luxe

once i finally conked out, i was in and out of it and i got up and showered, but i got nothing done. i fell back asleep, and slept all day. i have been having bad leg cramps, too. i haven’t been eating well, and have been craving sweets…bad. i am normally not like that. still, i can’t wait until the summer fruits are ready to eat, although it is supposed to reach freezing tonight. crazy, eh? 80 degrees last week, 30 tonight. anyway, i had orders to pack,etc, including my entry to a softies show, so that has to happen to-morrow. has to.

at around 4ish a.m., i had all of these ideas running thru my head for stuff i need to get done, including a care package for lovely marian and her lovely support team. there is a video clip linked to her blog of marian and her mama on the news in philly, and she is so frickin cute. like a 25 year old in a little body. if you don’t know this little supa star’s story, she has some health problems and her amazing older sissy donated bone marrow so marian could get a transplant. they did that last week and marian is recovering in the hospital. her passion is art and crafts (her mom is an artist, too), so they have a shop on etsy with the crafts she makes and kits, and the money goes to other sick kids getting crafts to work on while they are in the hospital. marian inspires me to do as much as i can, whenever i feel good enough. being sick is what it is, it isn’t something i can change, and i need to follow her lead and just be as big as i can be. anyway, i knitted her a hat, i made her a pin that goes on it, and i have another hat with a poppy pin on it for her. i am going to send a kids crochet book and some crochet supplies, too. she doesn’t know how (YET!) and i don’t think mom does, either, but i must say, knitting and crochet have done so much for me when i am not feeling good enough to do anything else, or when i am nervous, or waiting or bored. it gives you something to show for a day spent in bed. plus, marian loves to make dolls and toys, so i have a feeling that she will loooooove making one long piece of yarn into an adorable doll. i don’t want to spill all the beans and what i am sending, just in case they read this, but i think it will be pretty good. i would like it, so that is good, right?

so, after showering in the wee hours, i was going to do some dyeing, mainly for making batts, i needed a few saturated colors, so i filled up the dyepots with fiber and managed to keep myself from actually doing the dyeing, since at that time of night, or morning, i tend to do strange stuff, like leave the hot water on full blast and don’t remember. i did manage to do a kamikaze dyeing session whilst waiting for our dinner to cook. 3 dyepots including my big vintage electric roaster, so a few pounds probably. i will post photos. hopefully, it will be warm enough to hang up the fiber to-morrow.

also, my buddy jenn is coming up on friday to measure the couch and chairs for slipcovers and to hang out and maybe do some fiber stuff. i told her that she will have to make herself a few batts on the new carder (or the louet, if she fancies) and i think she will have fun. i am so excited to do a fiber hang out! jake is probably going to be practicing with his “band” for a couple of shows they will be doing later on. one is public, i think, so i will keep you posted, for sure.

oh, and i just found the work of sandra sheehy. i wish i could find more stuff. with the blogworld and flickr, etc, i am always stunned when i google and artist and find next to nothing. i would love to see these things in person. i saw a passerby on a tv show with an amazing jacket on and immediately though, oooh i wish i could figure out how that is made, but only got a glance of it. it is such an odd thing that almost everything is accessible now. mindblowing.

anyway, legcramps, so i think i will take shower number 4 for the day. no, technically 5, because i took one in the wee hours.

xo
n.

well, as you may have guessed, i had another bad week, although i did get a couple of okay days to enjoy the weather. i had migraine after migraine and realized way too late that these delicious garlic pretzels had msg in them, which is a huge no-no for me. i am actually lucky that i wasn’t sicker than i was, although i have had non-stop headaches. i couldn’t stop eating them and then asked jake if he knew, he had put them in a zipper bag, so i couldn’t see the ingredients. we always look at everything because msg and blue cheez can put me in the ER, but you don’t think pretzels have it, ya know? anyway, i didn’t sleep last night and felt sick and actually was lying here feeling like crap and decided to do a quicky blog post. i have a bunch of batts to show you, in addition to the other ones that STILL aren’t listed. i just have barely been online because my vision is funny and i feel so nauseated and crummy. i am a bit addicted to the electric carder. i get so pooped out so easily, it is so fun to just feed in the fiber. it does get hung up pretty easily, so i do have to manually kickstart the drum, and my hands are wrecked. jake was impressed. they look manly. mini-manly. here are some of em. if anyone wants something, let me know, i am hoping to get them listed on wednesday, or maybe to-morrow if i get all of my invoicing done and packages packed.

i also have dyed top that isn’t even photographed, plus more dyeing i need to do with some solidish colors for batts. we all know that it kills me to pay for dyed top that isn’t super nice…which means i would have to pay a lot to get decent stuff, even though i haven’t really seen such a thing. i hate colonial top. i like the superwash from brown sheep, but that only comes in a few colors.

here are a couple of creatures still in the works. i need to futz around with some arms and legs,etc and see where they want to go. i generally see what the piece wants to do, kinda like yarns. i may have a basic idea, but that will fly out the window if the piece doesn’t seem to want to be that way. ya know?

maryland sheep and wool…i don’t think we are going. i am broke, mainly because i have been too out of it/lazy to get stuff listed, and i have so so much of it. mixed media pieces, paintings, softies, crocheted jewelry, knits, yarn, fiber, batts, vintage stuff, plus stuff that i need to send out to a couple of stores. i frustrate myself. anyway, between being poor and the weather being horrible, i think it might be better not to go. i had talked to a friend about working sheep and wool but kind of blew it off, and now when i see people i know working it, or at least working with a yarn shop that is working it, i get mad at myself. it wasn’t expensive to work, it would have just been the time and energy. in the end, i get so scared to commit to things in advance because of the stupid health issues i have, that i end up not doing things that i want to do. in fact, i convince myself that i don’t want to do it anyway. i have been asked to work with some awesome people in their booths at whatever craft show, and if it is in the summer and is outdoors, i know that i can’t be in the sun for any length of time, even under a tent, i will get overheated and then if it is a multiple day show, i know that i just can’t do it. and i don’t want to let someone down. so i don’t do it, and i get pissed off at myself. sniff.

my head is pounding, so i think i will go and take a shower.
xo
n.

despite a headache again today, i did some more dyeing. i did a more limited palette than i had planned, so i did some other colors today and i hope to do a bit more to-morrow and get some batts done.

i actually used up a huge (kitchen can sized bag) of uncarded coated merino, just gorgeous soft, heavenly stuff. wowza. i actually want to get some more i love it so well for both carding and spinning. i used up more than a pound of locks, a few different kinds, some loose mohair, some sparkly nylon and some superwash top. some for spinning as is, some for carding. i talked to my buddy katrina today about dyeing, whilst dyeing (one track mind, eh?) and was saying how amazing it is how different fibers in the same dye pot grab the color so differently. i will post more photos to-morrow.

sorry for the boring posts lately. boring is as boring does, i guess:)
xo
n.

so, i live in headache city. i felt crummy last night, but i got up this morning and before i even had coffee or breakfast, i took a quick shower, got ready and did some dyeing. a good bit of dyeing, actually. wanna see?

i have been hanging on to this gorgeous uncarded merino from frenecreek. i love that they are a rescue farm (sometimes she buys sheep right off of the meat truck!) and that those animals have a really nice life. well, other than being in wisconsin in the winter. that sucks even if you do have a huge thick coat. although they do have a shelter for em in the cold. anyway, they wore coats, so this fiber is perfectly white and clean, but still spongy and soft and gorgeous. i plan to dye some more to-morrow if i feel okay because i didn’t get the range of colors that i had hoped for. i need to make notes for myself so that i actually remember. i didn’t think i had dyed as much as i had, so i have a ton of yellow and green. i saw some gorgeous robin’s egg blue and yellow art, so that inspired me. i would love to attempt to get a buttery yellow, tho. i will see. i need to do some soft pinks and turqoise, etc. happy springy colors. yay! there are loads more photos on my flickr, so pop by if you fancy. i plan to use most of this fiber for batts, but i will probably make a few bits and pieces bags which sell out as soon as i list em. why don’t i do more of em? dunno. i will. plus i want to do some bags according to color. i would have killed to have that when i first started, before i started hoarding. i seriously and working through the loose fiber i have, so i feel good about that. i probably only have a few more pounds of loose fiber. i also overdyed some light brown and cream fiber that looks really pretty. that will get carded up, too.

i am very excited that my friend jenn is going to come up and see me and help me out with some slipcovers (yayayayayay!) finally! i have a feeling that if i can’t pay her, i will let her mess with some fiber and the carder, if she likes. i got it running pretty well. much faster than i thought initially. i want to get a brush attachment for it, i think that will really help bulk up the batts. i need to get a hold of the pat green peeps and see what is what. i need to remember to do that during business hours to-morrow rather than at midnight, like now. sigh. i hate that. also, i hear that they have had so many different models in the past that they have to kind of see what you have to tell you what part you need, or to give you instructions. there is no model number, no date, no nothing. it is fun to have your hands free to feed in the fiber, rather than just the one hand and also, when i do lots of batts on my louet, i wear myself out. i will definitely still use it, but i can chill out and do batts on the PG.

okay, off to chill out, although i really feel like doing some batts. if i do, i will get wound up and not sleep. i mean more than usual. i need to weigh and take photos of the batts so i can list em. i really hope to get that done to-morrow. but i wanna dye. and i won’t have the energy to do both, g-d knows.

xo
n.

yesterday i had high hopes of getting lots done. i had to run out and do some errands so i ended up going with jake when he got home. by that time, i had taken photos of the new batts i made and crocheted wire and beaded jewelry from a while ago that i still haven’t listed. by that time, i had a fairly bad migraine, too. when jake got back from doing his stuff, i was out of it, not feeling so good, had cramps plus the migraine. i don’t remember falling asleep, but i did and then woke up right before he went to sleep. i didn’t sleep very well and woke up early again, although i didn’t shower until about 10:30a and i made myself eat. i haven’t been so into eating lately.

today i had high hopes of getting lots done, but i feel like poo. jakie is practicing for a couple of shows he and a friend will be doing (i will keep those of you who are local posted on when they are) so i planned to tinker with the new carder and adjust it and maybe go to the nursery to get some plants and to the craft store, but i feel like poo. my head hurts, but more importantly, i feel really out of it and discombobulated, so i always worry about driving. it annoys me most once the weather is nice. it makes me feel like an 8 year old with a broken leg or chicken pox during summer vacation, you know? there are some things that you can’t push through. i decided to blog just to vent at least, even if it makes my head hurt. at least i will have done SOMETHING. although, i did actually put makeup on and do my hair. so i did do something.

here are some of the batts i made this week on the pat green carder. my louet makes a much thicker batt, and lumpy if i want, too, these are twice as wide and much finer. purdy.

xo
n.

first off, i know that loads and loads of regular peeps wake up early. i just don’t happen to be one of them. i have always been a poor sleeper, even as a kid. except in the car. then i sleep like a bomb. i couldn’t really sleep last night. i had a bad headache, was out of the good medicine, took the only one i had, a nasal spray, and as always, it bunged up my nose which already had a load of fiber in it from my new electric carder (!!!!!) so i just didn’t sleep at all. it is almost 7 a.m. now, the sun is amazing, the birdies are chirping, the cats are all snoozing, although soon izzy will be chatting with the birdies. she enjoys that.

yesterday, i woke up feeling okay. i felt so okay that i was a bit giddy and didn’t have my coffee or breakfast, took a shower and just got to work and worked all day. i sat outside with peeps in the back yard, she loves eating grass and rolling around, so i worried a bit that i would make my lupus react, but g-d do i love it. peeps does too. i made a bunch of batts, i plan to do some more and because the teeth on the carder are so shallow (although barbe suggested moving them apart more) the batts are twice as wide as my louet, but very very thin and fine, so i might do two batts that actually make up each batt, if that makes sense. the carder is not as powerful or noisy as i had planned, but i have never used any other electric carder so i have no clue. i also have no clue to adjust it, so i will have to attempt to find info on it. it is from the 70’s i think. the damn thing bit me several times, too. bugger! because of running my hand over the card to keep the fiber smooth among other things, my hands feel burned, they look baaad. i need to try to find a smoothing brush. even a stiff hand held broom might work. anyone with suggestions, drop it on me.

i got orders packed and i need to photograph the new batts, weigh them and the fiber i have so that i can list it, plus send off packages to a couple of people who have patiently been waiting forever. sorry guys.

i will leave you with this amazing video clip and hopefully show you the purdy new batts a bit later.

crazy on a theremin. insane. seriously insane.
xo
n.

we had an okay weekend. jake left work way early in order to change his brakes, which he had done before (well, the rear ones and these were the front, which proved to be a different animal) anyway, he expected to be back in a couple of hours. i was up early having not slept, and had been doing spinning all day, so the time kind of went by. anyway, it ended up that he got home at 9p and still didn’t get the breaks fixed. i felt bad. he was so tired and annoyed and felt guilty for not spending time with me. i miss him when he is gone, but i got a lot of work done, so it really was fine. on a day that i feel okay, i am happy to do work. no biggie. i feel like i am the shite partner in this relationship, not he. he just has a lot to do. i understand. what else can you do? act like a jerk? i am not that sort. i know couples where the other is not allowed to do anything or go anywhere, whether it be to have a hobby or friends (which always disappear when you blow them off for many years) or to work on the car, i know people who are not so nice to their significant other. i have never really understood that. if jake only had 1 day off and he wanted to go play some blues with his friends, as long as he would have fun, i would want him to go. and he, me. we end up together most of the time, but i would like him to feel free to do whatever he wants to do. especially things he enjoys. he works so hard. he deserves to have some fun sometimes. anyway, as you can tell, i have been really paranoid that i am a bad, lame, boring wife/partner and just don’t do enough for him. for us. to keep things spicy and fun. i feel lazy. and selfish. when i feel well, i work on art or yarn stuff.

my studio is an explosion of all things art and fiber and desperately needs to be organized, but i don’t want to spend that little bit of time i have on cleaning up. i know that when the studio is clean, i like being in there more, but still, i can’t just pick up a bit at a time, i am easily overwhelmed and i can’t break things down. i see every detail. so. i need to. i have a sort of organising method in mind, i think it would work well. i also need to get rid of old clothes and i have some sewing to do. i need summer clothes, have lots of fabric and big tshirts to make into other things. so.

also, if anyone knows a local hairdresser that rocks, that knows how to do everything, that takes new classes all the time, that suggests new things and has a good sense of what looks good on who, let me know.

so, on friday, i got a lot of stuff done. lots of yarn. on saturday, i skeined up some yarn, some custom, and then went out and took photos of it, check out the flickr if you like. i have a couple more to do and i have a ton of fiber and yarn to list, plus my big electric carder from angela of material whirled will be coming tomorrow i hope, so that will rock. i hope to put it on a rolling cart that i use on the back deck to avoid making the house even more fiber covered. i am excited.

i have to get orders packed and one resent, etc, etc, etc. and potentially a very exciting thing to announce soon. i will keep you posted. as far as good news, i got accepted into a softie show called crammed organisms, there are several other people that got in that are excellent. i didn’t get into another one that i applied for and it bummed me out a bit. i don’t apply for shows ever, really, and that is something that i need to turn around. i have to do it. especially for my fine art pieces. i have to make myself do it. i also got invited to do what sounds like an amazing show in ireland, which i will keep you posted on. i am really excited about it. i just need to be organised to maximize the amount i get done, regardless of my energy. so.

i will be listing the mixed media collage/gouache pieces in my etsy shop soon. there is one in there now. i also will be listing some of the circle pieces, although a couple of them i have grown a deep attachment to, and will likely keep.

i also have some fantastic fiber charities that i want to tell you about, but i am not feeling so hot at the moment, so i will do that on the next post.

i have been paying for all the work and running around i did this weekend, which is okay. as long as i have something to pay for, rather than the sick sick sick with not cause.

here is some work i have had for a while. the amigurumi tree is new. i am planning to hone it a bit more and write up the easy pattern.

and the new yarns, one is organic brown cotton, gorgeously soft, veggie and fair trade, too! and the white one, is dye your own, it is uncarded bamboo and organic green cotton. so lovely.

oh, lastly, dunno if i mentioned it, but i would love to have some slipcovers made for my couch and two chairs. i don’t know anyone to ask. i would totally be happy to swap fiber or yarn for the sewing, or pay munny. anyone local interested, or know someone they can recommend?

xo
n.

so, firstly, thanks for the kind emails and phone calls. i have been really out of it. yesterday, i did some dyeing and apparently overdid it, i get so excited when i feel good enough to actually do stuff that i overdo. i talked on the phone, sat outside in the sunshine, did the dyeing, hung it up, sat outside and talked, dyed some more, hung it up, made dinner (jake didn’t know what to do with himself) i even packed up the leftovers for 2 days lunches for him. last night, not so good. i had a fever, but my body was cold, i had a bad headache, i think i vomited a couple of times, and to make it even more special, my nose was so stuffed up that i couldn’t breathe. it was a miserable night. the night before, i hadn’t slept at all, literally, and then got up and did all the stuff, so i guess it was payback. i didn’t get out of bed today. i kept trying to get up, but i would fall back asleep. at 5 pm when jake called, i was still in bed. insane, eh?

so let me just send a little note to a long time “friend”…hey lupus…you suck my ass. big time. i always say that we coexist and i accept it and it is okay. it isn’t. you seriously, seriously suck. and to make it even better, i can’t even use you as an excuse for having to leave things early, not go out at all, etc, etc, because it makes me feel like i am making excuses. and your buddies chronic fatigue, epstein bahr, fibromyalgia, migraine, arthritis, and the awesome bouts of anxiety and depression that hang out with you, they all suck ass too. bunch of freeloading arseholes. if you wanna hang around with me, you need to start paying some sort of rent. bring a bag of chips, chip in for all the medications…something.

i had a custom order for chocolate brown yarn, and for any of you non-dyeing gals and gents out there, brown is a very tricky color. i initially dyed the fiber, and it came out so not right that i decided to spin the yarn, ply it and then dye the finished yarn. it took two shots at that, and it still has some light spots, but it looks okay. unlike oil paints, the fiber dyes just don’t follow color theory. they are made up of so many different things that even on their own they pull out odd colors depending on the fiber. i have also heard that different pans can make colors change as well. i got some really pretty fiber. here are a few photos. i will be listing that and the other ton of fiber that i still haven’t gotten around to listing. and i finally am getting my my electric carder from angela. yay!

i also took a photo of this “peaks” i have been crocheting. i have some really really big ones. this one was crocheted with noro yarn meant for machine knitting. it is almost as thin as thread. so i used a teeny hook and it took me forever to make. i don’t know what they mean, but i feel compelled to draw and paint and make them. here is one, not stuffed yet, finger included for size…and dye stained nail. ew.

xo
n.