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! 

All the Little Branches

So I know normally I'm putting up photos of everything I do, weather it's finished or not, but this time I have decided to take on a rather different type of project.

I've decided to try and do a MASSIVE family tree with both sides of my own family, all the in-laws and both sides of their families, for as far back as I can possibly go! It's a very big project that I'm working on, but to make it even bigger I have refused to use anything other than Google and my own family members to complete it, these ancestry websites are ridiculously overpriced!!!

At the moment my family tree is waiting on several branches that my mother is working on, lots of missing birthdays and partners names, and I'm stuck at my own great grandparents... Google is being MOST uncooperative in this matter, I cant find a single article on either set of my great grandparents.... Its really hard to find information out about people who were from another country =(

I'm using a simple software called MyHeritage which I found on Google for free, it's nothing fancy pants, but it does help you organize all your information. I can add photos and tag people's faces, birth dates and places, death dates and places, marriage dates and places, where people used to work, I can even link to articles I find online about them! It has a global map, and anywhere you have tagged an important event birth/death/marriage/workplace it will place a pin in the map. So far I only have a few pins, but with my limited knowledge I think I have done very well!

When I have gathered as much information as I can this software also allows you to upload the family tree to a website to share with the world, you can even order a nice wall hanging with the entire tree on it! I think that a lot of my family members would enjoy seeing the finished project, knowing where you come from is important to me.  I think it's comforting in a way to know your own background, I feel like I have a bit of amnesia when people ask me about my Italian background and all I can do is stare at them like an idiot because I have no idea about it...
I know a lot of people out there would wonder why do it at all, why even bother trying to find out things that happened in the past... I love the mystery! I would love to be working my way through my own history and , find out I'm a descendant of some one really famous, or even find out something like my family fled the country as criminals would be interesting to me. It would give some really good stories to tell people... "Did you know way back in the 1600's my relative was in the Salem Witch Trials?" "Did you know that I'm very distantly related to Vincent Van Gough?"  How cool would it be to tell people things like that and then be able to show them proof?!

All in all this task is just for me, to give myself a little bit of a history lesson. But, I know that there are many more people in my own family that would love to see it, to see how the branches are twined together, to know the places we all come from... even to see who's in-laws came from where!

At this moment we are going strong with 145 people, from 48 different families. My Uncle has a bunch of info to give me, and my mother has scrounged up a few different people I can talk to over facebook who have taken on smaller versions of my task previously... I can't wait to see how big this thing will be!!!