Funny!

Well as we get closer and closer to choosing the next King of America on Election Day (I now call it "Choose Your Monarch Day"), I figured a little humor to break through the blitz would be nice. Found these on the Lion Brand Website.

The two un-distinguished (from each other that is) candidates:















Or the possible write-in (only a little darker with shorter curlier hair and a little more gruff):

Kamika thinking this is a no brainer

A FO, A Bed, & Some Hope

In Reverse order.

The Hope:

I'm counting down! Five more days until I'm emancipated from my life of serfdom at The Motel. I can't wait! I've been itching to buy all kinds of stuff to get ready for this move. I've already scheduled a day off, ordered the utilities, and assembled the move crew. I even bought a brand new high tech shower head. DM is a little surly about it but she'll get over it. LB and ST have moved back in as well as The Guest, Jeeves, and The Nut so she'll have plenty of company.

The Bed:

Yesterday I went out and bought a brand new bed! It's so FIYAH. I got it from Z Gallerie le outlet instead of the retail store and I'm so happy I did. I got it for 70% off and it's still in their current catalogue. Can you believe it?

This is my bed, called the Leslie Bed in Chocolate Passion Micro-Suede. The entire bed cost me $325 with tax. On the website it's going for $1,083 with tax and NOT including the shipping of $135. In total I saved a whopping $893. I just can't help but to pat myself on the back.

and lastly...

The FO: Reverse Halter

Forgive the "Front" pic. I have a serious issue with letting my niece's cleavage and belly be exposed and she didn't have time to put on a tank top before work. I believe in modesty, plus my niece didn't wear the collar up. Better pictures to come. Since this is a gift for my cousin Stacey, I'll try to catch her wearing it.

Time: June 2008, About a 2 weeks due to figuring out mods

Yarn: Vanna's Choice Worsted Weight Yarn, 4 balls in rust

Needles/Hook: J

Modifications: Instead of using Paton's Pooch as pattern calls for I used small wooden rings (about 72) from the jewelry making section of Michael's. Knitaholictoo suggested wooden beads. Thanks for the inspiration girl!

Kamika on the move

Your Opinions Needed

Okay I need your opinion. I'm just about done with the Reverse Halter from Doublestitch that I'm making for my cousin and I've come to a crossroads. You see, my cousin wanted the sweater in orange. I figured burnt orange would be more flattering for her so I knit the bodice in Vanna's Choice yarn in Rust. Unfortunately the pattern calls for the use of Patons Pooch for the bottom area and I decided that since the Pooch didn't come in a comparable color to the Rust that I would use a nice neutral color like Fleece to give her that Bohemian look she tends to like.

Here's my problem. I don't like it! I think the color contrast is too stark. Originally when I was at the store buying the yarn I had resigned myself to just knit it in creme like the picture but I couldn't find any creme yarns that seemed to match. The Patons Pooch is a very yellowy-cream wherein the other yarns were really dull and flat.

So what should I do? Do I keep crocheting to the end with what I've got or should I scrap it all together? I'm leaning towards finishing it because I won't be the one wearing it and it's not hideous, just not MY style. Even though I'll know this I may still be slightly offended if it never sees the light of day.

Kamika in a quagmire

Mean While, Back At the Ranch

Yippe Kayo, Yippe Kaya! I'm planning on checking out of The Motel this month. My long season of serfdom is almost over. I just can't take it no more! We have far less guests but way more drama of which I probably am the most guilty of. Jeeves has been getting on my nerves like no other. I just can't stand...Well whatever! I'm tired of rehashing the idiocy that is embodied in him. All I know is that there is no time like the present.

I started looking about 3 weeks ago and I think I'm really close to finding the apartment I want. I can't wait to move into peace and quiet. If I ever have roommates again (which I won't unless they come with names like husband and chir'ren) we all better live on the same or similar schedules. I'm a bit neurotic about my quiet time.

It's like relationships. A few differences bring zest and new experiences but too many differences and you got a hell-in-a-handbag bust hell wide open situation. My relations with The Motel has been of the latter. So let's cut to the chase. Who's to blame? ME of course! As if.

You just can't work a 9-5 be on a routine schedule and live with people who have no idea of what a schedule or routine is. It's not their fault. They don't have jobs and so they go to bed at 11pm after an evening of rauckus gossiping, snore like a locamotive all night, and then have the audacity to wake you up at 4:30am with their shuffling and nervous tendencies and singing of old negro spirituals, and more loud talking to only themselves. Going in and out of doors all night like a crack head, testing buttons a new cell phone and being in awe of the speaker phone feature like they just landed on earth all before the rooster has even gotten up. If I was a swearing women I'd say I swear I hear roosters cursing him every morning. If you haven't gotten the picture, let me sum it up for you. Have you ever had someone wake you up 30 minutes to an hour before you actually have to get up? Well there you go. EVERYDAY!

DM thinks it's cute. She ain't gonna think it's cute when I'm gone and he's sleeping in the room next to hers and The Geezers with only a thin wood paneled wall between them. She's gonna really be pissed when I don't give her my new address.

I'm not angry. I'm just counting down the days until I'm gone. I can see sweet freedom on the horizon.

I've been working on the Reverse Halter from Double Stitch. It's going so fast that there's no need to post progress pics. FO in next post.

Kamika the Free

Wait A Minute Mr. Postman!

I've been doing a lot of online shopping lately to satisfy my spending jones. I've been creeping into boutiques IR as well but I don't feel like taking pictures of that stuff. Check out my online scores:

The new Double Stitch - Designs For The Crochet Fashionista book by Erika & Monica Simmons. I preordered this one through Amazon back in April and have been patiently waiting for it up until yesterday. Below are a few items I will be queing up to make. Get yours in the sidebar -->



The book is full of colorful fun knits. Some for rocking around town and others for the sophisticates. I fall into the latter category and as such many are too bohemian for me. The sisters do no disappoint on inspiration though. I think that with a little creativity and a keen study of their designs on their MySpace page you can come up with all sorts of renditions on their already great designs. I really enjoy their stylish departure from the norm of cardigans, sweaters, socks, and pullovers. The stitch is simple but very detailed and decorative at the same time. I am happy to support the Queen's of Crochet Haute Fashion!

The Inaugural Issue of Verena Knitting by Burda (actually store bought). This magazine is really popular in Europe. On the cover it tauts itself as "Europe's top knit magazine." I'm really a sucker for good fashion styling. I try not to succumb to it but I don't think I'll ever change. Good styling is good styling. I guess that's why they do it that way. The magazine is sort of a mix between Rowan and Knit1 - classic designs mixed with the quirky. It's fun and for $6.99 you get 50+ patterns. Below are my faves.




On to hair!! Afrobella announced that Miss Jessie's was having their annual Mothers' Day Sale so I had to check it out. Normally I'm cool on all things Miss Jessies. I tried the Curly Pudding in the past and got a grape scented mess. Plus the price to me was prohibitive for a product I wasn't sure was going to be useful to me. I remember at the time it was $58 for 8oz. The devil is a liar! But, they were offering their Curly Buttercreme at $32 for 8oz AND you got a sampler pack of all of their other products (6 in total) thrown in for free. I figured I had to try it. I bought the Baby Buttercreme and got my order within the week.

I really like the Baby Buttercreme. It really helps with the knots and gives me a silky finish without feeling greasy. I didn't follow the instructions on the website or I would have had a hot greasy mess. You only need a little of this product for it to be effective not globs as the site instructs nor do you need to rake it through your hair with a baby doll size comb. My hair is so fluffy and full after applying just a little to each section and twisting.

Three days later I condish washed and twisted with the Curly Meringue. Meh! I'm not as sold on it. It did give me boingy springy curls but they were not as soft as when I used the Baby Buttercreme. I haven't gotten to the other products yet. All in all I'm very satisfied with the products. I'm happy that I didn't stop with just the Curly Pudding as I would have never tried the Baby Buttercreme. It's about trial and error. The only drawback I'm finding with the line is that there is an ingredient within these products that makes me slightly light-headed. I have to figure out what that is before I continue using. If any of you have experienced the same please do share your thoughts.

In my next few posts I'll post hair pics as well as pics of Oz which is 99% complete. Hopefully I'll have the pattern written up for you as well.

Love

Kamika

Been So Long...

Wow, I didn't realize I had been away for so long. Crimson Purl had to bring me back. Thanks lady! It's late and I'm feeling a little under the weather but enjoy Isobel In Red by French Girl Knits and some shots of the completed Blanket Coat I crocheted. Didn't have a good enough model to model the coat but the candids are nice.

Isobel In Red

Time: Mid November- December 1st
Yarn: Sensations Cosetta, Just 6 skeins (350yds total doubled up)
Needles/Hook: US 17 and 19
Notions: 2 1 1/2" buttons

Blanket Coat

Kamika

I Crawl Because I Like Being Close to the Ground

It really bites that I can't blog at work. That's code for: brace yourself, this is gonna be a long one. This daylight savings time and work takes a lot out of me. Don't get me wrong. I love the extra hour in the mornings but it really messes me up at night and the flourescent lights at work don't make it any better. They and the flickering (useless) computer that I sit in front of all day really saps my energy. The computer at work is useless because I can't BLOG! But the moolah is nice!!

Let's jump right in, shall we.

I've been spending a lot of time with ST (Surly Teenager). She's been attached to my hip and all things auntie for a few weeks now. It's no problem though. She's a really cool kid. So cool that she's picked up crochet! FIYAH! Thats her below at another yarn spot I wanted to hit called the Knit Cafe. It's a cozy little store in Beverly Hills. You may have heard of the book Greetings from the Knit Cafe. Well this is that author's store. Nice folks with no boug at all.

Houston, I think we have a convert. She was so overwhelmed when she stepped into the store. She never knew there was such a thing as a "Yarn Store" that carried only yarn and didn't have a big box chain name *cough* *cough* Michael's/Jo-Anns *cough* *cough*. Here's ST picking out some Cascade 220 in a rich purple variegated.

And here she is practicing on some scrap yarn I had. No sense in wasting the new yarn on test work.

And here she is trying to crochet in peace but unable to hold back a laugh at her corny auntie trying to snap flicks for her blog.

I ended up not buying any yarn but instead picking up this French Girl Knits pattern called Isobel. I later picked up some Cosetta yarn from Jo-Anns. I'm doubling up.

For the last couple of weeks I have been smitten with the Cycling Aran by Hello yarn. It's been in my Ravelry cue for a few months but I've been feeingl the need to make it in earnest. Two weeks ago I swung by another LYS in Santa Monica called Wild Fiber. Before I say anything negative about them, I will give them one more opportunity to redeem themselves.

I picked up a ball of Elisabeth Lavold Silky Flamme to swatch with and fell in love almost 90%. I just couldn't do it. I decided that in order to get the proper gauge I would have to go from a 9 to a 10.5 needle which would IMO make the sweater too airy. I didn't give up though and kept looking for a good replacement. The only problem I had was finding the right yarn in the same rich gunmetal color and reasonably priced. After searching hard and not settling I finally found it!

So this weekend I decided to do my own little yarn crawl. Just like in my mall hop days, I decided to hit a few shops I had never been to before to say I went. I started out in Santa Monica at A Manos Yarn Center. I've heard a lot about this shop and wasn't disappointed. The ladies in there were having a good ole time when I walked in. They had the music going and about 8 of them around the table just yakking it up and knitting. I jumped right into the conversation. I couldn't find my elusive Cycling Aran yarn there but I did pick up a pair of size #19 needles, and some pretty Rowan Calmer and Berroco Bonsai in reds to start scrumbling for a shawl I'm making for a new friend. Annette and Shenita (the owners) were wonderful. Would you believe I had been talking to Shenita off and on on Ravelry and never even knew she was the owner of A Manos? Well here's your plug girl!.


After leaving A Manos, I drove on over to Compatto also in Santa Monica. Early last week I had gotten an invite to be in the Compatto group on Ravelry and decided I should go check out the spot. This store is niiice! Well decorated and well stocked. It's a small spot but nicely organized. Nancy, Bonnie and Grace are the bomb! They carry lots of Blue Sky Alpacas, Rio de la Plata, and Malabrigo. Blue Sky Alpaca Dyed Cotton is what I chose for my Cycling Aran. Check it out! I hope he loves it!

A few more things. Picked up this cute pattern called Instant Oatmeal by Monkey Suits. I think Mercy will look cute in this for the winter. Finally something to use that RYC I bought a while ago. BTW, I don't think I ever showed you all the yarn I got for Arrica's Boobholder. I need to get it popping cause I missed her birthday. I've had this yarn for nearly 3 months now and haven't started yet.

I promise I'll be back this week (Lw). I got some great events going on this weekend to hip you to.


Kamika

DAMN Gina!

Yep! Damn, dag nabbit, dang, holey smokes batman! Yeah, I did it. I done put the the last sleeve on my blanket coat on upside down. Whatever! I was listening to Marvin Winans and Tiffany Laing on my iPod and got caught up the jazzy feel good tunes.

Sigh.....

Kamika

An Old Newbie

Ya'll pray for me cause I ain't used to this! Hence I am at the end of my first full work week. A temp job that requires the normal working hours of 8am to 5pm. I thought that when I stopped working over 2 years ago that traffic became extinct. I also don't recall one hour for lunch being so short. And whispering on the phone so other people can't hear you. WHAT!! Lord Have Mercy on my work atrophied body and Praise God for my answered prayers! I'm down with it and grateful. REALLLY grateful. I got to buy a new suit today. Yarn tomorrow! You know I'm grinning like a Cheshire cat!

I can't blog at work. Dang filters! Well, I can but I can't see the pictures so my orientation is all off and so what's the use. Been knitting though. Not with a lot of direction or speed but nonetheless knitting and crocheting. Check out my Wrap-sody in Cream & Pewter Blanket Coat I'm crocheting as a gift for my Pastor. Found the pattern in the current issue of Crochet Mag! It took me only a couple of days and then I got side tracked at work. Also below is a pic of the Drop Stitch Lace Tank from Fitted Knits. I'm knitting it in the round instead of flat. Lastly, check out my new book, Big Book of Knitting Stitch Patterns. I'm so excited about it. I was looking for a better leaf stitch for the baby blanket I was making and figured I should cut back on buying pattern books and start buying more technique books. BTW, check the sidebar for some new great books!


We're having a big fete at The Motel this weekend. TG is turning 70 and I'm reverting to slave to make sure his day goes well. I don't see why we don't just cook and tell him we had a party. I know. I'm bad!

I've missed you all. Talk to you soon!

Kamika

FO: Chysanthemum Tea Shawl

Look Mom. No mods! Presenting the Chrysanthemum Tea Shawl from the Amazing Crochet Lace book. A love gift for one of my church sisters (I'm not saying which and all you church readers better not say nothing!). This took only 4 days to work up but was a lot more intensive than the Blue Curaçao. I hope she enjoys it.

One suggestion. If I make another in the future I will make it with a solid color. Eventhough the variegated yarn looks good, I think the leaves would have stood out more on a solid color. The solid colors to me provide for a more satiny filet look.

Time: July 31st - August 5th (ran out of yarn)
Yarn: Paton's Grace in Tangelo, Just 5 balls (136yds each)
Needles/Hook: I/9

Kamika

Blabblant

Blabblant - (adj.)

def. Not quite babbling because I do have some directed useful things to say, not blabbing because I've been giving up gossip and thus have no secrets to share, and most definitely not a rant because I'm not angry or annoyed just verbally observant.

ex. Kamika is quite blabblant about many things.

1. The View needs to just lay down and die! This show has gone to hell in a handbasket quick. It used to be somewhat well balanced (well tolerably anyway) and entertaining. I so miss Lisa Ling and Marilyn Viera. Now it's just a boring circus for castaways. Someone really needs to stop resucitating Baba WA WA. She looks brittle. All the regulars on the show are real catty. Not PMS catty but PMDD catty (you know you've seen the commercial - **a bunch of mess**). All the guests look like they stepped into a rumble and can't tell if they have on the wrong colors.

2. I've ripped back the Surplice Bodice Camisole two times due some undiscovered imbalance in my head. I don't know what was in my rose tea this morning but whatever it was it had me thinking that increasing on only one side of the garment would give me the balanced coverage I desired. Doh!!

3. Why isn't Knitty Gritty on ON Demand!? Do they think knitters aren't savvy enough to work a remote?

4. Stop being a snob and learn how to crochet! Yea you!!

5. Erica B. just finished some great looking jeans. She even embroidered the pockets.

6. I'm going to make a bunch of nappy-headed and curly-headed dolls so that Poppy Sassypants can have some multi-cultural friends. I'm sure she has some but they shouldn't look like teddy bears or Barbies. I'm thinking boucle.

7. Fall and winter are just around the corner. That means new boots!!

8. I need to figure out some way to kiss up to Sheila enough to have her help me jump start designing my own stuff.

9. You know, Ravelry really does rock!

Kamika is now done blabblanting. I will now get back to work. I need to finish the Chrysanthemum Tea Shawl from Amazing Lace. I have 1 1/2 rounds to go and I ran out of yarn. So off to Michael's today to buy one more ball of Paton's Grace. I also need to get digging on the Surplice Bodice. I hope to have this one finished real soon. I'm hungry.

Pics in the next post,

Kamika

Knitting Daily Has Launched!

For those of you who are not in the know. Knitter's Daily has finally launched! In the last few months I have been receiving the weekly newletter filled with little blurbs about knitter's around the world and projects. Lot's of socks! You sock knitters will loooove this! From the dripping sarcasm I'm sure you can deduct that I have not been bitten by the knit sock bug. Thank God! I've seen many of you sock lovers and some of you look terminal. Calomine lotion does not help with this rash.

Anyhoo, the online mag is an offshoot of Interweave Press, the makers of our beloved Interweave Knits, Interweave Crochet, and Knitscene mags to name a few. The online mag has taken all of the online and free patterns from the individual sites and put them all together in a good size (65 so far) pattern library in addition to linking to each individual site for content. It's nice that everything is in one convenient place. Headed by Sandi Wiseheart, I'm sure it will be a good resource for all knitters!

Make sure you hit the shoe gallery!

Kamika

Regan WIP Update

Regan is coming along nicely. I've been moving kind of slow on it due to being very busy. The days have been flying by and with the exception of a few ongoing appointments I don't know where the time is going.

The stitch pattern on this cardigan is reminiscent of the eye on a peacock feather. To display this the wrong side of the pattern is the side that will show. The pattern has proven to be a very easy one to follow (once you get past some of the British terminology). The TSC Cotton Classic is working up nicely with minimal splitting and a nice drape. It's not stiff at all, which is good because I had lamented about not getting a cotton/rayon blend instead. Hopefully with proper washing this cardi will maintain it's shape without the need for future re-blocking.

Hopefully I'll have this one finished by next week so I can start on Esme. I plan on modifying it to be open backed, sort of like Angela's Apron in the 2007 Spring Interweave Knits mag. I don't actually like the Angela's Apron finished product but I do like the idea behind it. I can really see rocking this with some great jeans and sandals this summer. Another modification will be the scrapping of the Rowan 4 ply Cotton for the more lustrous Berroco Cotton Twist with twist of lime and light green Tahki Dream thrown in. Green and Yellow go well together and Yellow is the hottest color this season. Or was that purple? Oh well.

Then again, I may just start Esme in the interim. It's a crochet project after all and that means a quick workup. I trust that the only hinderance will be the modifications, but isn't that what we live for?

Kamika

Purple Sambuca Neat & Blocked Please?

I finished the Sambuca Jacket from the Amazing Crochet Lace book a couple of weeks ago as a gift for my mother for Mother's Day. My Mom has been my muse for a minute, not by choice, but because everytime I start to work on something she asks for it. This time she had seen a cardigan in Catherine's and asked me to make one for her. The ones in Catherines seemed cheapie and balloon like. I knew I could do one better. Once finished I had every intention of posting pics of it immediately but my memory card in the cammie became stricken again and I couldn't resuscitate it.

Anyhoo, I worked up the jacket with the Berocco Ultra Alpaca in the "Prune Mix" colorway. Some of you may remember it from here. I frogged that sweater and reused the yarn. No since in wasting good yarn on such an ill fitted garment. Besides, I'm not a Rockefeller and yarn AIN'T cheap. As usual I made my usual adjustments and cut the arms down to make them short sleeve. I also omitted the butterfly clasp because women with big tiggly biddys (read: breasts) shouldn't wear jackets/tops with single closures at the neck. It's obscene!
I really like the Amazing Crochet Lace book. I did notice though that the pattern did have a number of small errors in it. But once you learned the actual pattern repeat you really didn't need to look at the book again save for increasing points. I also didn't like that the charts on this pattern were blurry, small, and not complete. This of course will not hinder me from doing other garments out of the book.

Enjoy the pics and let me know what you think!


Kamika

Love Language #2: Gifts

I've had the book "The Five Love Languages for Singles" by Gary Chapman on my nightstand for over a year now. I bought it last year because I had heard how great his books were and the idea of Love Languages really intrigued me. Sad to say I still have not read the book but it has been in my knitting bag for a week now pushing it to the front of my reads behind the Bible.

Earlier last week I had come across a show on OnDemand entitled "Everyday Woman." This is a Christian show fashioned like the View where 4 women of different generations and backgrounds discuss the issues of the day but from a Christian perspective. At first it seemed a little sappy but I liked it. On this particular show Gary Chapman was the guest and what he said about the Love Languages really touched my heart.

Gary says that every one has a primary love language and possibly 2 to 3 secondary love languages from which they operate in order to give love and feel the most loved. The five languages are:

1. Words of Affirmation
2. Gifts
3. Acts of Service
4. Quality Time
5. Physical Touch

I plan to touch on all of these in the future as I read the book but today I wanted to touch on my primary love language and that is the language of Giving.

A gift is a tangible object that says, "I was thinking about you. I
wanted you to have this. I love you."...Anthropologists have never
discovered a culture whre gift giving is not an expression of love. Giving
gifts is one of the fundamental universal languages of love...The important
thing is not the gift but the emotional love that was communicated by the
gift. The right gift is any token, big or small, which speaks the
emotional love.

The Greek word from which we get our English word gift is charis, which means "grace," or an undeserved gift...A gift is given without strings attached or it ceases to be a gift...It is no longer a gift when you use it to soothe a wrong commited.

I love to give gifts! Those who know me IR would probably say this goes without saying. I love giving presents, time and my service. I love it when others recognize that I have taken the time to learn something that is dear to their heart and they benefit from it. I like to see the look of "I'm loved" on their faces.

When someone is a gifter, then they also love to receive gifts. Loving to receive gifts is totally different than expecting something in return for a gift given. When I give gifts I don't expect anything in return. I could care less if someone bought me anything. I often cringe when people feel the need to return a present given with a present. I don't feel that that is thanks but that that person doesn't want to owe me anything. Moreso guilt. A thank you card or a sincere thank you spoken would suffice. I want to see your eyes sparkle.

For a gifter to truly feel love you must give them gifts. It doesn't have to be anything big. Just something that lets them know you were thinking about them, that they were not forgotten, and that you are concerned about them and their life. A card, a handmade item, a pretty bookmark, etc. I don't care how rich a person is. No one ever has everything they could possibly want. If he/she is having financial trouble, offering to pay a bill, pay for lunch, take them out for a fun evening, or giving them a cash love gift goes a long way. Make it sincere! Gift givers have such a hard time when they don't have the means to give gifts like they would like.

I was so blessed this week. I got an opportunity to give gifts and I received a couple of great gifts. I give much love to my church family. Especially to my Pastor who always gives from the depths of her heart. Thanks to Dee Dee who gave me this great bag of makeup. I love makeup and it was so sweet. I got many of the colors I had been wanting. I can't wait to try the creme blush.

Now look at what the Lord has done! It is the Curacao Shawl from the Amazing Crochet Lace book. I'm excited that I get the opportunity to present this love gift to my church sister Jacqueline tonight. I hope she loves it. Would you believe it only took me 12 hours to make. I'm ecstatic!

Kamika