Ravelympics Roundup!

I have been such a stranger to my blog.  I am so sorry.  I have just gotten so caught up with doing 365 in Flickr, and working late, that my poor blog seems to suffer.  For all the readers out there, I am so sorry.  i will try my best to keep things a little more updated.

As it stands now, I am taking part in Ravelympics 2010.  Last Ravelympics, I failed miserably trying to do a sweater and a pair of socks.  The sweater has since been completed, got a moth hole in it, been repaired and washed, blocked, and worn to work.  Yay!  I am so glad that I was able to save it.  Warning!  Clothing moths like Alpaca too. The socks are still a UFO, because I just don't like how the yarn feels, and I feel like i am knitting with brillo.  Over the course of time I have grown to appreciate finer grades of sock yarn, so my tastes have changed.  Who knows if I will ever get a chance to finish them.

So we move on to 2010.  The winter Olympics is ON AND POPPIN'.  The US has won 20 medals, and I would like to believe that part of the reason was because I was knitting while I was glued to the television set every night.  I belong to 2 ravelympics groups; Team Sit N' Knit NYC, and Team 10 in 2010. For my Sit N Knit entry, I decided to do WIPs Wrestling, and complete my Mulled Wine Raglan Cardigan using Cosmic Pluto's design.  I am proud to say that at this point, I have completed the body and am working on the sleeves 2 at a time.  I feel like a figure skater who has completed their second to last Triple Axel. One more to go! Here is a picture.

My second entry into the WIP category is my February Fitted Pullover that was supposed to be my NaKniSweMo project.  Well.... that wasn't completed in time for that, but I still wanted to wear it this winter so I decided to enter it into this category.  All I have to do is sew on the sleeves, and finish the neckline.
Here is a picture.

My entry for my Team 10 in 2010 group is the Sexy Vesty made out of Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in Azalea.  This yarn was originally bought for Hey Teach, but I frogged it because I didn't like how it was coming out. I started this on Tuesday night, and this was my progress after knitting group on Wednesday.  I have knit about 115 yards so far.

Before Ravelympics started, I was working on Vaila during the month of January.  I decided to work on it from the top down. I have completed the waist shaping. Here is a picture.

Here are my charts for my 10 in 2010 progress.

100th Post...Creative Fun!

I was having some creative fun yesterday, so I made these!! We have a very short time left to make a decision. And with these, I don't even have to say who I am voting for, because you already know. I encourage you to VOTE FOR CHANGE!!!

Wanna get your hands on some? I just made an update to my ETSY store! 50% of every sale will go towards the campaign.

So who is the proud owner of these sets? They were given to Jen, as part of the Sit N' Knit Neckwarmer Exchange. I think she likes 'em!!Here is a closer look at her Crofter's Cowl. The yarn I chose for this cowl is Malabrigo Silky Merino in the "Ankara" colorway. I used size 6 needles. The pattern calls for 2 pattern repeats, but I did 3 repeats, just to make it longer. I had just enough yarn, as you can see from the picture in my previous post. The cowl is created by making 2 pieces, and then grafting it together. I had to rely heavily on that book, my personal knitting bible, in order to get through the kitchener stitch/grafting technique.

I will definately be making a second one for myself. When I can give a gift that I would like to have for myself, I am overjoyed because I know the recipient is getting something that touches my heart. This cowl is super soft, and very cute. I also have a teal leather jacket that will match it perfectly. Yay!!

Speaking of matching perfectly, I received this beautiful cabled, button-up cowl from Limonene.

Here is a close-up shot. She also got me some Raspberry Ghirardelli chocolate treatsas well, and I am going to savor every single bite of it. The cowl matches the bag that Chicagopurl bought me for my birthday. I mean it is a perfect match. I have been trying to break away from all of the pink, and add some more colors to my wardrobe. This cowl is perfect. It is supersoft, and I love it. Thank you once again, Limonene!!!

Since the weather was a bit chilly today, I decided to wear my Central Park Hoodie. My very first sweater. My labor of love. I looked down at my arm and saw this horror of all horrors.

Here is a closer look at the damage. I don't even know how this happened. I am suspecting that the yarn just wasn't properly spun in that area, and it just popped. It doesn't look like a moth had a feast. And, since I am Meka the Mothslayer, that wouldn't happen anyway.

So, I became a sweater surgeon today. Although it may not be perfect, at least the hole is closed and I don't look like I am wearing a bummy sweater.

So, the lesson of the day is... always keep a few yards of sweater yarn, because you never know.

Oh, you want some knitting content? Wicked sleeve #1 is almost finished, but there isn't a picture yet. Rhinebeck is in 13 days, I gotta finish this baby soon. I am not missing another deadline!!!

I also am celebrating a milestone today. This is my 100th post. Since I am feeling generous, I think I want to do my first contest. The prize will be a set of 10 stitch markers in the size of your choice (worsted, chunky or bulky) made with a picture of your choice, and matching swarovski crystal accents. Here are the rules.

1. Comment for your first entry.
2. Mention the contest and link to this post on your blog for a second entry.
3. The drawing will be on October 28th. 1 week before the Presidential Election. Good Luck!!

New Ideas

So, a lot has been going on in the past week. I have added more projects to my queue, well at least in my head.. and one more in reality. I will start with the most recent things first.

Yesterday, I bought the Fall 2008 issue of Vogue Knitting and the Fall/Winter 2008 Debbie Bliss magazine. I want to make the Druid Mittens, because they are soooo cute, and I want to make the cabled Beret from the Debbie Bliss mag. That will be my winter ensamble, along with a neck cowl that I will be making out of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran. See?? Functional buys!! Silk is not so harsh on your hair as wool is, so there will be less breakage. And since I did the big chop, I need to save as much hair around my hairline as possible. I think the hat will be perfect, as long as I flop it to the correct side. Hehe!!

I went to Seaport Yarn, and Purchased my Stitch N Pitch Tickets, and this is all the nice things that came in my goody bag.
I was surprised to see nice yarns such as the Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk, the Punto Del Este sample, and the Artyarns Ultramerino added to the bunch this year. I also love the buttons, and the SOAK. However, since the Debbie Bliss Yarn is only 97 yards, I had to go back to buy another skein to make my cowl... and now I will need 4 more skeins for the Cabled Beret. See how they get ya???

I thought this was so funny. Here is a picture of Tawana's daughter KJ with Anne-Marie during our Sit N Knit in Central Park this past Saturday. I laughed till I cried. KJ tried to kiss her, which turned into eating her face.. haha!! It was so cute. Sorry for the slight blur, but it was comedy in action. Haha!!
Here is another picture of KJ just smiling. This baby is so adorable. We are going to turn her into a knitter before she learns how to walk. Haha!!

So as far as my knitting content goes, I started the Hey Teach sweater as a break from the monotonous stockinette on my Wicked. I actually devised a way to turn the short sleeves into a long sleeve, and wanted to try out my design ideas. I am using Lion Brand Cotton-Ease that I bought at AC Moore for about $4.99 a skein. The stitch pattern is very lovely. However, my first try at the sleeve was a little BIG. Haha!! Well, you live and you learn. I have since frogged that portion, and started over using about 10 less stitches in the cast-on. I have recalculated the increases. More updates on the progress to follow.

Where has Shameka been???

It has been 3 weeks since I last blogged. What took me so long? Well, it really has been an eventful 3 weeks. Where do I start??

First of all, I modeled in a photoshoot for my hair salon House of Hair. They needed someone really daring to do a drastic change, so here are some of the "candid" shots on the day of the shoot.

I also went on a frenzy making a bunch of stitch markers. I have already updated my ETSY site with blog-button stitch markers for customization, so if you would like something made please don't hesitate to send me a message. I will make more updates soon, I promise.

These are for Carrie. They will be in the mail shortly. She was the only one to respond to THE CHALLENGE. She didn't have a blog button, so I created an image for her to use on her stitch markers. I also made them in her favorite color of blue. They can be used on worsted weight and chunky needles.

These are for Tawana. She was kind enough to gift me some Lorna's Laces sock yarn in Bittersweet. So, this is my way of saying "Thanks". These are for my Sit N' Knit Group. They were raffle prizes for our Worldwide Knit in Public Day event. It was so much fun. Congratulations to the five lucky people who won stitch marker prizes!!! These stitch markers are Limited Edition.

These were made especially for Me!!!

I also had a performance at a fairly new club in Brooklyn called LIME. The vibe was really nice, and we had a lot of fun. I am singing alongside the one and only Dane Gulston. I admire him as a musician so much. This man can play ANYTHING on that Steelpan!!! He had the crowd jammin' all night. And guess what?? He saw me knitting, and admires all of my various talents, including my knitting skills. He has already requested a hat from me. Not sure if I can make anything to surpass that Kangol hat that he is wearing, but I can surely try.

I went to see Sex And The City with my girls Tawana, Chante, and Saunielle. Afterwards we had sushi, and I thought this cup was so cute. We had a lot of fun, and I even got some knitting done.

Here is the knitting update!!!

While I was at the hair salon (all day), I started this Top-Down Raglan Cardigan . I am almost complete with the yoke. I am using Manos del Uruguay in color #118, Mulled Wine on size 9 needles. I love this color. The yarn smells a little like vinegar, but I can deal with it. I will use some Citrus flavored SOAK to make the foul smell go away when I am blocking.

I also made some progress on my Jaywalkers.

I started a new pair of socks for my Summer of Socks Knitalong. These are my Nutkins that I started this past Sunday. I am using Socks that Rock Mediumweight in "Mustang Sally" from my stash, and size 2.5mm Knitpicks 40 inch needles. I acquired it at Rhinebeck. I first fell in love with this color when I saw it on Deb's blog. I don't know what took me so long to make something with it. I LOVE THIS YARN!!! It feels so nice. I feel so happy that I matched the perfect pattern with the perfect yarn. The pattern is very easy to follow and remember, which makes it even nicer. I am currently on the third repeat of the pattern. I have to complete 8 repeats before I turn the heel. Once again, magic loop is my friend. I am afraid that I will never go back to double points. This 2-at-a-time technique is a winner!!! Now I just hope I can finish in 2 weeks to be eligible for that raffle prize. I already started a day late... Darn!! Wish me luck!!!

Also, in response to the comments in my last blog post, I will be making earrings to match the stitch markers for all of the Mekamika admirers out there. Thank you for all of the feedback, input and well wishes. Having good people like you to help guide my creativity is priceless.

Before I fly away .....

I just want to say that I had a blast at the Sit N Knit Logo party on Tuesday night. I was especially excited because I made these for the raffle. Limited edition Sit N' Knit stitch markers. Congratulations to all of the lucky raffle winners!!!

Also, here is my travel project. It is from the Fall 2007 issue of Knit Simple magazine, page 38. Now you must be wondering how am I going to Fair Isle on the plane. Well, I'm not gonna do it. I am planning to knit the border in a solid pink color, then knit the portion of the vest that is Fair Isle, using a variegated yarn that matches the border. I am using Jaeger Baby Merino, DK weight. I started this yesterday morning, and continued while I was at the hair salon, waiting for my hair to dry. I started on size 3 needles for the ribbing. The next step is to begin with the variegated portion using size 5 needles.

Hopefully, while I am away I will be able to get internet access, and update the blog on my progress.

Holiday Parties Rock!!! (Picture heavy post)

I had so much fun at the Sit N Knit Holiday party. Here are a few highlights.

Here is Penelope, organizing the raffle, and takin' care of business.


Chante and Judy were helping to organize the raffle and gift exchange entries as well.

Tina, of Interweave's Central Park Hoodie fame is seen here knitting a sock.Here is Tawana and Tomo, causing knitting trouble in the corner of the room. The martini on the table is mine. Tawana was filling up on herbal tea, so the little one can be happy.
Chante and I. Chante created a drop spindle kit that was raffled off later on that night.

Gift Exchange

Here is the gift that I received from Judy (behind me in the black sweater). The scarf is super-duper soft. I love it.

My foliage hat gift went to Maria. Would you believe someone tried to buy it from her that night? People, it is a free pattern on Knitty. We all have the power to knit. She absolutely loved the hat, and together, they make a supercute pair.

Jane received this purple hat that incorporated the butterfly stitch in it. I almost made this hat. How cool is it that it matches her sweater perfectly??

Tawana recieved fingerless mittens from Jane. The colorway looks like one I have seen on SWS yarn.

Penelope recieved Tawana's gift of Thrummed Mittens. Everyone was going crazy over them. I'm so jealous, I am going to have to make my own.

Hope recieved a cute little bag with a sewn and finished inner lining.

And since she's hiding, here is a picture of her, full of excitement after winning the raffle. Noro sock yarn. oooohhhh... aaaaahhhhh!!! I'm putting that on my christmas list.

Meet my new friend Martha, who was sitting across from me. We share a love for thrummed mittens. She won a tape measure from one of the raffles. We had a really lucky corner that evening.
Tawana won some laceweight yarn as well.

Well, I did manage to finish that baby hat. I am thinking about sucking it up, doing the math, and creating an adult version for me. That is of course, after I finish my Mary J. Blige hat that I am swatching for.

And, to my surprise.... today at work, Deborah gave me my Christmas gift early -a hat and ruffle scarf set, along with some great homemade cookies. Good thing I didn't wait until Christmas to open it up!! I am so greedy that I ate them all already..hehe!!! Deborah will recieve a very special gift, because so much love went into her present. Thank you so much Deborah!!

Whew!!! I am overwhelmed with excitement. I am just reflecting on my knitting experiences this past year. I used to be so afraid of the Purl stitch, and now I am super-confident that I can face any challenging pattern. I have met such wonderful friends through this blog universe, and I just thank everyone so much for leaving comments as time has progressed. I am so happy that I have friends that I can call on a whim to visit a yarn store or knitting event. It really means a lot to me to be able to open up to you about my crazy and funny life experiences. Happy holidays to everyone!!!