31 May 2006

you booootifull kitteee

last things first...we took kahlo to the vet, he is from poland and looks younger everytime we see him. he has intensely blue eyes and a thick accent and the cat doesn't even bother to fight as soon as they see him. it is odd. so first, he couldn't believe she was 10 because she is so round and fuzzy and shiny haired. they would flip out if they saw fluffy peeps who looks like she did when she was two, although she has gotten more fluffalicious every year. they are from the same litter and i have always fed them fancy healthy catfood even when i couldn't afford to eat, so i guess it makes a big difference. anyway, he looked in her poor mouth because i told him that she was missing teeth, and she is missing the molars on the lower left side and will have to have a few more removed on monday along with a cleaning because she has infect nasty teeth. peeps and pavel are going to be forced to brush their teeth whether they like it or not. kahlo goes insane if you try it on her. since her tooth fell out, i have noticed that her breath, which was hideous before, has gotten better. crazy stuff. ok, so otherwise he said that she looked really good and that was the only problem. she cried the whole way there and then shivered whilst at the vet. thankfully, they are always on time with their appointments, so they took us right in. also, the vet has a photo of him with dr fitzsimmons (fitzgerald?) from the animal planet emergency vey show, which cracks me up. so that was the drama for the day. she will have to eat soft food for the rest of her days, which i am sure she will be very pleased about. i love that cat. before we went to the appointment, i had to fight myself to not freak out.

what next? i photographed some new yarns, if you want one, email me stat before i add it to a big wholesale order, so speak up. i also took photos of new thrifty things i got....june 2006this cute acorn holder (ha!) that opens, obviously, there is a ton more stuff if you go to my flickr account.

i spun today, but had to do it in our bedroom. why? why would i not want to be in my wonderful studio that i have missed so much? well, our central air is not working. i called this place that came out took the air conditioner apart, told me it was a fan on the outside unit. he says he needs to go back to the shop to see if they have the part and that he will be right back and if he isn't coming back today, he will call. he didn't call. he didn't come back. he left the airconditioner as is. in pieces. sigh. but if we get someone different, it will be even more expensive than the vague number i already got. so the only room with air, because jake dragged our window unit up from the basement, is the bedroom. i made luxe thank you cards and tags and spun and whatever else in here.

i weeded the garden a bit after taking photos and found a few ripe strawberries....oooooooooy!
june 2006 they taste amazing. and there are tons on the vines. i cannot wait. i love berries. love em.

i didn't shower until jake got home due to being afraid i would miss the a/c guy and i have a hair appt to-morrow that i will have to cancel so i can be here if the dude decides to show up.

one more pic and then i have to go, despite having way more to say, because i am going crosseyed and can't keep my eyes open...here it is....the sock!!!! june 2006

thanks so much for the well wishes...i know everyone always says it, but i know that it helps. and i know from the comments i leave and emails i send to others that have a pet crisis how incredibly heartfelt it really is. it is amazing that you can worry for someone you have never met....but wonderful.

apologies for worse spelling than usual, i cannot figure out the spellcheck on blogger...and i only have one eye open. i swear. craziness.

more to-morrow. i swear it.

xo,
n.

more later

posted by natasha @ 9:21 AM  8 comments

30 May 2006

no. no. no.

i know i have been a horrible blogger, but there has been a lot on my mind. i noticed in the week before we left for vacation that kahlo, our usually chubby tabby cat seemed thinner. when we got back from vacation, it was very very obvious that she had lost a lot of weight, and when i weighed her, she had lost several pounds. i was worried. we lost a sweet cat a few years ago to cancer and suffice it to say i didn't handle it very well.

i gave the cats some treats and while kahlo was eating hers she seemed like something was stuck in her mouth. i hear a funky crunch and a second later, part of a tooth came out. on closer inspection, i realized that she had no back teeth on the bottom of one side, just smooth gums and not many on the other side. she throws up all the time because she compulsively grooms herself and is bald in spots from it, and i realize that for a while she hasn't been able to chew food. not that it is good news, but hopefully that is the only problem. i fed her tinned food today, which we never do, and she actually kept it down, although i had to keep the other cats away and keep coaxing her to eat. later, she was super lethargic and i gave her a regular brand of tinned food, rather than the good stuff, and i got her to eat almost the entire small tin, and a few minutes later she vomited it all up and then some. she wouldn't come upstairs with me, even though she normally doesn't leave my side and she feels a bit hot to me, although i dunno if i am paranoid at this point. i cannot deal. it is freaking me out. she has an appointment to-morrow, but...needless to say, everything else is taking the back burner right now. i had calmed down when i had gotten her to eat earlier and she seemed to feel a bit better, but if she can't keep food down, she will end up in the hospital, which happened before, and if i lost her...i could not bear it. i didn't handle egon's death...at all. i fell apart. ok, i am going to sign off before i start blubbering. i will let you know what happens at the vets to-morrow.

xo,
n.

posted by natasha @ 10:36 PM  9 comments

28 May 2006

and i am back!

beach 2006here i am knitting socks in the ocean. does it get better? i don't think so. i never see photos of myself knitting, although i am going to ask jake to attempt to take more, but i was surprised to see the funny thing i do with my pinky(s) like i am posh and drinking a cup of tea. i think it is a big part of what makes my carpal tunnel flare up.

we got home last night, after a 12 hour drive, of which jake did ALL of. i fall asleep in the car, really easily, so i slept on and off a lot of the way. i worked on my sock, that has been knitted and reknitted several times. today, i think i got things figured out better, i think i have got it. i actually made them open toed so that i could wear them in the warm weather or with flipflops or to spin, i will take photos soon.

we were so so so glad to be home. i missed to the cats horribly, despite my love of the beach, i have a hard time being away from home, although amy took great care of them and for the first time ever peeps did not poop anywhere in retaliation. yay peeps! after 10 years she is growing up! kahlo ignored me for about 2 hours after we got home and then came up to cuddle. pavel is very very close to jake, and i know he gets really upset when he is not around, so he totally lost his cool when he saw his papa.

before we left, i had noticed that kahlo seemed a bit firmer, she is our chubbiest cat, so so cute. when we got home, i noticed that she was noticeably thinner and when i weighed her, i think she has lost a few pounds in a few months, which really worries me. next week i will have to take her to the vet. and if there is something wrong...i can't even think about it.


i feel a bit out of sorts and unfocused for blogging, so i will go for now, but i will give you a detailed blog with loads of pictures next time. i swear it.

xo,
n.

posted by natasha @ 10:21 PM  5 comments

24 May 2006

do you miss me? i miss you!

whilst sitting on the beach, in our chairs on the edge of the water....knitting(!!!) i said to jake how disconnected i felt not being able to check email regularly and not being able to blog whenever i wanted to. i used to write in my journal all the time, but now i blog, instead, and it fills a huge need for interaction in me. bigger than i realized. i learned to make a sock on one circular, using the cat bordhi(sp?) book, which probably would have been a bit easier had i ever made a sock before at all. and i couldn't go onto knitting help or anything else, so that was frustrating, and then the local knitting shop are dpn users, and i don't want to mess with them. anyway, i think i have figured it out, the second one will hopefully go a bit more smoothly. i got sportweight cotton/nylon sock yarn that is really pretty and am knitting on size 4 addi naturals, which pointier than turbos. my big gripe with turbos is that they aren't pointy. i hate that. why addi? why? so, as i was saying, i think i have figured out the basics, and like anything else, once i have knitted something, i don't tend to use a pattern. will i make crazy patterned socks? leaves and vines? i dunno. maybe not. but this was pretty fun, amazing to see the three dimensional heel developing and i felt like an engineer. even jake thought it was cool. i have pics of knitting on the beach, don't you worry. and i was able to buy a new cable to load the photos, although at the camera store they told me that card readers are cheap and work well, and i don't have to constantly try to find where i buried my cable. my guess is that it is under a pile of fiber in the studio. so, does anyone use a card reader for their camera? and how do you like it?

we are going to savannah to-morrow. everyone is very excited to go to the lady and sons, which is pretty near to wild fibres. i always get nervous, as you know, about selling myself. not my yarns, but myself. it is easier for me to pack stuff up and let them speak for their fuzzy selves. the store is gorgeous, i will take photos, and the owners are really hip, for lack of a better word. really unusual things that you don't see anywhere else. sadly, their website sucks. ah well.

ooh! i got the new issue of knit1 and it rocks! i know people mock the magazine, but i think they are really trying to show people new stuff. and despite the fact that everything in it is made from the same brand stuff, they still manage to make some really unusual things, like the chandelier...but i think it would be cooler to knit a cover for an actual one, rather than a fake one. but loads of amazing things in there, if not things i would make. and they talk about lots of people i know, like knitgrrl herself, or the knitting taggers, or lexi of pluckyfluff fame. and there are some really funny art references, like the girl made up to look like a heroine in a roy lichtenstein painting, or frida! woot!

what else? one of my favorite authors ever, peter carey, has a new book out, that i didn't even know about (shame on you amy!) an really pissy painter, and so far, it rocks. i have actually been READING a lot here, due to the lack of computer or tivo. so. it happens.

spinning, you ask? yeah, a bit. i feel funny being out of my studio. i am not sure why. i don't even spin outside at home on the porch or anything because i feel strange. i had some wool/linen (i think) that i had dyed this strange smokey tealy blue and spun it into a single to make a bag or something out of and i wanted to barf the whole time i was spinning it. i have a horrible time with fiber that is not soft. i also spun a two ply out of the same pastelly colors using this sherino roving i got from frenecreek farm. it is very lumpy and textural, it will look gorgeous knitted up. that might be all.

i skeined a bunch of yarn i had from sheep and wool last year, noticing that the one single i had bought that was handspun had been spun not very well. needless to say, last year i had no idea. i just thought it was pretty. whilst winding it, the ball popped off of the winder and went shooting across the room. i realized though, that when you put the ball winder and swift on the table at the same height it works much much much better. jake suggested it to me before and a month later i actually tried it and was blown away. i am slow on the uptake sometimes. most of the time.

we need to get going to meet for dinner at the thai place, but first, i will comment on the dude that called my yarn cat puke...i hope no one thinks that he hurt my feelings. my years at art school gave me a very thick skin when it comes to my work. i feel that it is its own entity once i put it out in the world, whether it be art or crafty stuff, and a miserable little man such as that one, that has no understanding of anything that comes from the heart will certainly not squash this fuzzy soul. i just wanted to point it out to everyone so that he could get a bit of his own back. i tried to send him a nice email to just say that we all have different views and it doesn't matter. why should it? what makes him happy, unless it is rape and murder, has no bearing on me whatesoever, and vice versa. but thanks so much for all of the sweet comments! especially the hedgehog and the yarn wench, who is not a wench at all, but a master of all things fuzzy and then some...crack me up! oh, and elizabeth from alaska...cracked me up! ha! i love the fact that you guys have got my back. where were you when i was kid? we could have been a force to reckon with. weeeeee!!

ok, off i go. i may not be in touch till saturday. i will try though. i miss you so! i really do. i will be doing a nice big update on the luxe shop when i get home. i can't wait!

smooooooooooooooooooooooooooooch!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo,
n.

posted by natasha @ 5:41 PM  6 comments

22 May 2006

can't spin, cat puke, whatcha gonna do?

ok, so there has been some mayhem going on in the "art yarn" world, unbeknownst to some of you...i have come under attack from a dork of the highest magnitude who has a knitting blog and went on a bit of a rant about how we suck. the link? i dunno if i should. although, it would be fantastic if he got flooded with comments that didn't support his idiotic views, one them is that we don't know how to spin, that our yarns cannot be knitted with and that we are looking to make a quick buck. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. ha. ha. hahaha. ok, i will stop. ok. i am doing it. i don't care. he wants to slam people he doesn't know and question our love of the world that is fiber...be damned! you will face the wrath of the blogosphere! and so it is written....his boring picture-less blog. i commented, i really nice comment, especially considering that this yarn was compared to vomit. i will let you read it for yourself. he is a know-it-all that not many compare to, you will be blown away. i don't know many people that do this for a living that could POSSIBLY do it for the money. are there crappy yarns out there? sure. are there people who pride themselves on knitting stuff that is so boring that bert from sesame street would be excited? oh, yes. do i care? no. if it makes you happy...go for it. if you love my yarn...super! if you hate it, that is fine too. totally fine. to each their own.

as you all know, i think, anyway, i am in south carolina, so we have no internet, causing me to go to barnes and noble and spend 4 bucks to check email and send you a short blog. cause i miss you . so much! seriously. i mean it. i brought my wheel, a ton of fiber, and i am learning to knit socks on circulars. i will keep you posted. i started out with the fingering that i dye, which is super pretty, but i can't knit something that thin. i will go insane. it takes forever to knit 2 inches. my attention span cannot allow it. cannot. i made a bag from the one skein book, which i plan to line and put handles on when i get home. i swear it.

we will go to savannah this week and my favorite yarn store in the universe (next to kpixie.com) called wilde fibre. they have wheels, a bit of fiber, and wonderful yarn, habu included (!!!), japanese books, and they offer you a "soft drink...sweet tea...coca cola?" i am planning to take photos to post. i swear. although i lost the cable for my camera. amy have you seen it in the house? usb on one end, little square thingy on the other end? amy? please?

otherwise, i had a bad bad migraine most of the way of the 12 hour journey here, and the first two days of vacation. last night i was sure i would have to go to the ER. i didn't. i was just a bit hysterical. you know how that goes. so i am not sure what the problem is, but i hope i am done with the migraines. i haven't had bad ones like this in a while.

i will probably come back to check emails again in a couple of days...
smoooooochies!
n.

posted by natasha @ 5:06 PM  14 comments

17 May 2006

i dreamed that i feel asleep on a bus and woke up two hours away...

also, in this dream that had a hundred different layers of suck, as usual, one of my friends had gotten almost the identical haircut and color as mine but acted like she had no idea. so odd. additionally, there were women in my dreams talking about childbirth things and in my dream my dad was telling me just be tough and have a kid or two, and i was super freaked out. i started thinking about my lack of energy and how i would possibly take care of kids. needless to say, i was reading ms. melanie's blog before i went to sleep. i get alarmed just reading about what other people are trying to do. and let me just say how incredible it is that she has MALE friends that stay up with the babies. i think none of my friends would. in fact, we might not even have friends after that.

i packed up orders and did businessperson sorts of things, went to the post office and then realized that one of the packages had been labeled, but i left the label at home. this is a regular client, so i pondered for a moment if i could remember the address on my own. actually, i could have looked it up on my phone, or at the library, but i didn't think of it. the post office is like 2 minutes away from my house, so i will go to-morrow. no biggie.

i also decided that i will be shipping first class with insurance and delivery confirmation, so that i don't continue to pay for shipping out of my pocket, it actually costs a few bucks more per package, sometime a lot more than that, for all of the services i add, and it will get there just a fast. so.

i sent the pattern for the loop stitch necky thing to shannon for one of the books she is working on. and hopefully it makes sense. it actually would make a super cute purse.

what else? oh, i love le pens. they are my favorite pens. my writing looks a million times better with those pens. and they come in really good colors. teal. olive green. brown. but! the are not waterproof ink. i found out the hard way whilst mailing stuff in the rain. sigh.

my friend john from pdx is in town, although, in traditional john behavior, we are supposed to have dinner but i have yet to hear from him. and it is after 6. so. jake wanted to go, but it will be too late for him. but! his wife, lady diana (really) is getting some pressies from me that i was planning to just mail, although the mail might get there quicker than she will get it from john. anyway. some good stuff. like yarns that were not listed on the site. from me to you! and more. so much more!

the yarn store in atlant finally got my samples, the second one, the first never showed up, and made an order, i think the pricing is sorted out, but emailed her just to confirm. so that will be good if it works out. i know i need to talk to some local yarn shops now that i don't have one that i sell to...i am so sad that they are closing. i am stunned that no one bought it. anyway, i have a hard time calling people and going out to meet them, despite the fact that i have done super duper well everytime i have done it. it isn't shyness or anything. just my antisocial nature. it is so bad. i wish i wasn't like that. if there is something going on that i am supposed to come to, i start getting nervous about it and that people will fuss over me and then i will not be able to ditch out, and...i suck.

ok, off to do some work.
xo,
n.

posted by natasha @ 6:06 PM  4 comments

16 May 2006

fauxluxe!

bloc party
i had paperwork and business sort of things today, but the freshly dyed and dry fiber was calling out to me....pleeeeeease! spin me! fluff me! please! so i did. and my dear friend amy went to the farmer's market for me because by 4p, when we were supposed to go, i was in pajamas still. i didn't want to waste time getting dressed, although i did put on a bra. that is saying something. and monkey socky things. so. needless to say, no fun to-morrow, all packing and mailing and banking, etc. ah well. i split my merino top that i had dyed and gets a bit felty into pencil roving and rolled it into balls for ease of spinning to take on vaca, so i have a better idea of what i have. i condition my fiber with fake pantene for smoothing curly hair and i smell like it. and so does pavel, the youngest cat, so i know he has been laying on top of the drying rack covered with fiber. hmmm? busted! he always smells so nice, though. so between the spinning and the prepping fiber, my hands and arms are really hurting. also, my husband, after getting up at 2:30a and getting home from work at 4p, like usual, told me, upon getting into bed that he was exhausted. jokingly, i said, i have lupus and chronic fatigue syndrome! i know tired...and he knew i was joking but looked like a peed in his cheerios. i felt so bad. not a funny joke, but meant to be a joke. i feel like an ass even now writing it in my blog. but i try to be honest. even when it makes me sound like an arsehole. and then he wouldn't admit that i just made him feel really shit for something he didn't do. sigh. in fairness, i used to do stuff like that ALL THE TIME and it cracked me up. i didn't tend to notice that i had really made someone feel horrible. i like to think that i don't do that much anymore, unless it is someone that i cannot stand. although, my new approach to people that i dislike is to act insane and friendly and just freak them out. i won't mention any names. although, i act insane and friendly to people i do like, as well. hm. that isn't good, at all.

i didn't do anything more than a card for my mom-in-law or for my mom and i feel rotten about it. when i called my mom, she seemed to be glad to hear from me, despite the fact that my brother(s) probably sent her flowers. i have some scarves that i made for her a while ago, super skinny ones, mind you, that i didn't think she would care about, but when i talk to her now, not often, but she will ask what i am doing in knitting and what they look like, so i think she actually would probably really like them. the crazy yarns are like jewelry to her. sometimes i feel like it is one of the few things we have in common, that we both like sparkly things. i will send some things to her, with apologies for being a crap daughter. nothing new, i reckon.

so...a friend of mine told me that she doesn't click on many of my links in my posts because there are too many...what do you guys think? i actually make an effort to put tons in there and photos all the time...is it overwhelming? i find most of the great sites and blogs that i read through other people's sites, so i try to pass on the favor...but please give me input.

what more? i blogged that on grey's anatomy everything always comes out ok because it is that kind of a show and then...oh man. everything came out not so good. and i cannot believe that she screwed that dude. also, did you notice that she pulled down her pantyhose, but didn't take them off, yet we are expected to believe that they had sex in that position? seriously? feet up? don't think so.

also, the new show pepper dennis is super good. i watched it by mistake when it first started and am totally hooked. it is a really great show. oh tivo, why do you make me watch so much tv? well, it is much easier to spin or knit while watching tv(and i like to put it on closed caption and play the stereo at the same time!) than it is to read and do other things. that is hard! i swear i am going back to my pre-knitting, lots of reading, the way it should be. shameful! i have always been a big reader, in addition to insisting on reading heavy, hard to follow, obscure things. i have eased up a bit, but still don't read anything MUCH lighter. i feel like it needs to be educational or something, or i am wasting my time. this from someone that watches grey's anatomy and then blogs about it. oop.

ok, i need to transcribe a pattern for shannon's book...wooot! i may have to reknit it if my original notes make no sense, which they probably do. ay ay ay!

i hope i didn't post this pic already.


xo,
n.

posted by natasha @ 9:29 PM  8 comments

15 May 2006

a note on transplants...

so, i HAD to watch grey's anatomy tonite to see what would happen, of course everything will be fine, it is that sort of show, but still. and he asked her to marry him. that is like something my husband would do. i feel like that about him. you know? additionally, when we started dating, he just had this sureness about him, that this was written in stone. no doubts. no worries. i acted like an idiot, i was crazed, he waited me out. and made me feel safe. and it did make sense. like he knew something that i didn't. why? i still wonder why. he doesn't seem to have the self-doubt that everyone else has. he just does what he wants to do and makes it work. and if he doesn't want to do it...forget it. no way.

anyway, so back to the transplants...woah. they have always amazed me. just like having a bad car part and replacing it, or the sparkplugs or wires or fuses or whatever, and then it plugs in and works. just like that. of course, sometimes they don't work...my mom has had corneal transplants, just stick it on your eye and there it is. cut off your finger, sew it back on. craziness. the complexity and simplicity of the human body is amazing. it blows me away that our organs, etc, all works together and we are able to talk and move and do anything at all.

in other news, i dyed an estimated 6 lbs of fiber, more than half of it was loose, so it looks like a lot. it is all over the drying rack and all over the dining room table, because it is raining and i cannot put it outside. so the cats are probably sitting on it. what can i do? nothing. i did lots more of the muted muddyish pastels that i have been loving so much. amy got to witness, again, my refusal to measure or figure out what i will do ahead of time. after dyeing, i was exhausted, to say the least and had to lay down. i get tired, then really cold and then fall asleep. really really odd. at least i am getting used to how things work with me, and just let it do its thing. what else can i really do?

due to the crappy weather, no drawing outside. again. it felt like it was nighttime all day. elizabeth left at a really good time, because this whole week is supposed to be crap.

i am bringing my spinning gear to the beach, well not ON the beach, but the condo, so i want to make sure that i have loads of stuff to spin, especially because we have these terrible single beds that we push together in our room that are crippling. because jake is 6'2, his feets hang off the end of the bed by more than a foot, 12 inches, i mean. we are going to get an aerobed...(amy, do you have one?) to put on either the floor or on the beds, anyway, for some reason i have a horrible time sleeping there, so i like to have things to do, books, knitting, fiber, but i worry then that i will not have what i need, so i take tons of stuff. additionally, after reading a crazy post about knitting on galactica, i thought about the fact that i would be the one person that had all sorts of yarn and fiber and books and music if the planet blew up, because i have to take it with me all the time, like a nomad. pills, books, skincare, nailpolish, you name it. i have probably got it.

i am really tired. i will knit a bit and then go to sleepies, i reckon.

xo,
n.

*edit so, i am super into augie march, ok, i really really want to hear the a whole cd, but what i have heard was awesome... you can listen to one of his albums on itunes or amazon, anyway, whilst looking on amazon for a used cd from him, i realized that "the adventures of augie march" is a saul bellows book from more than 50 years ago. how embarrassing to have not known. my dad was a big saul bellows fan. anyway, i ordered the book, which is 600+ pages long, to make up for my lack of knowledge. so. there must be loads of adventures in there.


posted by natasha @ 10:02 PM  9 comments

14 May 2006

izzy....noooooooo!

i am not a big grey's anatomy fan. i watch it, i enjoy it, it doesn't change my life. i am normally do multiple other things whilst watching it. well, tonite, izzy did something totally insane to "save" the guy that was dying and she is in love with and i literally almost threw up i was so stressed out about it. my stomach hurts. love is a strange thing. the things i would probably do if necessary for someone i love, especially jake or the kitties, or close friends...might be scary. i remember when our cat egon got very sick very fast and i would have done anything to keep him with us. anything other than make him suffer. i wasn't going to blog tonite because i am exhausted and want to actually read a BOOK...yes, a book, that doesn't have pictures of yarn or sheep in it, and then saw that and got pulled in and etc...

we wanted to see who would win on survivor, but we knew it would be terry, the most close to perfect man ever. super nice, strong, smart, a fighter pilot, althletic, interesting and a really honest down to earth guy. at the last minute, this chick we had a pact with him, that he had pulled her through to where she was picked the other dude and jake a i decided that we didn't want to know who won, because it should have been terry. you all know, since rupert left survivor, i haven't had that light in my eyes when it comes on anymore...and terry...you just gotta love him. he reminds me of an older version of jakie.

we spent the day together and it was really really nice. we had been listening to music on itunes all morning and went to best buy to pick some stuff up, i will keep you abreast of what is good. then we went to barnes and nobles and he got a bunch of guitar books, so he was very jazzed about it, and they were all on the clearance section. so even better. i got some mixed media callage stuff, the one skein knitting book which has gorgeous things in it that are small, inlcluding a bobbled clutch that rocks. in case you are not a crocheter, a few of the patterns in there are crocheted. many of the really cute ones....i also got the new interweave knits, which has great stuff in it. lots of cool things. that magazine is really shaping up. i am pleased that they try to be on the pulse of what's new and amy singer is on there monthly. good stuff. yay interweave. me me me!

there is lots of other stuff to say, but i am tired, so i will go and read a bit. i meant to call my mom for mom's day but it was too late. i will call to-morrow and send a card to-nite.

happy mom's day to all the moms! my mom doesn't read my blog, but if she did...HAPPY MOTHER's DAY!!!!!!!!!!

lavendar scented smooochies!
n.

posted by natasha @ 11:02 PM  6 comments

13 May 2006

a saturday LUXE update!?!! and SECRET PAL EXCITEMENT

first...a ton of spinning fiber saturday fiber on the luxe site, and some amazing yarns...like what? well...saturday fiberi know, i know, i normally take pretty good photos and these sucketh. sorry. what else? a few new things on the www.luxe.etsy.com site...

what else about etsy? i did a trade for this awesome pillow that she made me custom. she will do custom stuff and does crazy embroidery with her sewing machine. super cute. and! she writes a story for EVERY item. so adorable. i wasn't surprised to see that she is from portland. we have to move there. have to. there is a super cool craft fair EVERY weekend. and john and diana live there. and the dandy warhols. and donuts filled with nyquil and...the list goes on and on.


i lurve poppies, they are my favorites...my neighbor has these in their yard, which i have been wanting to go out and draw, but it rains and it shitey, so i haven't gotten to...saturday fiber
i did a trade with...

i got to do NO art stuff whatsoever again today. i had to list stuff and tag stuff and pack up packages and of course there was a new order as soon as i got back. i always feel bad that the person could have had their package by monday or tuesday, but it is only sent out monday instead. so, the big atlanta deal was pending on them getting their sample package from me. i sent it last thursday, priority. to atlanta. from here. packages to sanfranciso got there monday. this one never showed. so, i thought firstly that priority was faster...they told me that if the express truck has room on it, they would put the priority stuff on it. if not, it goes with the regular mail. meaning that it could take up to 2 weeks to get somewhere. and you can't track it. i was told that you could. so, i am now doing delivery confirmation in addition to insuring it, although that just says that it got delivered to their house, not them. if i make people sign for it, i think people will get annoyed because they will have to pick it up from the post office which is a pain in the ass. hopefully nothing else will get lost, especially because i don't know how nice they are about paying for insured stuff. you know?

also, the sock yarn is backordered because of the dye-o-rama thing, so i am hoping to get it next week, and then we leave for vacation friday, so fingers crossed. and make sure that you order your stuff soon, because the week after next, there will be nothing shipped. sad but true. there will be tons of new stuff when i get back though. i am bringing my wheel, which is super good because i never sleep whilst there, but i need to get fiber and get it dyed so i have stuff to spin. also, there is this awesome spinning/yarn store in savannah that i am excited to go see again. the have tons of habu stuff. rawk!

so, i packed orders, ran errands, got to see a friend at the post office and talk briefly to another friend on the phone about the constant drama crap around here that makes me want to talk to my cats, my inlaws, by hot husband and not many other people...other than my blog friends of course! ok, actually a lot of people, just not the two faced bullshitty people. i have no energy for it anymore. none. and the older i get, the easier it is for me to write things off. i have a limited amount of energy and i refuse to waste it on crap. i could be making something. why would i want to deal with crap? you tell me! whilst at the post office, i was greeted by a mailman driving by, by name..."hey! natasha!" my friend cracked up. i am a local celebrity. next stop...the universe! i headed home, started listing stuff and continued until i was done at which point i fell asleep with the computer on my lap and woke up when jake called to say he was heading home and we were going out to dinner with the in-laws, i fell back asleep, had strange dreams and he told me that he actually called twice before i answered. after dinner, we got to actually spend some quality time together. and you know what? i never cease to be amazed how much i adore jake. he is hot, sweet, thoughtful, strong, kind, understanding, easygoing, handsome, wears cute clothes, is tall, smells awesome, listens to great music (ok some of it is not my scene, but it isn't crap) and loves me so much. he is so good to me and i never dreamed i would be with someone so wonderful. there is a saying about loving someone more everyday and that today i love him more than yesterday, and to-morrow i will love him more than today, and it is true. it doesn't seem possible. i feel giddy sometimes. he will be sleeping and i will put my face into the space between his shoulder and his neck and just smell him and he smells like heaven. i feel like i will implode i love him so much. and anytime that i don't take the time to just turn off the tv and put down whatever i am working on and turn off my phone and just be with him, sealed off from everything...it is just wrong. it is so important to appreciate every second that you have with the people you love. and i have an amazing anniversary present in mind for him...i am excited about it. i am not sure if i will make it or buy it, because have found someone who will make it. anyway, i have known him more than 10 years and i don't know how i can continue to feel more intensely for him, but i do. he is my everything. i love you so much jake! i will send your mom 5 mother's day cards just for producing the angel that is you!

i apparently bought two tattered gardening journals from ebay, they are from the late 70's-80's, which i wouldn't have bought. i have no clue. i dunno if maybe someone just sent it to me. there was no invoice or anything. anyway, the woman cut out things from the newspaper, mainly about gardening, and i will be posting them maybe daily. we will see how that goes. oh shite! i forgot fiber friday again! off to do that.

who has heard about these crazy dudes ...gnarles barkley i have only heard the one song, but i loooooooooveedd it!

i am getting really sleepy, so i need to get going but, i am thinking of running some special deals for people doing secret pal stuff...one of the options being that i will put in a cute card, wrap it up purdy in tissue, and put in cute little stuff and send it directly to them if you would like me to. nextly, you can request certain colors in either a commercial spun yarn, like laceweight or a sock yarn, for example, your favorite colors, or your secret pals' and i will give you a reduced price if you are buying for a secret pal. the sock yarns come in a 1/2 lb skein that would make 2 pairs of superwash socks in fingering weight. if you request a color and get the whole skein, rather than $22 per 4 oz ball, i can give you 10% off so it would be $39.60 for enough for two pairs of socks. pretty good, eh? i will give you 10% off of anything else in the order, as well, as long as you are spending more than $35. i am open to other ideas, as well, so fel free to suggest away! ok? seriously. i am really interested. so get your secret pal something SOOOOPER cool that was made JUST for them! i am planning to start a club for regulars that gives you a perecentage off from each orders. i am still thinking about how it would work. tired and the letters are moving around...i wish i knew how to use this stupid spellcheck. sorry.

xoxo
n.

posted by natasha @ 11:32 PM  4 comments

11 May 2006

luxe update at long last!

just wanted to let everyone know that i FINALLY updated luxe, i added all sorts of cool stuff AND have more coming to-morrow. i couldn't take photos today because there was no sun whatsoever, but i have a ton of batts carded up that are crazy and a handful more handspun that rock! you hear me? so go over and snap up what is there before it is gone. gone. gone! forever! also, my order of sock yarn has been waylaid, i hope to get it monday or tuesday, so there WILL be more sock yarn in the shop soon. if there is a colorway you really love, let me know, but there are some gorgeous ones coming your way. i promise.

otherwise, lots of spinning today, lots of skeinwinding and tagging and computer stuff. i also cracked out my new circle scissors to make some tags and broke all 3 blades in 5 minutes. i was so pissed. so i need to go to the art supply again after i go to the post office and get more/get another tutorial in case i am just a dumbass. who knows?

yesterday i got to chitchat to 1/2 of the materialwhirled.com ladies, angela, the sweetest woman in the world. she is not old enough to be my mama...but, ok, how about an older sissy? please? be my sissy angela! she has this adorable rosy glow to her and i threatened to eat her cheeks. she seemed like she was used to that reaction. and her youngest son has the same glow and eyes and cheeks. so cute. kids aren't into their cheeks getting eaten, i hear. also, ms. shannon, knitgrrl.com herself called me from the post office, told me to talk fast, as her phone was about to die, which was funny because mine was making the bizarre "i am dying" sound it likes to make, as well, and got my address and had to go. 20 seconds, max. ha! i think in her busy world, that is a long conversation.

in other news, holly, one of my best secret pal recipients is a granny! and she looks like a supermodel. crazy crazy stuff! and the baby is so cute. and i don't even like babies. so everyone, go gawk at the baby and leave her tons of comments, cause grannies love that stuff, i hear.

did anyone watch the gilmore girls and see yo lo tengo and sonic youth, with their daughter who is the spitting image of thurston, skinny legs and all? although, he is the better looking of the two, i dunno if he makes such a good girl. i actually first read on holly's blog about her loving the gilmore girls and i thought the show was more like 7th heaven kind of show, ironically enough, and man do i love it. lurve it, really. it is amazing to me how lorilei keeps everything inside. she never talks to anyone about anything. it drives me crazy. i think to myself...talk to suki...she is such a good friend, and instead...suffers in silence. just like her mom would. and i see my own mum so much in her mum. and me in her, i guess. a bit of cutting off the nose to spite the face. although my mom would do the same thing, the women in the family were prideful and stubborn. myself included.

oh, also, angela told me about this farm that she thought might be nearby me and i realized it is in indiana county, i think less than an hour away, so i am excited to go check it out sooner than later. very cool. there is one in punxatawny, as well, but it doesn't seem very exciting to me. actually, there is another shop out that way, as well, that looks to have lots of stuff. i forgot about it until just now.

so if the weather is nice to-morrow, i will take photos and list the rest of the stuff. pray for me. it has been really dismal all day today.

we will leave for vacation next weekend, so there will be a week with no orders being shipped, so make sure if you need something that you order it soon. ok? ok.

here is a collage for collage thursday, it is one of 3 in the group...i am trying to figure out where to hang them...nude I

smoooch!
n.

posted by natasha @ 7:16 PM  5 comments

10 May 2006

wind in the leaves windchimes ringing

azalea bush
today....spin, span, spun. so relaxing. and! i spun thin. ish. and did some 2-ply yarns that look edible. downright edible. i spun up all the roving blends that i bought at sheep and wool, which look great, but i feel like i cheated and it isn't mine. fun, though. really fun. and i used louet for the first time in a while for plying and remembered how much i love her. i am glad i didn't sell her. she is a good wheel. i need to wind skeins and wash em and let them dry outside in the glorious sun. um!

i washed our sheepskin that sits on the crazy wicker amoeba chaise lounge that the cats love and lay on a lot in the summer and LICK LICK LICK, so needless to say it was matted and gross. i should have taken a photo. so carrie told me you can wash them (what?) duh! and i put it in the machine on delicate and then shook it out and fluffed it with my fingers and it looks gorgeous. although it shrunk i think. i put it outside to dry and the skin shrunk.

our neighbors put up a high fence, which is really cool. they have little kids and i think it is best that we have privacy and so do they. it is strange to see the fence though. i want to paint our side of it. i mean, it isn't OUR side, obviously. still.

i am having problems getting my usual sock yarn, but it should come this week (i hope) it was backordered so i got something different in the meantime because i have orders to fill and an empty store. on the lines of sock yarn, i was looking for the socks that rock stuff for heather and i couldn't find it...i found out from holly's blog that someone bought all of it up and was selling it because they are a total piece of shite. who does that? people come from all over looking for specific hard to find things and then someone does that? i hope they were caught and kicked out. i don't care about socks that rock, and after looking at their site think that i could make socks that rock even harder...really hard...so there! but still. it is shitey.

ms$w was overwhelming, as usual. i didn't realize that there was a blogger meetup, and didn't see that many people other than my materialwhirled peeps, which is plenty...believe me! it is so so so crowded and crazy and i get a bit freaked with huge crowds, heat, etc. the first night we got there, everyone went out for dinner and i was so exhausted that i just stayed at the hotel room. i always worry that people think i am antisocial, but i knew i wouldn't be up to going to the show the next day. all this week i am super tired at really odd times. like 8 o'clock. although, i notice these days that i get super tired around 5 p, but perk back up after 9 usually. really convenient when i am still energetic in the wee hours, but exhausted at suppertime. i have been so tired lately that i haven't been eating.

i was too tired to take photos today. i will take em and list new stuff to-morrow. i will do my very best. i want to do some plen aire drawing to-morrow. my neighbors have these gorgeous poppies, but put up the fence, so i may just stick to my backyard....and photos. i swear.

lastly, some really cute links i came across....
pipecleaner dance so cute! are you kidding? turn on the sound for it. not at work, though. where did i find this? um. not sure.

and this craaaaazy gorgeous one from juju's blog.

i am on my 5th mini red sweater. almost done, anyway. the smaller needles really make my hands ache.

oh, also, top chef had its finale tonite and man! tiffany is one of the most evil women ever. additionally, she reminds me of a bitchface that...well, the girl that motherf*cked me for looking out the window at her and so it makes me hate her despite the fact that they are two different people. everyone started picking on her and it was crazy to see her flip out. additionally, a bunch of people on there were at each other's throats and it was very entertaining. you could see the hosts get freaked out and uncomfortable that a physical fight might break out. craziness. i avoid real drama in my life by watching reality tv. should i be ashamed? there are the peeps out there that claim not to watch tv, and maybe i am rotting my brain, but i think i am stretching my brain by doing several things at the same time. it is very rare that i watch tv without doing something else at the same time. my brain is getting muscles. my brain...is a meathead. ha. so suck it! me and my tivo love each other. he records programs he thinks i would like, or i want to see all the time. and even though sometimes he records really strange things, i appreciate the thought tivo. you are there for me. tivo, you rock.


off to knit and sleep, hopefully.
xo,
n.

posted by natasha @ 10:31 PM  1 comments

09 May 2006

tuesday, 10:10p

man! long time no bloggy. i had a house guest for the past week, went to ms$w this weekend and am so fried, i cannot even express...i plan to update the luxe store to-morrow, so hang in there. i know, i am a bad store owner. bad, bad, store owner.

i didn't get a whole lot at the show. i got a new skeinwinder, in hopes of easier sock yarn winding, some bulky bobbins, a bit of fiber, which i spun up and remembered that i hate using other people's blends because...i am a snob or something. it doesn't look like me.

it was really nice to get to see the spinny gals, although i didn't get to see a lot of the people that i had hoped to see, heidi, marie, and so many more. i wonder if i saw people whose blogs i read and didn't register. so if you thought you saw me...shame on you for not saying hi! shame! shame! otherwise, not much more, just really tired. i missed my studio. and i missed jake. i feel like i didn't see him for a week.

amy came over for an hour or so and we went to the farmer's market where i bought junk, ironically, and some rhubarb, which i plan to cook for the first time evah! evah! we then went to the art supply where i got a circle cutter thingy that is soooo cool! i have wanted to make some round tags, but now have all manner of circular things that i want to make. ooooh! and my buddy mike that does the framing there made me a class cutting mat to use it on. he rawks! i will update photos to-morrow. i swear it. man, i feel so guilty.

i think that is all. i have a ton of links for gorgeous things that i found to add, as well, so get ready for that.

you wanna see some livestock, you say?nursing baby!baby!! what else? suri alpacas?suri alpaca there are more on my flickr, but they are sucky and blurry. sorry. all apologies.

snore!
n.

posted by natasha @ 10:13 PM  5 comments

04 May 2006

maryland, here we come!

i got all of my orders and samples packed and shipped, although, as you know, there was no update last weekend, and this week it will not be until tuesday, most likely, but i have lots of stuff, so be patient! lots! laceweight, worsted, lots! and a pretty yarn picture...shring blllend

i took elizabeth at her request to joann's and she was so excited! i had to tell her to take it easy and see what there was at sheep and wool. i looked at the vendor list and there is so much stuff there, it is unreal. craziness! i found a ink pad that has a more poisonous makeup, so it dries on any surface, so hopefully that will work better for my cards, they all shmeared. dammit! so it should be fixed now. we will see.

so, on survivor tonite, which jake tivo'd for me, it was one of the episodes where their family member gets to stay with them and the one woman's obviously not outdoorsy hubbie comes to the camp and is just shocked and disgusted. it cracked me up. they offered him water, you know, boiled but dirty. he thought it was wash water.

my mom is in town but we leave before i will see her, and i was surprised that i felt sad about it. not guilty, but actually sad. my dad doesn't get in until to-morrow later, so we won't see him either.

i am so exhausted. i am going to try to take it easy until we leave to-morrow. i have had bad cramps and my appetite has been crummy. additionally, someone outside has been laughing really loud and talking really loudly in a stupid voice. and it is almost midnight. arseholes.

i found this store via designsponge and this skirt...i want it so badly. anyone interested in a trade to make me something like this...oooh! let me know!
ok. i am going to relax and catch up on emails, etc.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
n.

posted by natasha @ 11:30 PM  9 comments

03 May 2006

sqeaaaach!

i picked elizabeth up from the airport this morning, late, of course, but it worked out well. we chitchatted all the way into pittsburgh, where we went to knit and bead and i picked up the remainder of my yarn that they had sold, and it was a nice chunk of change. wooot woooot! we got coffee, the thai restaurant wasn't open yet and we headed back home. we had a lot of fun together and get along super super well.

elizabeth brought us fish from alaska (on the plane!) which we had for dinner. fresh fish REALLY doesn't smell. insane. so much so that the cats didn't even come when i opened the package. i checked email and relaxed a bit, i have wretched cramps and you all know that i get pooped out quick. jake and elizabeth chatted for a while and she hung out by the huge stack of cds and listened to different things. we had fresh bread. we chatted for a while until her eyes went sleepy and i came in to do my bloggy thing.

and! she brought me awesome pressies, which i will post to-morrow.

i have to pack orders to-morrow and get my sample kit out to that store in georgia. also, i got a ton of yarn back from knit and bead, so i will take photos (hopefully) to-morrow, as well. plus, i have an assistant! woooot!

on the subject of the purse from loop-d-loop, i think i am going to knit it in cheap-o cotton so that a)it is summery b)it is washable c)it won't stretch out so much. if anyone has made it, please let me know what you used and what you think about it, problems, etc. i plan to line it, so i am sure that will help, but still. i wanted to start it today, but no yarn. we will probably pop into jojo's or michael's to-morrow.

at knit and bead i picked up a bunch of vintage sequins, and they smell like vinegar. any ideas why? no really, i don't know why. they are super pretty, though.

leaves and sky
the weather is amazing, so bright that you have to wear sunglasses and i love it. jake put the swing on the back porch back up, which is one of my favorite places to hang out in the summer and knit or read. nice!

my hands feel a lot better, i wonder if all of the flare ups with my lupus have hormonal links. there is so little known about lupus that you never really know what is what. a friend of mine from australia has very similar symptoms to mine, even the insanely low blood pressure, dark circles under her eyes (mine look bruised lately and concealer makes it even worse), the aches, kidney issues, everything. i hate saying words like "patriarchal" but the disease affects mainly women and minorities, and women minorities more often than that. and even though it has been around forever, little is known about it, what causes it, how to treat it, nothing. and people die from it.

one other note about being sick...i make a point to let people know how i feel, emotionally and physically in my blog. it is very hard to stay focused and positive with a chronic illness. not only does it wear you down physically, but it wears on your brain when you feel shitty and don't have the energy to do ANYTHING at all to keep your mind busy. at that point you start thinking that you are lazy. you should push harder. you see people that do so much in a day and you know that you couldn't, and feel lazy. you know you aren't, you feel like you are. and then you think, what if i felt like this all the time and couldn't do anything, take care of your family, responsibilities, nothing. and then you just get scared, because you don't know if you would want to go on breathing if you couldn't be productive. where is this depressing story going, you ask? i guess i just want to make sure that if you have a person like this in your life, no matter how well they hide their negative feelings, they have them. make sure they know what you think of them. that you know that they do their best. the reassurance that i get from my friends, blog, my amazing husband make such a big difference in my life. if i was alone, i don't know what i would do. i appreciate you all so much. not only are you incredibly supportive, but you inspire me every single day. that goes for regina, bonnie, shannon, angela, linda, my sweet aussie friend jadey and so so so many more. i am thinking of doing an inspiration day every week. if i can remember to. so, as the golden girls song goes...thank you for being a friend!

oh! also, i am doing a trade with jennie who does amazing gorgeous work. go, check it out, and buy stuff! anyone else interested in doing a trade, let me know, i am digging the trades lately. so fun! and i have gotten such amazing stuff, too.

smoochies,
n.

posted by natasha @ 9:59 PM  5 comments

02 May 2006

and now for something...

we cleaned up the house for our houseguest. i was thinking about her coming and she called that second. it was so freaking odd. anyway, she is leaving in a couple of hours to make the long, long journey here. jake wanted to know where alaska was in relation to russia(who sold alaska to the u.s. for 2 cents an acre!!) anyway, really fricking close to siberia. seriously. who knew that? and alaska is twice as big as texas. insane. and a grizzly bear and polar bear are 1500 lbs and 11 feet tall. perspective? a really big buck is about 200 lbs or less. whoa! i told jake that she is bringing salmon (which can weigh up to 100 lbs in alaska!) and he got super excited because he lurves him salmon. his favorite. in fact, he wishes i was a salmon, and i rub raw salmon on my neck for perfume. it lasts way longer than that expensive stuff i was using and drives him wild! not really. fish only appeals to animules, i reckon. or wierdos. so all of you about to meet me at sheep and wool...you may want to put some vicks under your nose. just giving you a heads up. do you think that is why cats give me kisses? hmmmm....

anyway, i got my monthly hair appointment today, which was really really needed. the black dye on the dark part of my hair didn't take on the gray parts(i mean theoretically if i HAD gray hairs) so my roots were ridiculously. i took the awesome purse that ashley made for me and my hairdresser who is quite an accomplished hairdresser went nuts over it, picking it up, checking out the meticulous piping and lining and sequins and appliques...go ashley, go ashley! it holds a ton of stuff and is comfy. it reminds me of the teva durham purse that i really want to make from loop-d-loop...no photo, sorry. but it is round with a round armhole and it ROCKS and is probably within my knitting skill set/attention span. (i have a crappy mtv show on in the background and they played pj harvey...what?)

farmer's market started this week and after my hair appt, despite the killer headache(i think the lights in there do it to me. or the chemicals atop my head?) i popped into UFO one of my favorite antique shops to kill 15 minutes before it started and got some small pieces of china and then went to the farmer's market, with only 3 vendors. i got jake the baklava that he loves, some hummus, although i make a good one, i got a raspberry lemon muffin because i hadn't eaten all day and a green pepper plant, well, 6 of em. and i don't know if my little garden has the space.

so, the organic farmer guy told me that a red pepper is a ripe green pepper! what? did you guys know that? you just let it ripen more on the vine and it will turn red. whoa! i want to do cukes, also. he said that they grow best from seed rather than plant. who would think i would love to dig in the dirt? i may plant the green peppers at the side of the house. i will have to do it before i leave for sheep and wool, though.

after picking up elizabeth, we may go to ikea, she has never seen one, and then i plan to pick up my yarn from knit and bead because they are closing, and i figure that she would like to see a bit of pittsburgh. so thai food maybe? she was excited. their sticky rice is too good. i could live on sticky rice. i am thinking about getting a rice cooker like john and diana. i love rice. just plain old rice. i need to call diana and make plans to visit after the baby is born, maybe in the fall to give them some time to adjust to being parents. parents! i still owe them a wedding present, let alone a present for the new baby. i am thinking it must rock.

my parents are in town this weekend, well for friday night and leaving saturday, i think, and i won't be around to see them. i will be afloat in fiber and my fiber buddies. danger!

for those sweet peeps that send me nice emails worrying about me, my hands are sore, but not nearly as bad. i get really freaked out and emotional everytime they get so so sore and think of how horrible my life would be if i couldn't use my hands and i kind of freak out. sitting in bed with your hands in braces in your lap is not my idea of a good time. you know?

here is some uncarded targhee yarn...merino x single i carded up a bunch of my bits and pieces that i have been saving (i have several large bags full) and the batts will be listed soon...so keep an eye out. i am fighting not to spin them myself.

ok, off to look in loop-d-loop at that purse pattern. i just may need to pick up some yarn for it to-morrow!

smooochies!
n.

posted by natasha @ 10:33 PM  4 comments

and now for something...

we cleaned up the house for our houseguest. i was thinking about her coming and she called that second. it was so freaking odd. anyway, she is leaving in a couple of hours to make the long, long journey here. jake wanted to know where alaska was in relation to russia(who sold alaska to the u.s. for 2 cents an acre!!) anyway, really fricking close to siberia. seriously. who knew that? and alaska is twice as big as texas. insane. and a grizzly bear and polar bear are 1500 lbs and 11 feet tall. perspective? a really big buck is about 200 lbs or less. whoa! i told jake that she is bringing salmon (which can weigh up to 100 lbs in alaska!) and he got super excited because he lurves him salmon. his favorite. in fact, he wishes i was a salmon, and i rub raw salmon on my neck for perfume. it lasts way longer than that expensive stuff i was using and drives him wild! not really. fish only appeals to animules, i reckon. or wierdos. so all of you about to meet me at sheep and wool...you may want to put some vicks under your nose. just giving you a heads up. do you think that is why cats give me kisses? hmmmm....

anyway, i got my monthly hair appointment today, which was really really needed. the black dye on the dark part of my hair didn't take on the gray parts(i mean theoretically if i HAD gray hairs) so my roots were ridiculously. i took the awesome purse that ashley made for me and my hairdresser who is quite an accomplished hairdresser went nuts over it, picking it up, checking out the meticulous piping and lining and sequins and appliques...go ashley, go ashley! it holds a ton of stuff and is comfy. it reminds me of the teva durham purse that i really want to make from loop-d-loop...no photo, sorry. but it is round with a round armhole and it ROCKS and is probably within my knitting skill set/attention span. (i have a crappy mtv show on in the background and they played pj harvey...what?)

farmer's market started this week and after my hair appt, despite the killer headache(i think the lights in there do it to me. or the chemicals atop my head?) i popped into UFO one of my favorite antique shops to kill 15 minutes before it started and got some small pieces of china and then went to the farmer's market, with only 3 vendors. i got jake the baklava that he loves, some hummus, although i make a good one, i got a raspberry lemon muffin because i hadn't eaten all day and a green pepper plant, well, 6 of em. and i don't know if my little garden has the space.

so, the organic farmer guy told me that a red pepper is a ripe green pepper! what? did you guys know that? you just let it ripen more on the vine and it will turn red. whoa! i want to do cukes, also. he said that they grow best from seed rather than plant. who would think i would love to dig in the dirt? i may plant the green peppers at the side of the house. i will have to do it before i leave for sheep and wool, though.

after picking up elizabeth, we may go to ikea, she has never seen one, and then i plan to pick up my yarn from knit and bead because they are closing, and i figure that she would like to see a bit of pittsburgh. so thai food maybe? she was excited. their sticky rice is too good. i could live on sticky rice. i am thinking about getting a rice cooker like john and diana. i love rice. just plain old rice. i need to call diana and make plans to visit after the baby is born, maybe in the fall to give them some time to adjust to being parents. parents! i still owe them a wedding present, let alone a present for the new baby. i am thinking it must rock.

my parents are in town this weekend, well for friday night and leaving saturday, i think, and i won't be around to see them. i will be afloat in fiber and my fiber buddies. danger!

for those sweet peeps that send me nice emails worrying about me, my hands are sore, but not nearly as bad. i get really freaked out and emotional everytime they get so so sore and think of how horrible my life would be if i couldn't use my hands and i kind of freak out. sitting in bed with your hands in braces in your lap is not my idea of a good time. you know?

here is some uncarded targhee yarn...
ok, off to look in loop-d-loop at that purse pattern. i just may need to pick up some yarn for it to-morrow!

smooochies!
n.

posted by natasha @ 10:33 PM  0 comments

01 May 2006

woe is me.

at the risk of being a crybaby...waaaa waaaa waaaa. my hands, fingers, arms all the way up to my shoulders...killing me. it hurts to type, or hold my arms in a typing position. i can't knit, spin, hold a book, or even surf the net without a muscle spasm. i am such a whiner, that i got back on the computer, despite pain, to complain. that is hardcore. my granny would do the same. it is my heritage. anyway, as you all know, i am starting to do the freak-out that i do when my hands hurt like this because i imagine if it happened for good. and i would wither and die. i wouldn't learn to type with my toes. or my mouth. i would croak.

ok. it all hurts. even into my armpits and chest.

waa.

posted by natasha @ 10:24 PM  5 comments