luxe

this is night 3 no sleepity sleep. oooh yeah. i have gotten lots of reading done, though. so that is something. i started taking one of my old medications for when my arms and legs start to really really hurt and it helps for a little while. during that little while (about 5 hours) i have been getting lots of work done, have my to-do list so that i am more on top of what i need to do and don’t forget everything, like i usually do. i carry the luxe notebook back and forth between the studio and the computer so i always make note of what is what. special note for ms amanda…i respun the yarn that you never got and posted a link in a convo on etsy, so go look and see if it is okay for ya.

that said, i have gotten caught up on packing orders and getting them out. i have a few swaps and xmas things for online peeps that i need to get finished and sent, but otherwise, i am caught up. so that makes me feel better. wanna see some of what i have made?

anyone interested, let me know, otherwise, they will be listed to-morrow on www.luxe.etsy.com, okay?

so has anyone been watching kid nation? anyone that hasn’t…man, it is such a cool show. some of those kids are just amazing. so smart, so funny…and you can just tell that they will really be something. mainly because they are 8 and are already so smart and confident and adorable. the idea behind this reality show is that they take 40 kids between the ages of 7 and 15 to live for 40 days in a deserted ghost town and try to make it work. they have no modern conveniences and have to live like the prospectors would have lived. it is rather impressive.

i am off to shower.
xo
n.

we went over to the in-laws for dinner last night and i was covered with sweat for no apparent reason and then got the stomach churning, so i went home before the ice cream. my stomach is still funny today. you know that hungry/nauseous/churny deal? yay! not bad now. grumbly, mainly. like me. grumble, grumble.

so, the bird legs on the apple have gotten such a great response that i decided to post a little tutorial for it this week. it is super simple and i am sure that half of you are asking me why i would do that, but after seeing that it makes everyone smile, i figured it would be cool as a holder to put on your desk for your daily fruit, a plant, whatever you want. so i will try to do it to-morrow with jake taking photos.

i was looking around for some juried shows to look into, but the entrance fees are a bit steep, ya know? although, that hopefully means that a zillion pieces of poo aren’t entered and they will be a bit more attentive to the entries. if that makes sense.

a couple of cotton yarns that are incredibly soft…this one has some nylon sparkle and tons of sequins…literally about 700…a whole packet.

and here is the life-sized striped child i am working on. i am concerned about whether the neck will need to be reinforced to stay up or not. we will see. i am considering stuffing it with shredded paper from our shredder to recycle…is there any reason i shouldn’t? it is gonna take a TON of stuffing either way.

updating some things on www.luxe.etsy.com to-morrow, so pop by!

warm fuzzies,
n.

gah. the word that defines me these days. i had nightmares about the beach (again) where i was staying with a group of people, all of them people i didn’t like and/or loathed. that part, confusing, although i didn’t have any clothes that fit me or were suitable for whatever we were doing. the clothes were all big baggy sweatpants and sweatshirts. the rest of the dream dealt with a sick little girl that everyone was trying to kill and i was running and hiding while i was holding her. i was glad to wake up. anyway, i woke up really tired and i took a pill to have a bit more energy. i never think it has worked until the end of the day when i realize that i:plied 2 biiiig bobbins of yarn, cut up all the novelty yarns for that and then some more yarns, skeined several bobbins of yarn, worked on a painting (to no avail. sigh.) for quite a while, shipped some orders, went to the post office and farmer’s market, took photos of the stuff i needed to update (LOTS) and uploaded them and tagged em. i think that is all. it doesn’t sound like much now that i say it outloud. wanna see?
who was that? well! my newest crocheted softie. she came from the handspun mohair. she isn’t finished. i am not sure exactly what i want to do to her, she is so cute as is. hm.

and some of my vintage plates that i hang up…

some really good links for you…here
and here and here

prepare to pee your pants! the coolest crafty and design and art blog evah!

off i go.
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.

whoa. that is all i can say. i am sitting down for the first time today. jakie went to new york for a business trip at the last minute, so i took the opportunity to get lots of stuff done. lots and lots.

i got up early to start dyeing, i will post pics to-morrow of the rest of it. i did lots of superwash merino, some merino/soy silk blend, some locks and some soy silk. lovely. i will be listing some to-morrow i think. i would do it tonite but i am so out of it that i can barely see straight. okay, so here is a pic of the yarny stuff for the day…

i also did some sewing, trying to make some baggy crappy shirts into something special. again, i will be sure to keep you posted. i had hoped to get em done tonite, but i am just too tired. i overdid it, i fear. i was just non-stop and then i was in the sun hanging up fiber and messing with it, cleaning up the back deck, bringing the fiber in. i cleaned the kitchen, the studio, organized a bit, did some sewing, is that all? literally, i only have one eye open. so. so. tired. i was sweating so much outside that my pain patch partially fell off. gah.

last week (i think?) i took this cheapo top that i have in olive as well and embroidered it with this vintage kitty “gardner”
and then did some other decorative embroidery and i now like it much better. i haaate wearing white. i feel large in white and it doesn’t look so good against my skin in its yellow glory. anyway, i may still dye it, but i do like how it came out. i used those patterns from aunt lydia (is that the name?) and the stencil looks like a coloring book page, it irons on in a second, literally, not like the other patterns and pencils i have attempted to use, you can use them multiple times and the pattern is black black black, and i accidentally ironed it on through the front and back and it washed out! and it was cheap! i like to embroider my own drawerings, too, but these are really nice.

okay, i am spacing out and i haven’t even checked email yet today, and i reckon that i won’t, either. gah.

mwah!
n.

hellllooooo…nothing much to report from here. i have been keeping really busy, making loads of stuff. wanna see? really really wanna see? well…okay…you are twisting my arm…firstly, the yarns, which will be listed a bit later today on www.luxe.etsy.com around 5ish methinks…

willy and nilly are similar crazy yarns, one plied, one a crazy overtwisted single. let me tell you it is HEAVY. crazy heavy. aloha lite is super soft merino, soy silk (the green shiny parts) lots of sparkle in bright green, hot pink and fuschia, a bit of fuzzy bright green novelty yarn and white, pale pink, brighter pink and pinky/white silk flowers plied in. loverly. and shine on is super soft merino, sparkle city in green and some hot pink with squares of silky fabric strung on the plying thread and plied in. i adore this one. i plan to do some more today. i need to dig through my scraps. i must say, now i know what i saved those scraps for. you know the wardrobe remix thingy? i am trying to do something similar with crafty, artsy and spinny stuff. i wanna attempt to use what i have and get rid of some of the stuff i am not fond of. i did that with the willy and nilly and other scrap yarns i have. if any of you seamstresses out there have sewing scraps you have saved for reasons unknown, send em to me if you fancy. one of my clients sent me her scraps that included really skinny strips and bits of yarn only a couple of inches long. i can use em. i use em fast though, i really pile em on.

okay…what else have i made? well, i got the plush-o-rama plushie making book and used a pattern from there to make this…i did it a bit different. mainly, i learned that you can make softies with scarcely any pattern and it will come out fine, and my lack of precision crafting abilities…okay, i am too slapshot really, still works out fine. so i can take an idea and do what i want. so, here he is…blinky palermo…and if you know who blinky was, leave a comment, i will be impressed for shizzle. i hand sewed him from the handpainted wool/rayon felt i did a while ago. i handsewed because we had butter and his lady over and i always need to keep my hands busy or i get fidgety. the back of him is reversed color scheme. cute?

i had some unfinished mixed media things i was working on that i keep messing with. this is the next version of them….oh, and a pic of my desk mess, too.

in cuteness news, yesterday jake was totally crashed out, i think it is an allergy issue. he gets the “allergic shiners” as they call em and is on allegra for it, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference and got up and then fell asleep for a while whilst i was spinning. his little son pavel was asleep next to him using the tivo controller as a pillow. ha. too cute.

in humiliation news, i went for groceries and i tend to use my paypal debit card because i can’t bounce anything accidentally. well, i didn’t have a lot in there, but i should have had enough for groceries and a bit. i forgot that i had bought some stuff at the bookstore with it. i took all of the credit cards out of my wallet (except for our prescription on, my bank card and my macy’s card) and when i checked out i didn’t have enough money. um. i gave her all my cash ($7) and it still wouldn’t go. i gave her my checkcard which had next to nothing in it and told her to take a bit out of there, plus the 7 bucks, plus my checkcard. it went. sigh. so so humiliating. this is why you should leave a credit card in the wallet. in case you need it, fool. sheesh. the worst part is that jake told me to take his card and i didn’t want to. i haven’t listed new stuff in ages, i have been totally out of the loop due to my mom being in town, being on vacation, being sick, so i am way more poor than usual. so humiliating. sigh. gah. good thing i didn’t go to joann’s or target first, eh? i would have been totally frakked.

lastly, my younger brother is still having lots of issues with his eyes and migraines. they actually don’t sound like migraines to me. i think the eyes and the migraines are totally connected, if you can imagine wearing a really crazy prescription eyeglass that isn’t yours all the time..bad things would happen. really really bad things. i hope that nothing bad is going on inside of his head and i hope he will go to a different doctor that will do more to figure out what is going on. so. it always surprises me how it drives me insane to see other people in pain. i never understand why people worry about me, yet when other people are miserable, it drives me crazy. i want to do something. give them something. tell them something. hm.

i am off to do some work. do pop by luxe at etsy.com and see what i have. it is mostly all art yarn and some lovely limited edition sock yarns. i will most likely dye some stuff this week to list soon.

mwah!
n.

i meant to blog yesterday but was exhausted. i woke up feeling wretched and tired and decided that i wouldn’t do nothing again, so i took one of my prescription “pep pills” and got into overdrive. i spun 3 skeins of crazy yarn…

i did a scrappy one with fabric and scraps of yarn and sparkle, i did 2 crazy scrappy ones with bits and pieces of fiber and sparkle and then i have one that is 3 commerical yarns spun into supercoils. it is really fuzzy, vegan, and nice. what else?

here is my first amiguri.

i have no name for him. he is a cat, if you wondered. any name ideas? he is incredibly lazy, i think he might have sleep apnea because he snores like crazy and is tired all the time. he claims to be a soapbox derby champ, even though he has only existed for a couple of days. he says he is in a “acid” bluegrass band, playing the triangle and zither (?). he is on a macrobiotic diet. he uses cute overload.com as pr0n. creepy, eh? he claims he dated miss piggy “when she still had her figure”. whatever that means.

also, i got my hair done (finally!) and got rid of the blonde…i fear it is too dark. what do you guys think?

ms. peeps has a urinary tract infection or kidney stone, i fear. still the pink pee, but now, she goes to pee and only a little bit comes out. she doesn’t seem to be in pain, but i see her go to the box to pee and nothing happens. i feel dumb that i didn’t just take her to the vet when i saw the pink pee first. i thought it was the beets in their food. as someone who has had chronic UTI’s and kidney problems since i was born (i was jaundiced when i was born and in and out of the hospital as an infant) i should have taken her sooner. i feel like an arse. anyway, she has an appt at the dr. this afternoon. i am sure she will not be happy about it. hopefully she will be back to pissing all over the house like usual. sort of.

i best go do some work. i was just too tired to blog last night. oh, does anyone have any good amiguri links or books to tell me about? i don’t tend to follow patterns, but i do like to see how things are done so i can learn how to do things. anyone?

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.

ooooh girrls! (and boys)i have some good stuff on the update in the luxe.etsy.com store tomorrow afternoon! very exciting stuff. seriously. so make sure you are signed up for it. if not email me at natashaluxeatgmaildotcom to let me know you want to be on it and i will add ya. you want a peek? well…
i am literally fighting with myself to figure out what to keep and what to sell. i know i can dye something similar again, but still. the sock yarn that is grayish green and the pinky purple color…oh my. i love her. love. i started a pair with one skein of the two colors of green sock yarn for jake. it is fun to knit with. i am just doing a standard sock magic loop two at a time. as usual, i had to screw it up on the cast on and do it ass backward before i got it fixed. i am doing a strange box rib on it so it isn’t insanely boring, but is knit on every other row, i can handle that. not too hard.

i also listed some vintage clothes, this amazing dress… and will be listing some vintage aprons and this rockin’ dress which i wish would fit me because it would be mine. i am so tempted to do something to it to make it fit, or cut it into a skirt and a top, but it was handmade by someone and is in perfect condition. i just can’t do it. it doesn’t seem right.

i overdid it a bit yesterday and totally conked out, so i will be doing dyeing tomorrow unless it rains. again. sigh. we went out for groceries and stopped at marshall’s where i knocked over almost everything i passed, but did manage to find a really nice escada perfume, i always get similar things that are sweet and passion fruity. it is all that i can usually wear without making me sick and i get lots of compliments on them. what can i say, i am sweet and fruity! i also got two cute dresses for summer and a bra. jake treated. what a nice boy!

i need to go and buy felt this week. as you can see on the big mosaic for the update, i dyed all of my felt and it looks lovely, but because i used it in a big ole sheet, it wasn’t as splotchy as i like. the good thing was that it went from feeling like cheapo craft felt, even though it was 100% wool felt, to feeling like nice quality felt because i was really rough with it and kind of felted it, i think. it worked out well. i feel much better about that. i am planning to start dyeing sheets of felt, as has been suggested by several different pro artisans. they said it is impossible to find in any colors (i know!) and it is poor quality, and handpainted…forget it. so there we go. and it is fun to dye and i don’t have to worry about messing it up. love it!

i have been using my gigantic electric roaster for dyeing and just bringing the contents up to a simmer and turning it off and leaving the lid on and bob’s your uncle. i have sockyarn to do for the upcoming club, so that is on the list tomorrow. i have a bit more fiber to dye, but i am nearly out, so i need to order my giant 25+ lb bump. woot woot! i think i will get some bulky cotton for summer, too, although i had using fiber reactive dyes. you have to use it right away or it is no good. i hate that. and i am not good at mixing those colors. grow up. i know. it has been so damn humid that nothing wants to dry around here. sheesh.

we were supposed to have the in-laws over for a cook out tonite, but the weather did not permit. maybe tomorrow, we will have to see. i have work to do, so i need to get some stuff done, whether they are here or not. maybe i can drag the carder outside if it is nice and save my nose and lungs from the fuzz. i swear, the fuzzy lung is bad stuff. seriously. i really get a lot in my nose and mouth and hopefully not any further.

okay, i am growing very sleepy, it is rather late, coming up on 2a. there was a bunch of stuff i wanted to talk about, but…you know how that goes. what things? alec baldwin? yeah, that was one. oh, i know, a question for the fabric peeps out there…i have been thinking about doing lots of summer things that have a deconstructed but really simple feel about them…think mad maxx but a wee bit more romantic. what fabrics would work well for frayed edges and distressing without falling apart and being summer weight? any ideas? i am thinking neutral colors…chambray in any color, i would like tops and skirts and dresses but things that could work well with a pop of color, too. i would love the waist to be that way as well as the hem, sleeves, straps, whatever. idears?

mwah!
warm (damp) fuzzies
n.

let me first apologize for my absence. it has been a wee bit busy and i actually went out every day this weekend (i think. maybe not friday. hm. not sure.) anyway, i got bras, not sexy ones, but ones that fit, don’t hurt and my boobs don’t fall out when i lean over, so that is a bonus. i am having such a time finding bras that fit me. le sigh. such a hard life. shutting up. also, i got some super cute brown linen pumas, and pajamas, the top will be worn as a shirt because it is cute but not cute without a bra, and i won’t wear a bra to bed, so. photos to come of that. what else? i went to joann’s to get some sewing supplies, nothing exciting. a new spring wreath with a bird, some nests and eggs…how cute is that. photos..i swear. and all of the scissors were half off, so i got gingher pinking shears and the stork embroidery scissor from them, too. sweet deal. the rest was just bias tape and such. oh and a magnetic pin holder thingy, because i get pins all over the place. and that thing is suuuuper magnetic. hardcore. oh, and we went to barne’s and nobles yesterday and i got the new craft magazine, which is good, as always, and the new blueprint magazine, where i saw this cool stick of stuff that you wet and cover your big white roots between hair appointments and so far it worked well. i am wondering if it will come off on stuff, but it says it comes off when you shampoo. my grays are super white, actually, which would be fine if they were in streaks and not randomly all over the place. it smells like an old lady, unfortunately. not sure why it needs to smell like anything, really.

i do have some new yarns, which i will list some of to-morrow, plus some other new stuff, soon, i promise…wanna see? first, i handpainted some wool felt and made more poppies, most of these are on pinbacks (aw crap! i meant to buy barrettes to put some on) i usually give the pins away with orders, they are rather large and have vintage buttons on em. i plan to do more. do you think i should sell handpainted felt sheets, or the poppies? here is the before…


i used the only 100% wool felt that i can get around here, and it isn’t terribly soft. it is fine for this, but i would like a smoother felt. anyone know where i can get white or cream pure wool felt in yardage? and not for a million bucks a yard, either. anyone?
and some yarn…
this one, i have more merino that i am selling from this batch…i spun in these pansies, sparkle and then these border leicester kid locks i dyed as greenery…pretty, no?

here is one of the braids…

this one has loads of irridescent glass czech beads plied in…

and this one is another that i have more braids of the fiber from this yarn. pretty. and easy to spin, too!

i also have some incredible batts with soy, merino and sparkle or bamboo, merino and sparkle that are incredible to spin. i actually spun it thin! wha? yes! sportweight probably. i need to skein it still. but i will put up some of the dreamy batts. the fiber is pretty expensive, but it is nicer than silk, in my opinion. nice.

i am hoping to just mess around with the sewing to-morrow. not sure what exactly, but maybe i will try one of the skirt patterns from the sew what! skirt book. i will be sure to keep you posted.

in luxe news, i was very flattered to have this amazing metion on domestik goddes! fancy, shmancy. if she fancies, i will send her some yarn to play around with. she says on the blog that newby knitters and crocheters might worry that their projects wouldn’t be good enough for art yarns, but ironically, simple knit or crochet stitches on big needles look fantastic in fancier yarns, because the yarn can do all the work for you. that was what i loved so much about them. you can look fancy whilst knowing nothing. and unlike a plainer yarn, it is rather exciting each stitch to see what will happen. weeee!

jake showed me this sheep horror movie. um. yeah. killer sheep. killer, dude!

so mr. pavel enjoys washing his paws in the cat waterer right after coming out of the litterbox. additionally, kahlo has a foam ball, or sometimes several, that she enjoys putting in the food and water dishes. if you remove them, a few minutes later, they are back in there. peeps does not tamper with the water, but responds to these behaviors by peeing or pooping somewhere inappopriate. also, kahlo will puke right outside of the litterbox or in it, and peeps also responds to that with the peeing and pooping…in further too much information, peeps has been having poops that are like rabbit pellets. i try to give her kitty laxative and it doesn’t help. i think. anyway, i put a water dish in our bedroom, thinking at the very least, it was further from the litterbox and shouldn’t get quite as much litter in it from pavel, who loves to splash around in water (i know, strange for a cat. he looooves water.) so the cats are drinking more water than i have ever seen them drink. i am wondering if they were not drinking water like they should have because of the gross water issue. i am hoping this will help with peeps’ hard poops. we find them all over the place. it is actually not nearly as bad as the pee, especially since they are like little rocks. poor peeps’ butt. okay, no more poo talk. any suggestions would be welcome, though. she is 12, so i dunno if age is an issue as well.

xo
n.