luxe

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.

well! i have been feeling tired and out of sorts and have missed jake more than i could have imagined. we only spend a few hours together at night usually, but i guess even just having him sleeping next to me while i work on whatever project means more than i thought it did. he came home for the weekend and then left again super early this morning. poor pavel misses him so much. when he had his luggage downstairs ready to go, poor pavel went up and downstairs over and over and rubbed his face on everything and kept looking at me as if to ask if papa was REALLY leaving again. after he left, pavel walked around the house crying. poor boy. anyway, we miss our jakie. we really do.

i have had some bad medication days which is a killer. i end up sitting on the floor in the shower until the hot water runs out. it is the only thing that helps me deal with my skin crawling, hot/cold, etc, etc. it sucks. gah. it just really tires me out, i guess, so i have been doing NOTHING. i am sooooo behind on everything and it bums me out.

what have i made? well, here is a bit of stuff. i have done a bunch of neckies and poppy scarfalettas and some crocheted bracelets that i really like and are really comfy. i even made some non child-sized ones (you guys know about my freaky small wrists, right?) for the normal peeps out there. woot!

so i got a gorgeous package from ms chocolatte herself (who i STILL owe a nice package back to…i haven’t forgotten you, i am just the slowest in the world. on the upside, i keep adding stuff and adding stuff, so it is worth the wait. i think.) thanks thanks thanks! i wasn’t expecting anything and i was tickled! i need to take photos when it is light out.

i also got a package of superwash wool from the sheepshed and some lovely black mohair top. the fiber is softer than the stuff i have gotten in the past. it seems like some colors are softer than others, but once you wash the stuff out of it, it softens up, too. woot for dyed fiber!

i am leaving on thursday for my brother’s wedding in LA. i am excited to see everyone. there are peeps coming from all over (like australia!) pretty cool. it is at a hollywood mansion so i will have to take loads of photos and then tell everyone that i live there. good idea, no?

i got softies in the mail as one of my birfday purchases, which is just a gorgeous book. i am not a pattern follower, but i still feel compelled to buy the books. on one hand, i love to see how other people make things, and on the other, i am a book nut. in my family, we all are, i reckon. i feel compelled. anyone, it is really cute and has a lot of the great softie makers out there in the book. really good. two thumbs up. they also have paper patterns in the back. kewl?

i have finally learned that when i am awakened by a kitten bite on the mouth, it means “feed me. now.”. just so you know. she used to purr and then squeak at me. ah well. i guess i order at restaurants by biting the waitress on the mouth, too.

off to do my thang. whatever that is. mwah.
n.

here is one of the circle collages finished and shellacked. i will be listing it. they take me soooo long to make, so i am not sure how to price it. so.

i got some of the bigger peaks stuffed and sewn shut. they aren’t done yet, but i am still working on em. wanna see?

and then the striped child, which is about life-sized.

and to finish it off…

mwah.
n.

reginald is a rare breed of dwarf lion that tends to suffer from pattern baldness. he attempts to comb his soft mane over to hide it. he has incredibly soft chest and armpit hair and nipples. not only is he incredibly handsome and manly, but he is very scary, as you can well see with your own eyes. he loves to hang out on his recliner and watch football. his team is manchester united and he is somewhat of a hooligan, truth be told. he made a small fortune as a professional bowler, and swears that the movie kingpin is based on him. he has a gambling problem and will bet on just about anything. he considers his bookie to be one of his closest friends, as well as his worst enemy. he adores sammy davis junior and considers himself to be just as good of a performer as sammy. he is afraid of spiders and lives on fluffernutter sandwiches with the crusts cut off.

he will be looking for a new home soon!