HairPplay: Flat Twistout Parts I & II

Like the Curly set but want something quicker and slightly different? Prefer a soft tossled look with hang time rather than fat curls? Then try this Flat Twistout!

Flat Twistout Parts I & II

How To Video:





More videos to come soon. Thanks for watching,

Kamika lovin this style

Hairplay: Curly Set On Natural Hair

Meant to post this on Friday. If you frequent my YouTube channel then you've probably already seen this. If you don't enjoy!

Curly Set On Natural Hair

How To Video:



More videos to come soon. Thanks for watching,

Kamika lovin this style

When All Else Fails...Put It In Your Hair

This post can be subtitled, "An Appropriate Use For ACKrylic."

Ya'll know I hate acrylic yarn with a passion. I can't stand that dang ole fun fur with it's randy willy-nilly ways. I don't like the faux facade or the drying effect it has on my hands. I abhor the mess that is made with it and called knitwear. I will use it though if it's in my stash (throw back stuff to my early knitting days before I became a purist) or if it's blended with another more natural fiber, but I really would prefer not too. I do understand that when blended it can have a dramatic improving effect on the drape of a garment and for this I give it pass. But all by itself I usually try to avert my eyes.

I do love acrylic though for my yarn braids! I just finished my second set on yesterday and wouldn't use any other fiber for them. Below are pics of my 1st set done back in February. I decided to use those pics because they look the same as the set I just put in and because I have been to lazy to take updated pics. I braided my hair up to give it and my mind a break from daily styling. If you look closely you'll notice that these are actually twists. If you know how to braid, then these will be a cinch for you. These should last me a month to a month and a half with rinsing and a concious mind to not take my hair down. Enjoy!

Time: July 6th. 9 hours total
Yarn: Lions Brand Homespun in Black, 1 skein
Extras: Used Scripto Lighter to burn ends and give highlighted look.

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

Jade'D

Ooh Ooh Ooh! Banana Republic [BR] has come out with a line of fragrances called the "Discovery Collection." Three great fragrances, Alabaster; Rosewood; and Jade, that's sure to fit you. Well at least one will. Let's just say I'm a little Jade'd.

BR's tagline is, "Discover the fragrance that speaks to you." I hope they don't talk! Inanimate objects just shouldn't talk. That's a bad thing. I know! I know! I know! I get what they are trying to say but my mind went on a tangent to the fantasmic side. Musk shouldn't talk just like must shouldn't hum (remember that?). I don't care if it is Kashmir, Bergamot, and warm. Especially not if it's warm! LOL

Here's the scent breakdowns:

1. Alabaster - "Delicate & Captivating" Lotus Flower, Wild Rose, & Warm Musks
2. Rosewood - "Warm & Alluring" Bergamot Champagne, White Tea Leaves, & White Amber
3. Jade - "Bright & Intriguing" (THAT'S ME! j/k) Tropical Pomegranate, Musky Cotton Flower, & Kashmir Wood

So anyways, treat yourselves ladies. Next time you swing by BR, try the scents. As said before, Jade is my favorite but Alabaster is nice. I didn't prefer Rosewood, but I'm sure it's nice for somebody. Ask for samples (get a few for me while you are at it, all my BRs are out) and if all else fails, just open the drawer on the display and get a few. They don't mind. They just shrugged when I did it. Twice! LOL

Let me know if you have some or if you get some!

Kamika

I'm In Love! (With Yarn of Course)

Ooh Ooh Ooh! Look at my new baby. It's Regan from the new Rowan Magazine #41. Can you hear the heavenly choir singing? It's Rowan! This book is so pretty!

**Kamika pets the magazine while holding it tightly to her chest and cooing.**

I am officially a Rowan convert. It all started when I went to my LYS, The Knitter's Studio, and got some great chocolate colored Felted Tweed to trim my Truffle Clutch, which is finè by the way and lined in a pretty butterfly brocade.

I really liked the way it felt [the tweed that is] and how sturdy it was and that led me to the site. After looking through all the online magazines (don't you just love how Rowan shows you every pattern in the book?) I couldn't stop jonesin to get the latest one. I called all of my nearby LYS and could only find it 25 miles out in Bev Hills. No problem, it's near my church, down the street from one of my fave restaurants (Grand Luxe), and I got to take Dee Dee (I'll introduce her later). We went on Sunday afternoon.

This mag is packed with over 50 well done patterns. I really like how Rowan does stories and themes. I found at least one pattern I wanted to complete in each story. Not to mention, the pictures are just beautiful. I'm really a sucker for colors and colorful clear pictures. After looking through (more like studying) a couple of times I settled on Regan.

**Buzz of the flies flying around Kamika's agape mouth.**

I tried to pace myself ya'll, really I did. I told myself that I couldn't buy anything until I finished the WIPs I already had but I needed my fix.

**Kamika flashes back to the jittery, foot shuffling, dry mouth having, all over body itch feeling she had that's common to junkies.**

Besides, I finished four out of the five WIPs in the que. Well, more like three because one was a starter for my Pastor. She'll be finishing that one. AND! I had a little birthday money burning a whole in my pocket. God is so good! Suffice to say all I could think about was yarn.

BAM BABY!

10 hanks of Tahki Stacy Charles Cotton Classic in a beautiful seafoam/mint green. I have never bought this much yarn at one time in my knitting life. Not only that I have to go back and get 3 more (Patricia over at Slipt Stitch is holding them for me). My silly self got so sidetracked by color that I misread the yardage on the sleeves. BTW, Slipt Stitch is another new to me LYS that I found. Very comfortable spot.

So I'll be swatching this bad boy up tonight and dreaming of more projects. Talk to you all soon.


Kamika

One Down & How Many To Go?

I finished my Julia Cardigan by Designs by Donna. I really like it and plan to wear it out this weekend. I went to JoAnn's yesterday looking for buttons and some lace to make a sash. I settled on some simple pearlized 19mm buttons and decided to make my own sash in the remaining blue yarn. I crocheted the sash using the Front Cross Stitch and trimmed using a picot edging on the bottom only. It's nice and stretchy and turned out really well. You may also notice that I shortened the sleeves to a 3/4 inch style. I also decreased the collar area to form a higher collar line and added 3 extra shells to get a pleated look in the back . It fits my style better with these adjustments. Enjoy!

Kamika

What's On the Sticks!

So here's what I'm working on now! I have a lot of WIPs. Most are about 90% done some a little less. Many just need to be finished with lining, sashes, buttons, etc. Enjoy!

Garn Studios Shrug

90% - Just need to finish the cowl ribbing and re-block. Did I mention that I hate ribbing?Materials:

*5 skeins Berroco Ultra Alpaca (Prune)

Julia Cardigan - by Designs by Donna (Knots & Loops)
95% - Needs buttons an a sash

Materials:
*6 balls Sensations "Stellina" (Wool/acrylic/nylon) (Cream)

*1 ball Sensations "Stellina" (Sea Blue)

*1 ball Patons "Brillance" (Golden Brown ?)

Pastor's Lapghan - My own design

15% - Just started
Materials:

*6 skeins Lambs Pride "Homespun" (Granite)

Ruffle Tank - My own design

15% - Needs work.
Materials:

*700yds Cotton/Rayon yarn from eBay (Variegated)

Truffle Clutch - by Sophie Pitcher

95% - Lining and mattress stitching
Materials:

*2 balls Debbie Biss "Alpaca Silk" (Deep Lilac)
*1 ball Rowan "Felted Tweed" (Phantom)

By showing you all this I guess I'm trying to keep myself accountable. My new rule is, for every project I buy new yarn for, I have to create a project using yarn in my small stash. BTW, the stash is starting to grow on me.

Kamika

I'm Back!

I know I've been gone for a minute. For some reason I couldn't come back and write without pictures. Go figure? My camera's memory card was on the blink and I wasn't able to upload any pictures to my computer. You see I still use a very reliable and fast Win98 system that has stayed virus free and fully functional since I bought it. I refuse to buy into the Windows Vista hype especially since I know it's a 6 month filler program anyway. Microsoft has stated that they plan to bring out a newer more fully functional version of Vista in about 6 months much to the chagrin of those who've already plopped down the $400 to buy the current version. Not only that. Apple products have been getting the coy look from me every since I got my iPod last year. I like the sleekness and the all inclusive functionality of their platform. It's a cult I know! But it sure is pretty on the outside.

Anywhoo, back to what I was saying about my camera and my system pre-digression. My new Sony Cybershot's drivers don't run on Win98 nor could I find a work around so I had to buy an external card reader. It works great and takes up to 23 different memory cards; which came in handy last year when my old camera went on the blink and I had to use it to read my old card or the pictures of my Frohawk would have been lost forever. It kept saying "improper format" so I blew on it a couple of times and massaged it (no really I did) and it started to work again. Maybe it just needed a rest! I'm happy it got one because I was not about to shell out another $40 to get another one anytime soon. My readers would have just had to imagine what I was saying. Not always an easy thing.

Kamika

Mom's Bolero

I finished the bolero!!! I decided to do some extra work and bead it with seed beads and then give it to my mom. She's going to wear it for Easter. I beaded completely around the body opening and at each wrist.

I'm really excited and relieved at the same time. Just so you know. I've been promising to make my Mom something for a long time now. I just hadn't gotten around to it because I was too busy making stuff I thought was more fun (read: for me). To my credit though I did start a previous sweater for her but I didn't have enough yarn to complete it. The LYS that I originally got it from went out of business. I finally found the yarn on eBay and am waiting for it to come in the mail. Enjoy the finished project pics modeled by Moi and let me know what you think!

Kamika

Itching Fingers

So last night I got beside myself and was a little restless in the crafting area. I couldn't get enough of projects and decided to deplete the little bit of yarn stash I do have. As I see it, it's a waste of space to just have it sitting there when I could wear it or give it away. Besides, I plan to buy some new yarn this weekend and I already used the eBay gift certificate my mom gave me for my birthday on yarn to finish a few projects I already have in the que.

Look What I Can Do!

All winter I kept saying that I wanted to make myself a hat. I had made one for my friend Rae and needed one desperately for those, "I don't want to comb my hair" days. I found this really cute pattern called "Durango" on YarnCats blog. She has a whole series or really great hats and projects she's created. She also provides the patterns for free! If you like the hat, I strongly recommend you visit her site. The flower patterns are from various other sources. FYI, I did add on about 5 additional rows to get a longer hat. The original pattern was sufficient. I just wanted mine longer to give a kind of cloche effect.

The materials for this hat used were:

• 1.5 skeins Plymouth Yarns Sunsette, green color (no name)
• Remnants of various yarns from stash including Colinette, Red Hart Camo, and Gallway Wool.

Remember how ambitious I was about finishing the Fat-bottom Bag quickly? Well as you can see below, it's still in production and I obviously didn't make my deadline. I got the grand idea to enlarge the bag to a more realistic size. I don't like really small cutesy purses that only hold lipstick and a small box of Altoids. I like them larger but no so large that they can be called "pocketbooks." Remember how your mom used to wear a pocketbook? She would have everything in that bag from tissue paper to a brush, and even air freshener. Ahh, good times good times. Then again I have been seeing some great big bags lately.


So anyways. This is my current progress on the bag. I added 12 extra rows, including a couple of double crochets to expand the bag width-wise and 6 extra stitches to give it about 1.5 more inches in height. Well guess what? I ran out of yarn doing all these dang 'ole modifications. Alas, this is what I had to reorder on eBay using my gift certificate. I can't wait until it gets here. Until then it will just have to sit on the right end of my couch resting. Just so you know, the right end of my couch is my progress bin.


Talk to you soon beloveds!


Kamika

Happy Birthday to Me....(Recap)

OK! So March 19th was my 31st birthday! Shall I say it was a GREAT day! My loved ones really showed me some love. I can't complain, these folks know how to do it up when you threaten to come after them in there sleep. Just kidding! Actually my birthday is normally celebrated for an entire month (didn't you know about us spoiled ones?), but then again aren't all March babies.

On this blessed day, my hair turned out gorgeous, my clothing was a size smaller, and my spirits were continually uplifted. Thank God for birthdays! As you get older and remain single with no kids birthdays are all the holidays you really get to enjoy for yourself.

Extra special love to my beloved March babies: Reina, Rae Ann, Daniel, Lolieta, Bonnie, DeAnn, Tony V, Albert, and Yolanda! May God bless us for another beautiful year.

Kamika

Miss Jessie Miss Jessie

So since this blog is about HAIR and k&c, i should probably tell you's all about some of my hair exploits. LOL. I was lucky enough to get in on the "Ms. Jessie's Giveaway" sponsored by Motown Girl. She was giving away 2oz samples of select Ms. Jessie's products. I chose the Curly Pudding.

For years I have been hearing rave reviews, opinions of styling costs and ownership quirks aside, about how good the products were. How they really defined and softened nappy curls/coils, and how effective they are at turning our "kinks into curls," yadda yadda yadda. Oh, the mystique surrounding these products is heavy. Over the years (2 years fully natural in August, 4 years contemplating in November) I have wanted to try these products but I just couldn't stomach paying $58 and now $38 for them. I'm not cheap by no means. I just didn't want to be disappointed nor did I want to become a product junkie AND be out half a c-note.

I paid the shipping for the product last week and got it in about 4 days. Kudos to Motown Girl for such fast shipping. I condish washed on Wednesday and then put some Curly Pudding in while wet. Since I use Giovanni Direct-Leave In as my staple, I didn't see a noticeable difference in the definition of my tiny coils. I wasn't deterred though. That evening I decided to do some dry medium-fat twists and rolled them on sponge rollers to set overnight. The next morning I unrolled and untwisted and this is what I got:

... a puffy frizzy mess. My hair was shiny and defined when I took the rollers down. But baby! When I went outside to take these pics, my hair pouffed and became crispy-like. I can't say that my hair was dried out, but it did become crispy, as if I had too much gel on it.

That night I retwisted it (without adding more pudding) and wore it up in a twist pull back. The twists seemed to expand and separate. It also was shiny but not silky. Which is what I'm normally used to with my twists. To sum it up, I think I may give the remainder of my sample to a friend who is considering the natural life. She has curlier hair than mine and it may work well for her. A couple of kudos though. It sure smelled good and the consistency was nice. I'm sure it works great for some, but it's just not for me.

Kamika

Fat-Bottom Bag & The Yarn Lady

I had the pleasure of going with my new friend Rhonda to a number of shops today. We made a day of hitting consignment shops in Corona Del Mar and Laguna Beach. Slipping in and out of posh stores with their barely worn garments of the likes of Pucci, Blahnik, LaCroix, St. John and the venerable Gucci. I loves me some Gucci, but I was very happy that nothing struck my fancy so much that I would yearn to whip out a credit card to take it home with me. I've been avoiding shopping since I'm now on a budget and the only reason Ms. Rhonda got me out today was because the original plan was to hit a new LYS called The Yarn Lady. I'm so happy we made these detours on the way. I really enjoyed our trip and the great company.

I'm a bit of an oddity in the knitting/crochet world. I don't really have a yarn stash, nor do I aspire to. I like to buy yarn for projects and finish the projects. I hate remnants, which I guess stems from my sewing days. I like to buy the amount of yarn needed, work it, and move on. Maybe it's because I don't have a lot of storage space or because I can't justify buying yarn to stash on my budget. I'm also a bit of a minimalist in my design aesthetic. Everything needs to have it's proper place and not look messy or bleed onto other things. But look what I bought today! 3 hanks of Berrocco Cotton Twist in a sunny yellow and 1 ball of Tahki Dream in a creamy light green. I plan to make the Fat-bottom Bag (seen here on the home page) by Julie Holetz, from the "Happy Hooker" book with it. I will be enlarging the bag and doing a slight color variation, but I can't wait to see how it will turn out. I expect to hook it up starting tonight and hopefully have the needlework done by tomorrow. I then will have to go out and find a nice lining for it and some great handles.

Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted.

Kamika

And So It Begins...

I for one would never have thought that I would have a blog. I was too interested in reading the musings of others in theirs. Well the blog bug has finally bit and I'm jumping in feet first with great excitement to be able to share the happenings of my life.

As my profile says, this blog will include a lot of info about my knitting and crochet projects and the goings on in the string world, as well as information on natural hair care, my journey, what I've learned and were I plan to go. Me and my hair that is. I hope to also just share in the serendipity that is my life. Some boring, some blase, while others most definately comical.

I hope this can be a place of exchange and sharing. So jump in with your comments. The lemonade is free and so are the laughs, but you must bring your own comb and sticks!

Kamika