28 December 2005

better than usual...


yarnarilla
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.
so far, i have sold 4 yarns since the newsletter. so yay! didn't you check it out yet? shameless, you say? whatevah! kitty needs a new pair of shoes. or something like that.

so, i was catching up on blogs and saw that the new topic going around is what you wanted to get out of your blog, and what you did get out of blogging. so, feeling strongly about this subject, and how much it has done for me, and feeling that i haven't posted anything other than bits and pieces lately, i was excited.

what did i expect? i don't know. the primary thing was that i wanted to be more computer literate. i remember buying "who let the blogs out" one of the "blogger" peeps, which was no help at all, although it helped me understand how a blog worked, exactly. i had been bitten by the knitting bug last november, and as usual with creative endeavors, i was obsessed with learning as much as possible as soon as possible. and i found all of these knitting blogs. and these people seemed so hi-tech. i wanted to know how to show people what i was working on, and i learned how to do that. then, i wanted to do more, and have links and i ended up getting an etsy account and sold things there. and i got comments, and people that read my blog regularly, and....friends. friends that knew more about me than most people. and when i didn't post on a day, i would get emails asking if i was ok. i shamelessly told everyone about my birthday and not only got the most birthday wishes and cards ever, but got GIFTS from people i had never met in person. insane! how amazing is that? i now email back and forth on a regular basis a woman that can knit or crochet anything, including a vegetable liberation army, and a pirate costume, with pegleg and hook, is in a book and the crochet pattern a day catalog.. i know a gorgeous girl who is in a death metal band. bad ass! i have a jewish friend who tells me happy jewish new year and lives in costa rica! whoa! i talk to jenny dowde
and i may have my yarn in her forthcoming book. what? and the list goes on and on. my secret pals...ridiculous! 50 bucks? not them. they not only send me amazing gifts, but they are so well thought out. meant for me! few people have given me such wonderful gifts, includingknitarama. such an amazing and inspiring book. knitted fried egg ear muffs.and! what else? did you seee all of those hyperlinks i put in? did you? not only can i do that, but i don't have to refer to my notebook anymore.

all of my blogreading and the wonderful input i have gotten, lead me to spinning. i wasn't satisfied with the yarns at the store, although i do like the fuzzy acrylics and sparse carryalong yarns that make my yarns look even better knit up...no yarn is bad yarn. it all has it's own job. you can't crochet corn out of a fuzzy yarn? or a hyperbolic plane. no can do! but i wanted things that i couldn't find and would be so expensive that i would feel sickened buying them, if i could even afford it at all. the only yarns i tend to buy now are plain ones, for knitting along with other things. and that rocks! i discovered pluckyfluff and

posted by natasha @ 2:27 PM  3 comments

not enough hours...


4 great iPhotos
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.
well...i have sold two skeins of yarn so far from the new website, so that is good for the first 24 hours. but feel free to go and

posted by natasha @ 1:32 AM  1 comments

26 December 2005

luxe is up!


4 great iPhotos
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.
i am so excited to direct you to my website, which is up and raring to go. i also have some new yarns up in my etsy store. within an hour of listing new yarns, i sold one, and a couple of hours later, angie, one of my most rockin' customers, bought my favorite yarn that i have ever made. so i was excited. i spent 5 hours on the website today, not that i did the website, you know what i mean, and had a headache and was pissy and then...stuff sold right away! and it is so exciting. so keep buying stuff! further, if you want to be on the update list, email me and i will add you to it.

what else? i got awesome stuff from both of my secret pals, which i need to take photos of and list. my computer conveniently died around the time i really needed her, poor girl. we got a powerbook from my awesome in-laws who did not want her and got a dell. what? but she is so fast, and so beautiful. i love her. so, needless to say, i am super duper behind in correspondence, so for those of you that sent me worried emails, or left comments that got nothing back...i am back! and i missed ya! i haven't read my blogs, so i am afraid to even go to the bloglines. it will be a bad bad scene. i need to go do it, though.

i will have more to say to-morrow. i am a bit overwhelmed at the mo.

posted by natasha @ 11:58 PM  3 comments

19 December 2005

airing my dirty laundry?


nov.28
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.
where have i been? well. my computer,rest her soul, is no longer with me. i have been bumming laptops from those around me whenever i have the chance. i should be back for good in a day or so, at which time my website will go public. for real. i swear it. and it is nice! my friend jason did it for me, and i am making his mama and sissy some super swank knitted things for christmas to pay off some of my debt to his kindness. and immense talent. let me know if anyone needs some web stuff done. and he is single. if anyone is female and interested. so. once i get a permanent computer, hopefully to-morrow, i will be back. and i miss you so much. i have been jotting notes down in a notebook so i remember to blog them. i miss you. do i ever!

i got awesome stuff from my secret pal, and was unable to blog it, and will do so on my computer, as i don't want to put all sorts of crap on amy's computer.

also...i popped into knitwits, my lys of choice, and brought a few skeins of yarn to show them, just show them, cause i needed some yarn for projects, and they asked if they could carry my yarn, and that they had seen my stuff at pittsburgh knit and bead and loved it. i was so excited. i just went to buy yarn. i swear it. my friend eileen teaches classes there and i thought i would show her what i was spinning. so yay! if only i could get online!

furthermore, i have spun up some of the coolest yarns i have ever made, which will be posted in the next few days, and they will go fast. i promise you that. they rock. hard.

thanks for all of the inquiries about me...i am fine, if frustrated. still spinning, dyeing, knitting, and the drama around here is more intense than on deadwood. although no one has been shot. some drama is fun, which is what i love about reality tv, i love it! but when it descends into utter mayhem, it isn't so fun anymore. i worry so much, and it kills me.

i am going to go hang out with amy now, and get some gifts knitted.

smooch!
n.

posted by natasha @ 4:28 PM  9 comments

10 December 2005

christmas yarns for you!!heeeeeree!!



due to my jewish bubba worrying heritage, i worry about everyone. i actually talked to my friend's aunt, who she is very close to. i just need to back off. she is a hard person to back off of.

we got out to dinner with my inlaws, which was nice. it was my first venture out of the house all week, i think. that is insane. i am not sure. i am a shut in, i think. and winter makes me even worse. i don't want to go anywhere in the winter.

i have been being reasonably productive, lots of yarns to update...to-morrow...i swear it, but this one at the top is a bit of something christmas. it has tinsel and glitter and candy striping and it is soft and fluffy like snow. i am going ot do some snow ones too...that will be gorgeous! i can see them in my mind....

i incorrectly labeled a few packages and got them back, which is so annoying, so i have to go out in the shitty weather and send em out. i know, boo hoo, shut the hell up, normal people leave their house all the time. i never said i was normal. i am a delicate flower, i tell you! we are from not such good stock. well, the stock was ok, it may have just been a bad genetic pairing. like pears are great, chocolate is great....together? not so great. just not. i really need to figure out a system of packing and shipping and keeping addresses and knowing what went out and when and what is going out, waiting for a check to clear...you know what i mean...i am very bad at these things and then stuff happens like it goes out in a timely manner and i send it to the wrong address. not. good. business. i could be like lew from little barn and tell people it went out priority 9 months ago and must have gotten lost in the mail, again. bullshite!

sugar boutique sold some of my stuff and were interested in a spring line...i don't think i told you that yet, so that is fun. loads of money? no. but a gorgeous place that i am proud to have my things in. i think we have very similar taste in color and textures. i feel like she appreciates what i do. my mom in law asked if i wanted to knit doggie sweaters for their doggie booth at the mall, if you live in my area and go to the westmoreland mall and have pups, it is called just dogs and is super cute...stop by...anyway, they have machine made sweaters that they sell, and i don't think that even for a little dog sweater, people would be willing to pay what they would need to cost, i need to get a good pattern and see how long it takes to make the small pup ones. i mean, a 4 lb dog is pretty damn small. really. it may not take that long. the other idea i had was to use recycled sweaters and cut them up and use them as fabric, so it is just sewing and not knitting. i actually enjoy having knitting projects that i need to get going, that are stacked up and ready to go. you know? so i will try one out and see how it looks, and if people are interested in it once they hear the price. any advice would be appreciated.

i feel all crazy and can't sleep, but feel tired and i know that if i get up and spin, i will not go to sleep at all. so i am trying to just stay in bed and watch tv. i may take a shower to try to get sleepier. i have the skin crawling ordeal, so i may just need a new pain patch, but jake is sleeping and it is hard to put it on your own back. straight and smooth.

ok...off to shower and decompress. i feel fat now, imagine what i will feel like when i decompress. woah!

posted by natasha @ 12:43 AM  8 comments

08 December 2005

quick, before it freezes up!

our ibook is on her way out, i am sad to say, so that is why i have been absent lately. we will have the new computer to-morrow, so i will be able to update my yarn store then. i apologize for not doing it sooner, but alas, i could not. i have loads of stuff to put up on the store, my website is not ready yet, i am not exactly sure when it will, but check my etsy store for the new christmas yarns. late, as usual.

things have been okay, although i had a strange nightmare that had a creepy fishpond i step out the back door and my friend jg's brother storing all sorts of crap on top of the pond, and giant fish with big teeth in the pond, and people letting pavel outside, and then he would jump in the pond to get at the fish, maiming one of them, and i had to go in and drag him out because he couldn't get back out. and it happened over and over again. i guess i know what it is about. one of my closest friends is out of control and i can't handle it. i don't want to be critical, if she wants to run wild and put herself in danger, i can't stop her. i also can't hear about and wait for something to happen. and then, some of my friends started getting pulled in, close friends, and i just don't want to deal with it at all. i absorb stress. i get headaches. i get sick. i get depressed. she has a hard time understanding why it upsets me so much. that, in itself upsets me. how can you not understand feeling a sense of responsibility for your friends? isn't that what friends are for? can i be more vague? maybe.

i made some bread today. it smells so incredible. if i could bottle that smell, i would be rich! rich i tell you!
i better post this before my computer goes out again. pictures to-morrow. i swear it.
miss you so much. thanks for all the kind comments, urging and begging to see the new yarns. it makes it so much more fun for me.

n.

posted by natasha @ 9:14 PM  0 comments

06 December 2005

i wish that i had jessie's girl...

so guess who is back on general hospital? RICK SPRINGFIELD! he was a surgeon back in the old days, as you may not have known, and now is just a drunk with shaky hands, desperately needed to perform a risky operation to save jason. can he do it? we will see. i will keep you posted.

i spun a record 5 skeins today and then felt tired and slightly crippled. i will be updating the store to-morrow when they are dry. so. to-morrow. and two others, as well. so 7! count em. ok, you can't, but you will be able to. and 4 of them are x-mas ones, with tinsel and candy striping. do i like seasonal yarns? no. do you? i hope so. next year i will plan ahead. although, i feel like my fiber obsession may have become something else by then. sort of like how they say smoking pot turns into hard drugs. like that. but fuzzy. which is way better for me, although maybe just as expensive. i will be trying to find someone to buy cashmere from at 3 in the morning in a dark alley. it is possible.

in other news, a while ago jake fell for one of those fake paypal emails where you update your info, except that it isn't paypal and you end up telling them all your info. so that is bad. it happened to me, and i happened to be checking my email whilst talking on the phone with amy, in my standard ADD style, and she told me to look at the link and sure enough, it was rerouted and not paypal.com. so anyway, he got a call from dell about the new account he opened and as you all know, we would never buy a computer that was not a mac...and sure enough, shady dealings. dude, we're getting a dell! the dude got a $7000 limit. it is a damn good thing that my own credit is not so good. no one would want to steal my identity. although, i have known some people that wanted to be me. i am not exactly sure why, though. i can spin like a mofo though.

i bought to gigantic spools of lurex for 99 cents each on ebay. i am talking like 7000 yards gigantic, but it isn't very strong, so i dunno. it is pretty, though.

so...check back to-morrow and i will have some fancy yarns up, knock on wood, unless my computer is under the weather.

smoochies y'all.
n.

posted by natasha @ 7:29 PM  4 comments

05 December 2005

snooooore.


prudence
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.
so. i dyed fiber most of the day and spun a couple of singles. pretty. i mixed colors by the book, well, give or take and realized that: 1.little barn's dye's do not match up with their equivalent 2. what i was told was turquoise is actually black 3.dharma trading co has the dye that i use in bulk for almost the price that i pay for a speck of it. i dye at least once a week and go through dye like nobody's business. so that was really exciting. is that sad? a bit maybe. well, screw you then! actually went back into my studio to look at my fiber while it is drying. nope, not dry yet.

there has been constant drama with a few of my friends involved. it has been really taking its toll on me. i have had a few asthma attacks and a panic attack and a constant headache. i may end up losing a friend. it looks highly likely. i just cannot handle it. i have been told through much of my life that i am judgmental and critical and that i am mean. it is true, really. but i can't be close with people that i don't trust, respect...and that don't care about that fact, somehow. that is the thing that is the most incredible to me. even though i tell her that i don't know if i can handle anymore of this, that i may be done, she just sort of changes the subject.

ok. i am super hungry. must. get. snack. mmmmmm.

smoochies,
n.

posted by natasha @ 9:44 PM  2 comments

04 December 2005

did ya miss me?

let me start by saying that our mac seems to be ill and i am not sure how much longer it will work at all. we are getting a new computer but it will be about a week, so if you email me, or comment and i don't reply...you will know why. it is working, not super well, but working at the mo, so we will see how it goes.

i found out that a really cool online yarn store wants to carry my yarns and kits and i was soooo excited. i will reveal the details when it all happens. i am going to dye a ton of stuff to-morrow. i may run to the thrift store to get some more pots to dye with.

i got a crochet book today and i am amazed at the things you can do. as you know, i have been messing around with freeform crochet, and the flexibility of it just amazes me. i am not super fond of traditional crochet, but really, traditional knit can be really damn boring, too. no offense to you traditionalists. afghans aren't the only thing you can do with a hook right? i guess debbie stoller has a crochet book coming out soon. i hope the patterns are a little better proofread than snb's are.

i am going to post this before the computer starts acting up, but i will post again as soon as i can.
smoochies y'all,
n.

posted by natasha @ 9:25 PM  2 comments

02 December 2005

fiber friday-16 lbs of loooooove!!


nov.28
Originally uploaded by natashafialkov.
ok, let me start by saying that one of my fiber orders came today...just as we were leaving to see dinosaur jr and drop off the goods at sugar. so i didn't get to open it until we got back after 12 i think. ooooh. i love you, fiber! i got a few pounds of yearling mohair top(prepped), a few of scoured, but not carded yearling mohair for some fuzzy yarn action...some hat black super duper fine merino...ooooh....i made myself a frida eyebrow with some, i will post the photo to-morrow....a bunch of nice merino, some gross dirty unwashed lincoln fleece...and i know why they say "in the grease" cause it looks like i dipped it in grease. it looks like a santa beard, it is only a pound and was cheap so no biggie...and some romney that is scoured by not carded. for i dunno what. fun. for fun. ok? deal with it!

i popped in to see jamie at sugar and drop off the goods, which she crooned over and told me that i smelled great and everything smelled great. and looked great and i was glad that she wanted everything. i put the scarf kits together and printed out cute directions...i am going to put some up for sale soon, they are super cute. heidi from mypapercrane had some cutie stuff there, really nice crocheted hats and scarves and some yarn at ridiculously cheap prices. bad heidi! bad! anyway, sugar is stocked to the gills for xmas and looks amazing. it is such a gorgeous store. i could cause some damage for sure.

the show was good. it was a reunion show, so i may have been one of the only people old enough to know the songs. is that a good thing? yes. jake wanted to be right by the stage so he could see, and i am a sitter normally, well, where we were made it sound beyond awful, i was ready to leave, we moved and it sounded great. oops. i also called butter from the show and held the phone up so he could hear what he missed. also, i got a really cool tshirt. i never get t's but it was really cute. and a girl shirt and not really small. so that is good. if it doesn't stink like smoke, i may sport it to-morrow. yeah!

heather's soon to be ex-hubby was there and i was a bit worried he would approach me, and what the hell would i say? um. i would do the patented fialkov pretend you don't exist maneuver. what else can you do? flip out? kick nuts and run? fake a seizure?

after sugar and prior to the show we went to a really nice thai restaurant called sweet basil that was delish. and i got some sticky rice with the thai custard to go, my favorite, and this strange other desert that had the custard with butternut squash that was...strange. let me put it this way, i ate the rest of it at home, i was hungry, okay? anyway, the cats begged me to give them some, fought over it and ate it all up. so i dunno if that is a good sign. it wasn't bad. just not really good.

so, after my hair appointment to-morrow at 12...i need to dye a bunch o'stuff. i need to be doing bigger batches so i don't have to do it twice a week. i need to get cranking. everything i had is gone. not that i am complaining.

ok, it is almost 1:30 a, i need to try to wind down and sleep. and no freaky scary nightmares tonite! ok?

posted by natasha @ 1:21 AM  1 comments