luxe

i have been such a bad blogger lately, i just don’t have the energy and of course i am super behind on ready all of your blogs (i have close to 200!) and they get out of hand quickly. i hate it. it makes me feel guilty, as stupid as i know that is. it is really hard to decide if i should try to catch up on blogs or draw, read, etc, etc, etc. mainly, i have had lots of headaches and have been just pushing to get as much done as i can and i feel a bit like i am just treading water. you know?

i have been having lots of nightmares, like usual, i don’t understand them because they are so complex. they tend to be set on college campuses, sometimes i am taking classes, sometimes it is just there. several dreams have had fish in them which were cut off at the tail, but were not killed. no idea what that means. and almost always, i am being chased and attacked or threatened and am often attempting to protect another person or animal. sigh.

i was sketching one night and kept falling asleep, and kind of woke up and wrote down what i was dreaming, my writing is so bad that it is hard to read:

all of my
old clothes
cried out to
me-all the different
faceless me’s
w/their different
cute (?) self(?) & hairstyles
drowning (?) ?????
like the
one in the patternless fashions

and then a really odd scribbly drawing of two people. um. no clue. but i do remember sort of seeing all the different versions of myself over the years all together. in the book patternless fashions, which was originally written in china, there are fantastic illustrations fromt hat time with faceless people with cute clothes and hairstyles, so i assume that is what i was talking about? dunno.

jake had some sort of 24 hour flu yesterday and i think i had sympathy flu. i kept falling asleep throughout the day, but really asleep, not just a nap. poor jake felt sick when he got up at 3a and went to work anyway and came home at 8 am and was either in the bathroom (powdering his nose, hee.) or totally conked out and coverd in sweat or goosebumps. he is the type of person that eats every hour or two or gets, as i call it, “hangry” which is angry and hungry, although the low blood sugar makes him feel legitimately angry. you know? so he was very dizzy as well, which may have been from the flu or lack of eating. he normally has a rather healthy, ruddy complexion and was literally green. he always has very red lips and they were pale. it is odd to see him sick because he never gets sick. anyway, pavel wanted to cuddle with his papa and take care of him, which is extra sweet because he is not that way. wanna see?

poor boy.

otherwise, i have done a good bit of spinning and dyeing. i really need to finish some mixed media boxes and other things. i feel very annoyed with myself that i haven’t made the time. here is some of what i have been working on…

i have some lovely yarns i need to take photos of, as well. i have been dyeing felt, which will be for sale. the deeper colored ones are 100% wool felt, and the rest is wool and rayon blend, which feels much nicer and looks rather pretty, i must say. i will be listing some soon. so pretty. and i realized really quickly that it is impossible to find unusual colors of felt that is of any kind of quality and ti get handdyed felt…forget it. i keep meaning to make felt myself, but with my energy issues, it just doesn’t seem realistic.

my mom will be in town for a few days, coming in to-morrow. i hope to get work done this week regardless becase we are leaving this coming weekend for the beach. wooo hoooo!

okay, i am getting super sleepy.
xo
n.

so, i didn’t go to sheep and wool. in less than two weeks (eeeeeeeeee!!!!! yaaaaaaaayyyyy!!!!) we leave for vacation for a week, and whilst on that vacation, i need to pop by my most favorite yarn shop in savannah, wild fibre and drop off yarn for them. i just couldn’t justify spending the money on the trip to sheep and wool, which was 99% to see you guys. that said, i hope i can organize a get-together for at least a small group of us that live on this coast, even if just for a weekend. i would love to even do it here. a sleepover? awesome! there are lots of really nearby hotels, too, for those that are not into staying at people’s houses. let me know if you think you might like to come up and do a weekend, or even a few days during a week if that works better for you. jakie goes to sleep early during the week, and i am home during the day working, so that would work too, for those who are self employed. keep it in mind. anyway, it worked out well that i didn’t go because i had insanely bad cramps and a headache, etc, etc. i am still having that fun. ah, to be a woman. and just after the damn full moon.

despite feeling like poopies, i have gotten some stuff done. some really lovely yarns, i packed up a bunch of orders and i need to post off some international orders (4 to australia!!!) to-morrow and hopefully still get some dyeing done. should be fine. i spent the day doing orders and then i ran out of ink in the printer so i didn’t get to make it to the post office in time to mail everything out. gah! anyway, the rest will go out to-morrow.

we switched the cats’ food from nutro (”natural” really expensive cat food that is expensive) which was one of the brands that was made by menu foods and recalled. we only use the dry food, and it was only wet recalled, but i still feel really bad about feeding them crap food. expensive crap food. anway, we picked up an organic food, which pavel doesn’t want to eat, although the girls ate it like treats. he is super finicky and tends to eat nothing meant for cats except for the dry food they had been eating before, which he has eaten since he was a baby. he wouldn’t eat kitten food even. seriously. he went from milk, to mush to adult cat food. i think if he could have skipped from milk (or just had milk FOREVER) to hard food he would have done it. anyway, jake is concerned that he isn’t eating, although he hasn’t been begging for food, and i think he would be. plus, i was downstairs getting a snack and saw him waiting for peeps to finish eating, so i think he is eating it. if anyone has any suggestions for organic cat food (dry, otherwise they gobble it like pigs and barf) please drop me a comment. the only other option is the raw diet and i am concerned that i am too slapshot to do that for them. plus, i would only want to feed them organic meats, which is a pain to get a hold of around here. although, from what i hear, non-organic meats are still probably better than the crap in their “natural” nutro we gave em. so. hm. i am a bit worried that pavel wouldn’t eat it. also. so. my cats eat so much better than we do. big time. better. i should eat their food.

there are some hilarious video snippets on mtv (i love run’s house. love.) and i looked for em and found the people that make em, and make other fantastic videos and commercials. you can check em out here, along with their other work, which is excellent. including “metal and matzo” yah! check it out here. i promise you will crack up. the mtv thing is called maturity is overrated. it is creepy but really funny. i know that none of my dear readers are feint of heart, you are all badasses, so i feel confident you won’t be upset by this. if you are, however, don’t watch em. you have been warned.

okay now. wanna see some photos, at long last?

they aren’t listed yet, probably to-morrow. let me know if you want any and i won’t list em. some of the fiber that i did these yarns from is not listed yet and is still available, so if you want something, let me know.

so, for the yarn and fiber club, i have hammered out the details (i think). for the yarn club, you will get a 4 oz skein of superwash merino in either sportweight or fingering, your choice. you can either pay for 3 months up front for $75 which includes shipping, nice wrapping, and lots of fun freebies. what kinds of things? well…handmade stitch markers, and i don’t mean the keychain kind with a bead hanging off. i mean handmade ones. probably a different pair with every order. there will be a few different extras in each order. it will be good stuff, i promise. for those that can’t fork out for 3 months, they can buy just one month at a time, but it will be more expensive, and may not have room. i think i can set up a payment on paypal once a month, in which case you get a spot for sure, otherwise, it just depends on how many people sign up. the fiber club will be a similar gig. depending on the kind of fiber, you will get between 3 and 4 oz of fiber, plus extra spinning stuff, and extra freebie stuff. as the name “luxe” indicates, i only do really soft wonderful fibers. i am hoping to do some blends, but i recently got in 80’s merino (CRAZY SOFT), as well as my superwash, which is also incredibly soft and wonderful to spin, baby alpaca, kid mohair, silk, soy silk, bamboo, soy latte (milk protein), ingeo, silk, and lots more. i plan to do some yarn kits that will have all of the fixins to make an artyarn like mine! how fun is that? i will include everything you need except for hands and a spinning device. i will be sending the group email out to-morrow (and this time i won’t accidentally sent it to everyone without a blind copy. i feel like such an arse) so please make sure you let me know if you are interested because i will be dyeing this week. so i will be doing a batt/blended fiber club, a regular fiber club (top) and the sock yarn one, as well.

here is an example of the freebies, although i am thinking about selling them on etsy, too. i made these into hair clips as well as the pins i have been doing. i want to do some headbands and other thins, in addition to having them to go along with yarns. they look way darker in the photo.

okay, i think i am getting loopy. pop by my flickr to see what else i have made lately.

mwah. mwah. mwah.
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.