Bushfire season already....

So this week has been a bit hectic... bush fires are popping up everywhere around us, and we are right at the back of a big reserve.

Since its just coming out of winter everything is still dead, the temperatures have gotten over 35 pretty much all week, idiot 11 year olds are out there purposefully setting fires to get attention, people are losing their homes..... and we are all just praying it rains soon..

 And no... none of these have filters on them. These were taken out the front of my house from a fire at Eastern Creek, which is literally just about 10 minutes up the road from us.




It is a very scary time and now there is talk of a "Mega fire"... a 300k wall of fire headed towards the western suburbs from the Blue Mountains.... this actually worried Lewy, so now we have an emergency bag packed by our front door, with all our important documents and photos as well as things for the dogs.... cant forget my fur babies in a crisis!

Not wanting to freak any one out too much we have also done some more work on our kitchen! We have almost painted all the walls, got everything sanded down and ready to go, all we have left now is the counters, tiles, and top cabinets to go.

Today I cleaned the ceiling in the kitchen so we can paint it white again. I was dripping sweat by the end of it all, but I cleaned it to the best of my abilities you would think it had never seen a good cleaning before though... I did almost fall off the ladder so I have decided to never do it again while no one is home with me.

While I was cleaning I made some brownies!
preheat your oven to 180C
1. melt 16 tablespoons of butter in a dish, stir in 1 cup icing sugar and 1 cup brown sugar and stir until smooth.
2. Add 4 eggs, one at a time stirring after each one until the mixture is smooth and glossy.
3. Sift in 3/4 cup of cocoa powder, and 2 cups of plain flour and mix very well.
4. add 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence and stir well.
5. line a deep tray with baking paper and pour in mixture.
6. bake for 30 minutes checking to make sure it is cooked through by inserting a toothpick or wooden skewer into the center and it comes out clean. (If it is not clean leave to cook for 10 minutes longer)
7. Leave to cool completely in the dish before removing.
8. cut into small squares and dust with cocoa powder before serving.

Just a tip though, make sure and use plain flour for the whole thing, I used half self raising flour because I ran out of plain and it came out more like a cake than brownies..... still tasty but more spongey.

I hope you have all had a good week, and to all my Aussie readers please be safe with all these fires, have a plan in case of emergency! And please dont forget your animals!!!!

No Rest for the Wicked!

Ok so this is one of those personal type blogs I'm sure you really dont want to have to read on a crafting website... but =P

So today I heard on the radio that MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) offers some free courses that you can take online, and actually receive a certificate for completing them! So when I came home the first thing I did was sign up for one.

My course starts on October 1st, and I will be trying my very best to complete Introduction to Philosophy: God, Knowledge and Consciousness. Believe it or not I'm actually quite excited for it to start! They had heaps of courses that you could do, and you could do them for fun and just watch the videos in your own time or you could do the homework and send it in online and actually receive your certificate at the end of the course... I hope to be able to do the later!

It will be something I can put on my resume and make people stop and go "WOW!" which will be very good because my resume is pretty bland at the moment...

Knitted Bunnies!

My Little Rabbit <3

 So here's the little knitted Rabbit I promised you all!
Isn't it just so freaking adorable? I absolutely love it to death and it even comes with some clothes! So as promised here's the pattern for it. I'm not sure whose patter it was originally (and I'm really sorry that I cant give credit where credit is due!) but I found this pattern on Pinterest, I clicked on the picture of the little teddy bear (yes there is a bear as well!) and it downloaded a .pdf file to my phone.... So I'm going to write it down for everyone (exactly as stated in the pattern I downloaded) And if you stumble across it somehow and it's your pattern please let me know!!

Head: Side A
cast on 12 sts. (start with a K row)
1. Inc 1 st st at each end of row. (14 sts)
2. P across
3. Inc 1 st st at beginning of row. (15 sts)
4. P across
5-10. Repeat rows 3 and 4 three times more. (18 sts)
11. Cast off 8 sts at beginning of row K to end. (10 sts)
Place marker at end of last cast off st.
12. P across
13. K across
14-15. Dec 1 st at each end (6 sts)
Cast off *P2tog at each end as u cast off

Side B
Cast on 12 sts (start with a P row)
1. Inc 1 at each end of row (14 sts)
2. K across
3. Inc 1 at beginning of row (15 sts)
4. K across
5-10. Repeat rows 3 and 4 three times more (18 sts)
11. Cast off 8 sts at beginning of row K to end (10 sts)
Place marker at last cast off st.
12. K across
13. P across
14-15. Dec 1 st at each end (6 sts)
Cast off  *K2tog at each end of row as u cast off

Head Gusset (Start at back of neck)
Cast on 3 sts.
1. p across
2. inc 1 st on each end (5 sts)
3-5. work in st st begin and end with a p row
6-9 repeat rows 2 through 5 one more time (7 sts)
10. inc 1 st at each end (9 sts)
11-23. work in st st begin and end with a p row
24-25 Dec 1 st each end (5 sts)
place marker at each end of this row
26-32. work in st st begin and end with a k row
Cast off *p2tog at each end of row as you cast off

To make up head:
Sew side pieces from tip of nose to chin. Insert head gusset matching markers (this is where the eye positions are) sew gusset in place.Gather neck edge adding extra stuffing if needed and secure. Make the indents and add the eyes. Then make the nose and mouth.

Ears for Rabbit:
work piece in garter stitch (make 2)
Cast on 5 sts
1. k across
2. k1 inc 1 in each following st to end (9 sts)
3. k across
4. k3 inc 1 in next st, k1, inc 1 in next st, k3 (11 sts)
5-17. k across
18. k4, k2tog, k5 (10 sts)
19-21 k across
22. k4, k2tog, k4 (9 sts)
23-30. k across
31. k2tog at each end of row (7 sts)
32. k across
33-36 repeat rows 31 and 32 two more times (3 sts)
37. k last 3 st together.
tie off. Fold cast on edge in half and stitch together

Ears for Bear:
work piece in garter stitch (make 2)
Cast on 8 sts leaving a long tail to sew to head
1-4. k across
5. Dec 1 st at each end of row (6 sts)
6. k across
Cast off

Body:
Cast on 15 sts (begin at neck edge)
1. k1, inc 1 in each following st to end (29 sts)
2-6. work in st st begin and end with a p row
7. {K6, inc 1} twice, k1, {inc 1, K6} twice (33 sts)
8-10 work in st st begin and end with a p row
11. k15, inc 1, k1, inc 1, k15 (35 sts)
12-16. work in st st begin and end with a p row
17. k15, skpo, k1, k2tog, k15 (33 sts)
18-20 work in st st begin and end with a p row
21. k14, skpo, k1, k2tog, k14 (31 sts)
22-24. work in st st begin and end with a p row
25. k1, {k2tog} to end (16sts)
26. p across
Cast off remaining 16 sts
Fold sides of body together, then sew cast off edge, gather neck by weaving yarn around neck edge then pull closed and secure. Sew back edge leaving an opening, stuff then close opening.

Legs: (make 2)
Cast on 12 sts
1. k1 inc 1 in each following st to end (23 sts)
2. p across
3. k1, inc 1, k7, inc 1 in next 6 sts, k6, inc 1, k1 (31 sts)
4-6. work in st st beginning and ending with p row
7. k13, k2tog, k1, skpo, k13 (29 sts)
8. p across
9. k12, k2tog, k1, skpo, k12 (27 sts)
10. p across
11. k7, cast off next 13 sts, k to end (14 sts)
12. p across
13. inc 1 at each end of row (16 sts)
14-20 work in st st begin and end with p row
21. {k1, skpo, k3, k2tog} twice (12 sts)
22. p across
23. {k1, skpo, k1, k2tog} twice (8 sts)
Cast off *{p2tog to end casting off as u go}
Sew instep, sole, back of leg and top seam, leave an opening to stuff, then close after stuffing.

Arms: (make 2)
cast on 6 sts
1. k1, inc1 in each following st to end (11 sts)
2. p across
3. k1, {inc 1, k2, inc 1, k1} twice (15 sts)
4-14. work in st st begin and end with a p row
15. k1, skpo, k9, k2tog, k1 (13 sts)
16-24. work in st st begin and end with p row
25. k1, {skpo, k1, k2togmk1} twice (9sts)
26. p across
cast off *k1, {k2tog} to end casting off as you go. Sew arm seam leaving an opening to stuff and then close.

To make up:
Sew head in position. It is a good idea to experiment with the ears before you sew them on. Attach arms and legs in the desired places.

The instructions for the clothing will come a little bit later =) but for now enjoy making some awesome bears and bunnies!

2.1k VIEWS!!!!!

Yup, that's right folks... We have finally hit the 2,000 view mark! I couldn't be happier!

So in honor of this special event, I've decided to do a blog on origami butterflies.

I'm making a whole bunch of little ones, so I took some step by step shots using my awesome new phone, who's camera is 100 times better than my old one, so get ready for some extra crisp views!

Step one: you start out with a square of paper. (The ones in the picture were made by folding an A4 sheet of paper in half and making a large triangle first, then the scrap of paper left over is what I have used to make the triangles used in this blog.) You can make 2 triangles from each scrap of paper. Now I say triangles but you really end up with a square that is folded in half diagonally.

 Step two: take the top corner and fold it down lining the edges of the paper up. You should be able to make two if these triangle shapes from the scrap of paper, but it will depend on how many you personally wish to make, and what size paper you are using.

Step three: while the shape is still folded in half diagonally cut off the excess paper from the bottom of the scrap, make sure all the edges line up and there is no excess paper on any of the sides, or your butterfly may end up with some overlap in its wings.

Step four: now that you have the square piece of paper, you need to make the pre-folds. Fold the piece diagonally both ways so there will be an X shape of folds. Once you have done this fold the paper in half so you will have a straight line going through the middle of the X folds.

 Step five: collapse the folds in on themselves. You will end up with another triangle shape with two flaps on the inside, which you will be able to see from the open end of the triangle.

Step six: now its time to start forming the butterfly, we will start with the bottom wings. Turn the open end of the triangle away from you.

Step seven: take on of the corners from the open end and fold it down to meet the top point of the triangle. Make sure not to grab both corners, or the butterfly's top wings will have creases in them.

Step eight: do the same to the other corner. You should end up with something similar to the picture on the left, with what looks like a small square in the middle of a triangle. These two folded down flaps will be the butterfly's bottom wings!

Step nine: flip the whole thing over, so now the two corners you folded down are on the bottom and the plain triangle shape is facing the top.

Step ten: take the pointy end of the triangle and fold it upwards towards the open end. Make sure and fold it so the point is higher than the open edge. Doing this will pull up the other edges as well but this is ok, we want this to happen.

Step eleven: after you have folded the point to the top you need to flatten the shape. The bottom edges will have pulled up so you need to pull them back down and flatten them, it will make a small overlap of paper on the flap you pulled up in the previous step and look similar to the picture on the left. We're almost done!

Step twelve: once again flip the whole thing over, It should be starting to look like a butterfly now, and you should have a small triangle peeking out over the open edge of the top wings.

Step thirteen: fold this small triangle back over the open edge of the wings. this will keep the whole thing closed together without having to use staples or glue.

Step fourteen: fold the whole shape in half, along the line between the bottom wing flaps. Make sure the small triangle doesn't come unfolded during this because the butterfly will sort of fall apart.

Step fifteen: pinch the top where the triangle was folded over, with your fingers, and flatten. This will give you a butterfly body ans well as pull the wings away from each other slightly giving the whole thing a more butterfly feel.

Flip the whole thing over and you should have something that looks similar to the little butterfly pictured above!

Now you can decorate it however you like, add some antenna, draw on some spots.... make some different shapes and sizes and colors.... the possibilities are endless!

Next blog:

Instructions on how to make this adorable little bunny using a pattern that I found for free on pinterest!

The Teddies!

First of all, let me state that there has been a problem... I am not sure if it has to do with the loss of my laptop or what has happened, but all of my blog photos and videos have seemed to disappear...

I was able to replace 98% of the blog photos, luckily because I have them all saved to my pc (which Lewy fixed for me) but the videos are pretty much gone... they were all done using the webcam attached to the laptop and not saved anywhere but here *sad face*

One of the ones affected was the blog about the little teddy bears I made, so I decided to do a proper blog about them... I did leave the other post up because it has the link to the ravelry website so you all can get the pattern... but here is is one more time.

The pattern is pretty straight forward, all knitted on straight needles and sewn together, it's overall a very cute little teddy bear and they are pretty addictive to make.

These pictures are just a few that I made, the brown one on the right went to little Bella, and a twin one went to Daniella for her first Easter, the black one with the white face goes to my mom, the stripy one went to my cousin Ashley's little boy Dylan, and the two little ones are what I like to call my Mr & Mrs bears. They take about 3 days for me to make, the larger ones take the least amount of time, but because my fingers tend to cramp up a bit when knitting for long periods of time I have to put it down and rest a little before starting up again, if you are able to do the whole amount in one sitting it should only take you a day or two at the most to finish one off. I thought it would be pretty fun to play around with them a little bit, hence the stripes and the accessories. The brown bears both had sewn on felt eyes, but you can use fabric paint (like I have done for the rest of them) or even buttons, but I wouldn't suggest that if you plan on giving the finished product to a small child.

 Now the only thing I do differently from the pattern is that I don't stitch closed the neck, I attach the head and the body together using the cast on edges as a guide, I find it makes the whole thing a little bit stronger which is good if you want to have little kiddies dragging it around. The Mr & Mrs Bears were by far my favorite to do, because they have accessories!

 The Mr bear is sporting a nifty little felt top hat, a stunning little mustache, a powder blue tie to match Mrs bear, and not pictured is his little Ball and chain... While Mrs bear is sporting a lovely white veil with a jeweled tiara in blue and silver, as well as a nice little bouquet of silver roses! The had their eyes put on using fabric paint, Mrs bear had a nice little pre-wedding nose job because I made the mistake of painting on some horrid red lips that made her look like a clown, but luckily enough I had enough yarn left over to make her a new nose.

Happy Easter!!!!!

Happy Easter!!!!!

So I decided to finally try something I found on Pintrest, it sounded decadent, to die for.... absolutely yummy!!! And it's easy as pie (literally XD)

So here's what you need:

• 8-12 Hollow Chocolate Easter eggs (you can use white for a more realistic effect)
• 1 tub of cream cheese (at room temperature)
• 1/4 cup of powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (please use the good stuff!)
• 1/2 cup thickened cream
• 2 teaspoons of peach juice (or 1 whole passion fruit without seeds)
• 1 tablespoon apricot jam
• 1 tablespoon butter

And the Directions! (including pictures of my attempt at making them!)

1. If your eggs are wrapped in foil uncover the top of them,  leave the wrapper on them to give some color pop and to help them stay cool longer (If you live down in Aus you will know its still hot enough to melt chocolate at Easter time!)
2. Using a serrated knife you will need to cut the tops off the eggs. This can prove to be a bit difficult, if you would like a smooth hole then you can heat up the knife before cutting, if you would like a ragged hole like you had started peeling the egg then try and break some pieces off the top (this is what I did)
3. Put the eggs in the fridge so they do not melt, and now its time to start making the cheesecake mix!!
4. In a large bowl mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract together using an electric mixer beat on high for 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy.
5. In a smaller bowl mix the thickened cream with the electric mixer until it forms stiff peaks.
6. Whisk the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until it is smooth and velvety.
7. Pipe or spoon the cream cheese mixture into the holes you made in the eggs. Fill them all the way to the top! But be careful not to spill much over the sides.
8. Put the eggs in the fridge to set. The should take about an hour or so, I left mine over night to just make sure they were all the way set.
9. After they have been set, remove them from the fridge, using a small spoon scoop out some of the cheese cake from the top, making a little hole. This is where the "yolk" will go.
10. In a small pan, put the butter, jam, and passion fruit or peach juice, and whisk it over a low heat until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. It should look really yellow, but you can add some yellow food coloring if you like.
11. Spoon the jam mixture into the cheese cake hols you made in the eggs. It will be s bit runny, but will set nicely.
12. When you have filled up all the eggs put them in the fridge to set for at least half an hour, I left mine to set over night again....

I was so tempted to eat them straight away!
The good thing about these is that they aren't too sweet, the cheese cake mix does not need to be baked, but it is still light and fluffy while not being too cheesy. The jam and the chocolate add a nice sweetness to it but the cheesecake its self is understated. These were so much fun to make and took hardly any time at all to do, the only issue I had was that I had left over cheesecake!

But there you have it, you now have the recipe for Cheesecake Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs, easy peasy to do, super fun for kids, and a wonderful desert for after dinner! Hope everyone enjoys their Easter weekend as much as I will!!!

XxxX
Rah Rah <3

The Little Punkin' set!

Itty Bitty Baby Booties! (newborn size)

What you need: 1 pair of knitting needles (the size recommended for your yarn, I used 8ply yarn and size 4mm needles), 1 ball of yarn (or different colors if you wish to make stripy shoes), 1 yarn needle or tapestry needle.

Instructions:

• Cast on 38 stitches

• Knit 10 rows (sole of the shoe)

• Knit 16 stitches, slip 1 stitch, knit 1 stitch, pass slipped stitch over knitted stitch, knit 2 stitches, knit 2 together, knit 16 stitches

• Purl 15 stitches, slip 1 stitch, purl 1 stitch, pass slipped stitch over purled stitch, purl 2 stitches, purl 2 together, purl 15 stitches

• Knit 14 stitches, slip 1 stitch, knit 1 stitch, pass slipped stitch over knitted stitch, knit 2 stitches, knit 2 together, knit 14 stitches

• Purl 13 stitches, slip 1 stitch, purl 1 stitch, pass slipped stitch over purled stitch, purl 2 stitches, purl 2 together, purl 13 stitches

• Knit 12 stitches, slip 1 stitch, knit 1 stitch, pass slipped stitch over knitted stitch, knit 2 stitches, knit 2 together, knit 12 stitches

• Purl 11 stitches, slip 1 stitch, purl 1 stitch, pass slipped stitch over purled stitch, purl 2 stitches, purl 2 together, purl 11 stitches

• Knit 10 stitches, slip 1 stitch, knit 1 stitch, pass slipped stitch over knitted stitch, knit 2 stitches, knit 2 together, knit 10 stitches.

• purl 1 row

Eyelet Rows (if you do not want eyelets then knit/purl across the row):

• knit 2 stitches, yarn over twice, knit 3 stitches, yarn over twice, knit 3 stitches, yarn over twice, knit 3 stitches, yarn over twice, knit 2 stitches, yarn over twice, knit 3 stitches, yarn over twice, knit 3 stitches, yarn over twice, knit 3 stitches, yarn over twice, knit 2 stitches.

• purl 2 stitches, drop both yarn over stitches, purl 3 stitches, drop both yarn over stitches, purl 3 stitches, drop both yarn over stitches, purl 3 stitches, drop both yarn over stitches, purl 2 stitches, drop both yarn over stitches, purl 3 stitches, drop both yarn over stitches, purl 3 stitches, drop both yarn over stitches, purl 3 stitches, drop both yarn over stitches, purl 2 stitches.

• knit 1 row

• purl 1 row

• work 13 rows in ribbing (knit 2 stitches, purl 2 stitches)

• loosely cast off

• sew up edge

• flip down cuff

• using a ribbon or some yarn thread through the eyelets and tie into a bow

• put on a baby and admire your work!

Enjoy the video and have fun making your very own baby booties!!!! Please visit my ravelry shop to purchase the pattern for my adorable little punkin' beanie and make your very own set!

Cutie Patootie Teddies!

Sorry for the bad quality video! lolz but it's way to early in the morning to care what I look like or sound like at the moment XD here's the link to the free ravelry download! click it now and make this super cute and adorable teddy bear!

CTHULHU!!!!!

So it's finally here! I have decided to let it go for free!!!

Now you can find this pattern with a link to this blog in my Ravelry Shop, or on my Deviant Art Page.

And as promised the instructions to make this beautiful piece of work:

Cthulhu Ski Mask
Single needles (beginner’s ski mask)
Ski Mask:
Start with size 3 ¼ mm needles, cast on 180 stitches, stocking stitch four rows.
Switch to size 5mm needles and continue to work in stocking stitch until piece measures four to five inches long.
Switch to size 9 needles, continue to work in stocking stitch until piece measures approximately 11 inches long.
Switch back to size 5mm needles, stocking stitch two rows. Cast off 15 stitches from beginning of a wrong side row and knit to end. Turn work and cast off 15 stitches purlwise, purl to end.
Continue working in stitch for approximately 3 inches. Cast on 10 stitches at the beginning of a wrong side row, knit to end. Turn work and cast on 10 stitches purlwise and purl to end of row. (This will be the opening for the eyes in the ski mask)
Stocking stitch two rows, and then switch back to size 9mm needles. Work in stocking stitch decreasing on wrong side rows only, decrease evenly across the rows until only ten stitches remain.
Switch back to size 5mm needles and stocking stitch two rows, thread a yarn needle and pull remaining yarn through stitches on needle and pull tight. Use the yarn on the needle to stich closed from the top to the eye opening, and from the bottom of the eye opening to the end of the work.
Bridge cover (between the eyes)
Using size 5mm needles cast on 8 stitches, decreasing two stitches at a time stocking stitch until only four stitches remain, stocking stitch 3 rows, increasing 2 stitches per row stocking stitch until you have 8 stitches and cast off. This will be going in the middle of the eye opening.
Eyebrow Piece:
These are optional, you don’t have to make them if you are afraid they will obstruct your vision, or they will make the mask too uncomfortable.
Using size 5mm needles, cast on 20 stitches. Stocking stitch several rows, increasing stitches evenly across wrong side rows, increase to 40 stitches. Decrease to 10 stitches evenly across wrong side rows. Stocking stitch several rows, increase evenly to 40 stitches across wrong side rows, decrease to 20 stitches evenly across wrong side rows, stocking stitch several rows, cast off.
Fold piece in half and stitch closed all the way around. We are going to sew this over the eye opening for the eyebrows.
Tentacles!
So we will start off with some small tentacles. I used 3 ¼mm needles, casting on 10 stitches. Knit one stitch and increase 1 stitch to the end, purl one row, Knit 1 stitch and increase 1 stitch to end, purl one row, cast off. This will give you a very curly tentacle.
Repeat the same steps by casting on 20 and 30 stitches, this will give you longer versions of the tentacles.
Switch to size 5mm needles, and continue to make tentacles by casting on 10,20,30 stitches and following the same steps.
You can stop at any point when making the tentacles, because each mask will be individual, just keep increasing the size of the needles and continue to cast on 10,20,30 stitches until you have a mask which suits your tastes!

Knitting yourself Centered ^_^

So I may have mentioned before that I had started a project for Lewy's Christmas present, if I haven't then I'm mentioning it now!

It's a very special project, if you are familiar with Reiki and Chakras then you will know what it's all about.

I searched for ages trying to find some patterns for the symbols to knit a wall hanging with or even some
pillows with but there was nothing, so I took it upon myself to make some and share them with the world.


You can use these patterns in any way you like, but please PLEASE dont try and sell these patterns anywhere. They were created to be shared for free to any one who would like to use them.
I used them stacked on top of each other for a wall hanging, but you can use them any way you like. Pillows might make a good thing or even use them a squares in a throw rug or something!

1. The Base Chakra, this one will be red. Now I have done them so that the symbol stands out against the background, the background being the main color of the chakra.

2. The Sacral Chakra, this one will be orange.

3. The Solar Plexus Chakra, this one will be yellow.

4. The Heart Chakra, this one will be green.

5. The Throat Chakra, this one will be blue.

6. The Third Eye Chakra, this one will be light blue or violet. (I made mine light blue because I didn't have any violet yarn available and I didn't want to go to the shops just to get one skein that not even half would be used)



 

7. The Crown Chakra, this one is supposed to be ultraviolet, but since that's out of our color spectrum you can use some iridescent yarn if you can find it, I chose to use white only because I had some available and it is an appropriate color to use for this chakra.







I hope you have found this interesting and that you will use them!!! As always more work available on my Deviant Art page! and FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK!!!!  And brand new please visit my Ravelry Shop!!Hope all my lovely followers have had a very merry Christmas and an extra special New Year. Hope 2013 brings you everything you hope for and more!!!

I choose you Pikachu!

So here's a new project for you all!

A lovely little Pikachu beanie!! Now the size of this beanie will depend of on the size of the yarn you use and the needles. This is a pattern for single needles so you will have a seam up the back. You can knit in the round if you choose however.

The pattern is basically a beanie like the one found here. It does say in the title that it is an adult size beanie but when I made the pattern it didnt fit me. I used normal 8ply yarn and size 4 needles, it ended up being more of a childs size beanie.

After you have made the beanie in yellow then you need to make the ears and the stripes for the back.

to make the ears:

Cast on 40 stitches in yellow, stocking stitch for 10 centimeters decreasing to 20 stitches along the way, switch to black yarn stocking stitch for 5 centimeters decreasing to 6 stitches along  the way. Pull yarn through remaining stitches and pull tight. Sew closed. Make two ears. Sew to the sides of the beanie.
Make the stripes for the back. Cast on 10 stitches in light brown, knit one row increasing to 20 stitches, purl one row, knit one row decreasing to 10 stitches, cast off. Make three stripes and sew to the back of the beanie over the seam to keep them in line.

Cut out two large circles in black felt and a small black triangle. Cut out two small white felt circles for the eyes, and two large pink or red circles for the cheeks. Sew the face in place and stitch a mouth using black yarn.

You can find proper patterns for sale, but this one's free!

Wands and Kitties!

Well things are finally starting to come along nicely with my Harry Potter gift bags.... now that I've actually finished all the bags I've made a startling discovery....

ALL THE STUFF ISN'T GOING TO FIT INSIDE THEM!

lol! But all is good because I will just make it into a couples goodie bag and put two or one of each thing in the bag (Don't worry I'll probably make those as well and they are easy as anything to do!)

We'll start this post off with the details of the magic wands.

I went to the local cheapy shop which is just down the street from me, and since it was Halloween time they had plenty of decorations to snag for a bargain! They had some basic plastic magical wands to use for costumes so I grabbed some of them and since they all looked the same I decided to make them all individual.

First thing is that its alright if you cant find a plastic wand there are heaps of tutorials on google to make them out of plain paper,this one is a good example!


You'll need to have some paper towel or toilet paper handy and some plain white glue that will dry clear. Mix the glue with an equal amount of water and then paint the plastic wand and start sticking on the toilet paper. Once you've covered it all set it aside to dry.
Now I wanted to make mine uniform in color, not identical but similar. So I used some black tissue paper and put a few layers over the paper towel in the same way.
And don't worry about getting it perfect the first time around because at this stage you can always cover up and places you have missed with a scrap of the paper you used on the last layer.

You can make them any way you like, to make each wand unique for myself I wrapped some bits of yarn in interesting patterns around them before I started the paper mache. After you have them looking the way you like then just add any extra details with some paint or a paint pen and cover the whole thing in a layer of glue (don't mix this layer with water though) and it will give the wand a shiny lacquered effect.

Now for the kitties!
 There is a free pattern for these kitties found here! but I'll go ahead and write it down on my own blog. (just giving credit where it's due!)

It makes three separate pieces which will need to be sewn together. I'll be using a yarn needle which you can get from any craft store where yarn is sold.
We'll go through this step by step so it's easier to understand.

The Body:

1. Cast on 24 stitches of any yarn in any color in any type on any size needles. (the finished size of the kitten will depend on what type of yarn you have used and what size needles you need, but as we are stuffing this kitten make sure the knitting is tight so the stuffing doesn't peak through!) 
2. Straight Knit 52 rows 
3. Cast off.

Simple right? But it looks like a square of yarn. Fold it in half length ways, and make a stitch in the yarn to hold the place. Now you will have two more edges, and pull each of those to the middle and make a stitch to hold them in place. You should have four corners now and four openings to sew up. Sew up three of the openings and place some craft stuffing inside to fill out the body before sewing the last opening open.

The Head:

1. Cast on 12 stitches in the same yarn you used for the body.
2. Straight Knit 14 rows
3. Knit 4 more rows but knit two stitches together at the beginning of each row. (this will give the head a tapered effect.)
4. Now Knit 4 more rows but increase one stitch at the beginning of each row. (we're gonna fold the head in half!)
5. Straight Knit 14 rows
6. Cast off.

Now you have a shape that slightly resembles an hour glass right? Good! Fold the shape in half where the cast on and cast off edges are even. Stitch around the head, leaving a small opening to stuff, and be sure to stitch around the ears!
Now pick an end of the body and sew the back of the head to it!

The Tail:

1. Cast on 14 stitches in the same yarn as the body and head.
2. Straight Knit 7 rows.
3. Cast off.

Sew the long edge together and across one of the short ends. You should have a small tube with one end sewn shut. If it is big enough you can stuff the tail, but it is not necessary. Sew the open end to the end of the body.

With some black yarn or thread sew on a little face and some whiskers and VIOLA!!! Your very own easy peasy knitted kitten!