bizarro martha stewart of the crafty world. and her daughter clearly has the artist gene. big time. they may take over the crafty world. look out! except, unlike martha, she is notoriously nice. so. woot woot!

also, let me say again that spin to knit is a super duper nice basic book for people learning to spin, or that think they might want to. it has all of the basics about cleaning fiber, technical terms, how to spin, all sorts of things, and some simple patterns that would work well with handspun yarns. and then most of the spinny greats are in there. but not me? what? nooooooo! shannon? noooooo. sob! sob! sob!

i got really good 70% cocoa dark chocolate squares for my customers’ packages! woooo hooo! that is a reason to order, if nothing else! also, i have new postcards with a pretty yarn photo on it, and you will get one! what about that? pretty cool, eh? huh? what say you?

ok. i am sleepy at 6:43p. i am using a different brand of pain patches (totally by accident) and clearly, the are more potent, so i am feeling a bit…well…high and dry. i mean tired. so. i may just knit a bit and try to wake up. shhhhhhnooooooooore!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
n.

last night i broke my tooth or filling or something. not sure what. but just heed the warning, okay?

so, after taking countless poopy handpainted top photos, i realized that the braid is a much much better idea, and looks nice. so i wanted to figure out how to do it. after asking the yarnwench herself, and not waiting for a response, i googled it…and found it. easy peasy! i will take new photos to-morrow. k?

so here is some of the sock yarn that i wound up to send out…

so purdy!

and another custom yarn that was really fun to spin!

poor jake has been really tired over the last few days and today he came home feeling really crappy.

i got my order (that i wasn’t allowed to pay for and had a christmas card in it!) from barbe today, containing two nice fatty batts, some magazines for jake (he was so excited to get something, too, if anyone ever sends me a package, send jake some candy, he loves it!) an AWESOME tissue holder…she has an etsy shop as well, that i got the tissue holder from and i must say, unlike the one i have been using, it does not cause my tissue pack to fall out. barbe was right. no button needed. and it is lined with a contrasting fabric, too! woah!

it is not even 10p, an i am pooped. i didn’t poop. i am pooped. not that you would know if i was lying…maybe i did poop? who knows?

xo
n.

well, for some reason there are a bunch of emergency vehicles a few houses down. the thing is that the emergency people are well…a bit bored, so it can be hard to tell if there is an actual emergency or if an old lady needs a jar opened. i hope it is the latter. i will keep you posted!

i used paypal to do my shipping today, and it sped things up soooo much! i packed and labeled 10 packages in a mere…6 hours. granted, i spent more than an hour trying to get the computer to register the printer i wanted to use, but it didn’t want to, although i was able to get the other one to work, so that was a nice surprise! hopefully in the future i will be a bit quicker. the orders that sent checks i attempted to try to print out the shipping from usps.com and it was an enormous pain in the ass and wouldn’t print out the shipping, which was an hour or so wasted. so. no spinning today. none. aaargh! i returned emails, wound yarn for orders, weighed orders, packed em and that was it. it was too late to even mail them by the time i was done. our mailman was doing deliveries, though, and i was able to give him my packages! so anyone that ordered anything, it went out today.

everyone that ordered yesterday and today from the update, thanks! i did more than 30 skeins of sock yarn, so there are still some left, and some spinning fiber left, although a good bit of it sold. blush. fanx! so don’t wait! go! now! are you still here? well, in that case, look at these…

i had a dream last night that i was in a car accident and when the car hit me, i jolted awake in bed, with that horrible feeling you get when you almost get hit in real life. suck. suck. suck. not a nice way to wake up.

i am inexplicably sleepy, so i am going to just work on some stuff and relax.
xo
n.

i found this site, elfyourself.com, in which you put your face in and make an elfin version of yourself dance. it is the funniest thing ever. wanna see me dance?clicky here! i didn’t think it would be so funny, but it is. put your own face in there. in fact…peeps! hours of fun for you and yours. hours, i tell you. i used to have striped tights like that in high school and college that wore constantly. how about you barbe?.

okay, that was the only reason i was posting. and thanks to those of you who ordered stuff! there is still fiber left, so get it before i spin it myself. that is a real threat, fyi.

xo
n.

i loaded 30 skeins of new sock yarns to luxefibre.com wanna see? wanna see?


and! it is $18.50 per 4 oz skein until christmas! sweet deal, eh?

and, i loaded tons of superwash merino top for the spinners out there! and i may be tempted to spin it myself, so don’t test me!

and more more more. and, i plan to add some spinning batts in the next couple of days. and! i have my custom orders done so i will be adding homespun yarn. i want to show you another snowbride, one with pink for leslie…a sneak peek!

xo,
n.