luxe

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.

check out who has the best ham and chez in america! woot woot! primanti bros in pittsburgh (we even have one in my town, too.) it is a gigantor sandwich that has their vinegar coleslaw, french fries, tomato (i get no tomato) and even an egg on it if you like. these were a staple for before and after going to see a band, or coming from a bar if you needed to get some grease in your stomach. and they are open super late. yum! mayhaps we will get one for dinner. usually, i would share with someone and still not even eat my half.

i finally go invited to ravelry! i am luxe for anyone interested i am rather baffled about how to get my shop listed. i listed some stuff in my notebook under stash, but i have no idea what more to do. i got frustrated pretty fast and fell asleep. i wanted to get new photos of the fiber done, plus weighing and tagging that and other fiber, but it is so dreary out and fiber tends to look better with daylight than the lights. i may end up having to use the lights if it is dreary again to-morrow. i am hoping to do a bit more dyeing to-morrow and will likely do an update then.

i have had this lingering migraine aura that makes me nervous to go get groceries or drive. my vision is a bit spotty and i feel like my head isn’t attached to my body. the florescent lights do bad things to me, especially when i feel like that.

i found stuffwhitepeoplelike.org via my buddy shannon and it cracks me up. there are a bunch of people who got super super pissed off and left comments and it cracks me up. i am doing my very best to keep a bit more caught up with blogs. i got so behind that i couldn’t catch up, so i really am trying. i don’t know how super productive people manage to find new things online, read blogs AND get stuff done. very impressive! my collages went to art stream studios for the valentine’s benefit show, so pop by and see if there is anything you fall in love with (get it? valentine’s day?)

mwah!
n.

see my impressive resultshere and take your own test!

soooo…i actually got out of bed today! and took a shower! i know, i know, you guys are blown away. i had a few really crap days, i must say. i didn’t answer the phone, i didn’t do ANYTHING. i slept. and read a bit.

today, i put together the mobile and i plan to make more, but i will probably do a few things differently, like maybe adding a small weight to the bottom of each strand. here are some photos, although they aren’t so great. it is hard to take photos of something that big that moves.



the photos suck, but i am not really sure how to take em. it is rather large, it hang more than 4 feet long and a couple feet square. any idears? i used paper patterns with mod podge and varnish and copper wire. i love how the paper looks, especially in the sunlight. i think i might do more that are just a single row of descending size.

i tried to organize the carded vintage buttons and got overwhelmed. okay, first, i had an asthma attack from the crud that must be on em, so i went outside to sort em, then i got overwhelmed. my organizational problems make me think of all the different ways i could organize and then…forget it.

my sister in law has been pretty sick for the past month…longer, actually, so i decided to make her a wrap. she wears chocolate brown a lot, so i used some uncarded chocolate merino i had and carded it with this rose gold angelina i have (a fave) and then added a bit of pink sparkle to that which has a blue flash, i plied it and added some coppery novelty yarns, some from the lovely laine zin zin and then some sparse eyelash with sparkle i had in copper and a hot pink with blue and gold in it. i will post pics. i crocheted it, which ate a big bobbin full in about a foot of crochet. needless to say, i will need to card up much more. that was 2 giant batts worth, i am surprised at how gorgeous it knitted up. it seems like it would be plain, but i would love to have a wrap like that myself. in fact, if i am not really really really sick of spinning this yarn, i might just do that. although, i make myself something, i never wear it. anyway, i will get photos up. purdy. i was going to add sequins later, but it is really pretty as is.

otherwise…nothing. i have several softies to finish, as well as all of the birdie legs for softies i have been working on…basically just a wire frame with both legs connected and then papier mache over that. i am just not sure if they will balance it. i wish i could see one of the birds from ann wood or one of the other birdie makers to check out the legs. although, lots of them make legs that are attached to something. i think a softie bird that comes with its own perch and little box would rock. i would love to make boxes for all of them, but i am just to slow and anal about that stuff. i keep picking at it. i do have a few that should be done soon. i have orders to pack up to-morrow and then i can do some art stuff. oh, i will be listing more loose fiber to-morrow too! most of it sold! how cool is that? and i have loads more. and some gooooood batts! and i re-weighed them and realized that my scale was underweighing them by an ounce or so…
i am really tempted to keep that last one for myself. really.

off i go.
xo
n.

okay, so firstly, i will be udpating some NOICE stuff on luxe:
and that is just a teeny taste. a teeny teeny taste. so. go. check it out! here! each yarn order will come with gorgeous handmade stitchmarkers from my buddy katrina, as well as all kinds of fun stuff that i usually wrap up with the orders. go on, spoil yourself!

what else? well, i have a new amiguri princess for you to check out. her name is collette. she is really cute and she knows it. she was born fuzzy and his a lock of pink curly hair. she is a bear, but has no tail, oddly enough.

she aspired to be a chiropractor, her specialty being fish, birds and snakes, but realized that chiropractics and these sorts of animals are a deadly combination. deeply discouraged at the animal carnage, as well as the destruction of her dreams, she turned to gambling.

she has a gambling addiction, her game of choice? yatzee. she is a poor loser, going utterly nuts when she loses, curses, accuses everyone of cheating and throws the dice across the room. ironically, she herself is a cheater, has magnetic dice and is really poor at math so most often, she loses anyway. additionally, when she wins, she dances around, shakes her fuzzy butt and acts snarky. it is difficult for her to find anyone to gamble with her, so she frequents old age homes and rips off septegenerians and older, taking advantage of their poor memories in order to cheat and get extra turns. how wrong is that?

she eats nothing but scharfenberger chocolates with at least 85 percent cocoa, and dissolves this in her triple espressos. i know. crazy stuff. especially when you are only about half a foot tall. hardcore.

her favorite colors are pink (like her hair) and purple.

additionally, i spun some loose mohair singles that are just amazing to do some amiguri with. i am curious to see how they will look, but i think, judging from how good cheapo fun fur feather stuff works that well that mohair would look amazing. i have something on my hook right now and then the mohair will be next.

yesterday our friend jason and his girlfriend came down for dinner. we grilled out (of course) and grilled pineapple (my fave) which is amazing if you haven’t ever had it. it is awesome alone, but would rock on icecream or custard. so good. just slice em as you like and lay em right on the grill. i also cut some zucchini lenthwise and marinated it in balsamic vinegar with some salt and pepper and a bit of oil and it was really yummy. we went for icecream at rita’s after that and my stomach had started to really hurt by that point, and yeah, i ate a kid’s cup anyway. we got home, i was trying to upload photos, but kept falling asleep, so i had a headache and couldn’t see right. i took a shower. whilst in the shower, my stomach started to feel bad. really really bad. i spent the next hour and a half (i think) sitting on the toilet with the garbage can in front of me trying to talk myself off the puking fit. fortunately, i didn’t blow out my bloodvessels in the eyeballs. i woke up with a sore throat and a funny stomach. not haha funny. gah. i think i just can’t eat pineapple, as much as i love it, the acid does bad things to me. i have such a lame stomach. sheesh.

off to update. go…now!
xo
n.

okay, i did a partial update because i was crunched for time. i went out to hang up fiber to dry, it ws nice and breezy, which makes fiber dry in no time flat. did i mention that i adore the warm weather. the smell of earth in the air. swoon. anyway, i ended up cleaning up my garden which was an absolute mess. gross. dirty. i planted seeds, and a little metal window tin thingy with catnip and a cute little asymmetrical pot i have with catnip, as well. so cute. i ended up out there all day and got overall/wifebeater burns on my shoulders. it was lovely out there, although i absolutely tuckered myself out. so at that point, i was behind on yarny things and started to upload and crop photos for the update and we had some friends come over for an impromptu bbq, which was nice, but i was way late on my update. i always have the whole negative attitude about selling stuff and then it always sells. i don’t know why i am like that. and i am especially broke, sheep and wool is next weekend, not that i tend to buy much, and i need to order fiber. badly. i mean i have loose stuff and locks and stuff, i just used up almost all of my top. i think i will just get superwash merino next time. i think people like it. it is my personal favorite, for sure. it is a pleasure to dye, i don’t have to use any acid at all, it dyes much more vibrantly than anything else, is incredibly washfast and is almost instantly set before the heat. what more can you ask for. i can also rinse it out whilst it is still hot. bad. ass. ah superwash, where have you been all my life? okay, so you wanna see some of the stuff ? here goes…
there are also some sock yarns that absolutely rock, i loooooove them. the green one i did for jakie’s socks, and it knits up really pretty, as you can see. i find that not many handpainted sock yarns would be suitable for guys, you know? i really like the way that my yarns do a variegated stripe. the only issue i have is that if the colors are too close in value, it looks beige. wanna see an example?. in a handspun yarn, muted colors of similar value are fine. in a sock yarn, the colors almost blend making a totally blah color. not bad. just blah. it is odd because that some color scheme in a fiber would be gorgeous. lesson learned. class dismissed .there is more of course, so head over. and to-morrow or the next day, i will update handspun yarns.

i finished the yarn i made for my younger brother’s fiance and it is just gorgeous. it has soy silk spun alongside merino and i plied in some different yarns and rose gold and iridescent sparkle and texture and silk flowers. i emailed my bro pics to make sure she would like it because i hate giving people things that they don’t want. i hate getting stuff i don’t want. i have horrible guilt about it being a waste. if i give someone something and that they don’t like, i always hope they will tell me it isn’t their thing and if it is from a store, take the gift receipt and get something they like. it is more that it torments me to give them something that they think sucks. selfish, maybe. anyway, i told him that if it wasn’t her style, i could make her something more simple, or whatever. i know she works in a big library and i am sure that she can use a shawl or wrap for that, so i can just as easily spin up a plainer yarn for it. i must say, i adore this wrap and i designed the colors, yarn and knit for her, so i do hope she loves it.

otherwise, i am really rather tired, i wasn’t going to blog but decided i better do it at least a little. i haven’t been sleeping and it is taking its toll on me. i need to pack orders and then try to do some sewing, i want to make some nightgowns, sleep shorts, etc. i keep looking for em at the store when i could make my own and they would be good learning opportunities. also, i have been really slacking in the fine art department. i draw at least a little bit everyday. not today, i will shortly. even just a doodle or design idea for a purse or clothes, but i need to finish up some of the mixed media pieces i have been working on and get things hung in the house. i have so many things that need frames or just need to be hung up. i want to do a mural on a large wall we have downstairs and then work in all of the plates i collect as a part of it. we also need to paint the living room and entry and kitchen. there is so much we need to do that i put off. shameful. oh wait, also, i want to do some simple wardrobe basic pieces and i want the fabric to be rather distressed. i want the edges to all be unfinished. so basically, even some of the cool patterns i find, but with the edges raw and a post modern, natural fibers, simple lines with interest in the fabric with embroidery maybe and other texture put into the fabric. so tell me, how do i do this? what do i need to make sure to do? and what kinds of fabric would work the best? i like em to be soft, breathable and easy to take care of. and inexpensive. don’t forget that. help!

oh, i got a couple of pairs of cute shoes lately, too. this first pair are super cushy inside and i like that they are bronze…and this quote sort of relating…”A soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone.” — Johann von Goeth
horrible photos. sorry. anyway, the pumas are linen. i am a puma fan. jakie bought em for me. very cute. i almost never wear anything that has laces, as you might have noticed. in the summer, if i can be barefoot, i am, okay, actually, all the time. i am a foot nudist. but i wear sandals the rest of the time. i am trying to make sure i ditch the grosser looking ones, though. speaking of feet, where i broke my foot years ago, my foot has been really hurting. it is the outside of my foot, especially if my feet are tired or if i wear heels, even ones that were comfy for me before. sigh. i loooove heels. not cool. i need to go to an orthopaedist about it. i mentioned a podiatrist to my mom and she called them butchers (apologies to any podiatrists out there) but in fairness, (and i think some of you can attest to this) they can be rather brutal. not sensitive people. they aren’t Md’s, i am not sure if they are DO’s or something different altogether. i have had them do bad things to me before, so i will take my mom’s advice.

we are going to sheep and wool this weekend and plan to go up on friday and stay over, coming back after the show on saturday. if anyone wants to hook up, please email me so we can exchange numbers and make tentative plans. also, i think we are staying in columbia, md, let me know if that is good, or if somewhere else is better. i was attempting to see if we could avoid driving in the wrong direction to go to the hotel, which i think frederick is. for anyone not yet with a hotel, i went onto hotwire.com which had by and large the cheapest prices. the only thing is that you don’t know what the hotel is until you commit to buying. they tell you how many stars, basically where it is and you go from there. i am waiting to ask jake what he wants to do, but you can stay at a 3 star hotel for under 100 a night, and some dive places for suuuuper cheapo. so please make sure to email me at natashaluxeATgmaildoTcom…okay? i am excited to hook up with my ladies!

sleeeepy. and hungry, too.
xo
n.

okay, so i got a bunch of books from amazon, a BUNCH and can you believe it…they are all fantastic. i looked at people’s opinions on amazon and i am really impressed. i got this book, the starving artist’s way which came out a few years ago and i hadn’t heard of…have you? anyway, for the art school nerds out there, this book is so cute, for anyone, but it has little blurbs about practically all of my favorite artists and her take on their art as used in decorating, stuff for your home, furniture, and even some really cool recipes, like mole chocolate and chocolate peanut butter cubes and pierogie grilled sandwiches. cool? the only downfall is that there are no photos, you know how i feel about that, however, the website has all kinds of stuff on it that makes it not such a big deal. the book looks like it is written on kraft paper which cracks me up, too. 2 paws up! really cool. additionally, the auther, nava lubelski is a rather accomplished artist that i hadn’t heard of because i no longer keep up on modern fine art, whatever that is, really, but her stuff is incredible. it has lots of crochet and embroidery. really textural and it really speaks to me. it has a really familiar feel to it, like she is my sister or something. i get that feeling about people and their work now and then, it is really odd. so i immediately looked her up and shot her an email. i hope her publisher will do another push for the book, or put it out again, because i think that the diy craft movement has gained so much momentum since 2004 when the book came out that i think it could really go. i am still stunned that i have never heard of it before. anyway, any crafty book that mention the velvet underground, lucien freud, louise b, josheph beuys, frida, paul klee, mark rothko and virtually every other artist that i hold dear, is a go with me. so buy it, it is cheap on amazon.

what else? well, i got sew u the built by wendy guide to making your own wardrobe. it has all of the basics up to advanced projects, and has all of the equipment you need, how to store things, tons of tips and tricks and from my perusal so far, seems really well laid out. the projects build in complexity and each project shows the initial plan with a drawing over the top of it showing what you are adding or omitting. i am a very visual learner, so this is a good thing for me. it also has paper patterns for a basic a-line skirt, a blouse and a pair of pants and then variations on each of those. i like that a lot. okay. next book? i know, i got a lot, but they were at really low prices and i got the free amazon shipping. i got this book new for 18 bucks. it would be 26 bucks plus tax if i bought it at my local bookshop. not too shabby!

next, sew what! skirts which has 16 skirt patterns that are really pretty and straightforward with lots of possibilities to change em up. it seems like you could make pretty much any skirt once you got this figured out. and again, that is how i learn, i am really bad at blindly following steps, i have to understand the whole process, so these books look like they will be perfect. here’s one of the cute skirts from this book:

moving along, generation t one of the tshirt deconstruction books. actually, one of the only ones that got good reviews. the other ones seemed more geared towards teenaged kids or younger. this one has a lot of really cute things that i would wear. there are some bikini and halter tops that are a bit more skin baring than i could do, but if you added some length to a lot of the designs it would be really cute. also, in the patterns, they use pretty much nothing but tshirts, and a lot of the designs would be amazing with other fabrics added in, or just using other fabrics in general. i love the idea of using really cheap fabric and tshirts to learn to sew and actually have cute summer clothes. here is a top i really like… also, thissy skirt… and there is a super cute wrap top, too. seriously, lots of things i would make and wear. oh, and on amazon, i paid around 10 bucks for this book new! at the end of the book is the big finale…a tshirt wedding dress! and it is very pretty, too!

next up, tshirt makeovers which is fairly new i think. here is one from there… and this cute top…
the projects are rated for difficulty, but they are actually very fresh ideas, unlike most of the tshirt books that are just a cut up tshirt and look like a cut up tshirt. some of the tops are skimpy, but i think with length added and maybe some other fabrics added, they could work for most anyone. which is very exciting to me. i may start to get excited about clothes again! i have desperately wanted to design and make my own clothes since i can remember, but had sort of an irrational fear of doing it any way but with a needle and thread. the complexity of patterns and my inability to follow directions blindly also freaked me out. so these new books are so exciting, in case you haven’t figured that out.

i actually got a lot done today, although i feel crummy all of a sudden. i had a very hard time getting out of bed this morning, but once i got up and going, i felt okay. i got orders packed, i dyed a bunch of fiber yesterday, so i braided those, rinsed another batch and dyed a cashmere sweater for a client. the color came out brighter than planned, but it is pretty and looks even from what i can tell. i will post it, although i should have posted a before. it was an oatmeal color before. i did a bit of spinning, caught up on some phone calls i needed to make, realized that my dentist appointment was today not to-morrow. sigh. cooked up some dinner, hung out with jake and attempted to upload photos to flickr, which has been giving me lots of issues and then realized that the flickr uploader for mac is really rather good. you can tag and label everything ahead of time which is pretty cool. but i feel queasy and pre-migrainish so i will finish up here and take a shower.

before i go, some things i have been working on…

and i have some softy patterns i am working on if you wann look at my flickr. oh, and also the new dyed fibers. i will be listing them soon, but if you see something you like, let me know and i will put it aside for ya.

oh, and shannon, aka knitgrrl will be visiting this weekend and i get to see her new louet victoria!! woot woot!

xo
n.