The Cake is a lie... but my companion cube foot stool is.... er not?

Halleluiah IT'S FINALLY FREAKING FINISHED!!!!

 I've been working on this foot stool for jebus only knows how long.... but yesterday I finally finished it. You all have Lewy to thank for it, he came and plopped it down on my lap while I was watching How Clean Is Your House (rather than actually cleaning it like I should but shhhhh!), told me he was sick of looking at it half finished and that I had better finish it off before the end of the day.

Now lucky for my I only had a small bit left to go, otherwise I might have just broken down and cried right there on the lounge with images of lounge room rubbish tips blaring in the background....

And the best thing of all? You can make this thing yourself.... and no it doesnt have to be footstool size!

 To the left here we have the basic pattern you need... I did forget to mention that the whole big square needs to be in dark grey felt or material... but this is pretty much all you need to know. You can re-size this pattern any way you like... make a teeny tiny one... make a gigantic one... make whatever you want out of it!










Steps:

All my pretty pieces, and sewn the hearts and "legs"on

1. Cut out all your pieces. If you're using the pattern I have given you I suggest cutting out the whole big square first, then cutting out the other pieces from inside, will save you having to print the pattern out multiple times. I made my squares about 1.5 feet because after all I did make a foot rest and it would be hard to rest your achy feet on a pillbox.
2. First of all you need to sew the heart shape into the center of the circle shape. Do this until you run out of hearts and circles.
3. You need to attach the purple "legs" (for lack of a better word to call them at the moment" to the top, bottom, and each side of the circle. It should look like you have sewn the circle with the heart on it into the middle of a big plus sign, and do this until you run out of purple pieces and hearts, you should have 6 at the end one for eac
h face of the cube.

Sewing those corners together!

4. Now you can save time by doing this step now, or you can save it for later. If you have a sewing machine handy I suggest you do it now because it really will save some time! Take three pieces of the Corner shape and sew the long sides together, you will get a pyramid shape. Do this until you run out of corner shapes, you should end up with 8 sewn together pieces. Take the light grey rectang
le pieces and sew one end of the short edges together. Now set these pieces aside, because you wont need them until the very end.
5. Take your heart on a plus sign pieces, and you are going to sew them on to each face of the cube. I found that pinning them in place helped me center them better while I was stitching them on. (Let me tell you a sewing machine would have come in soooooo handy at this point, and this is why this darn thing took soooo long to finish!)
6. After you have stitched all the faces on you are ready to make them into a cube. I found that stitching them all together in a big cross shape was more effective than trying to sew them into shape one by one... so you do four long in a row, it doesnt matter which way the row goes, just make sure that your purple "legs" line up and touch each other. Then on the second square of the row you will sew one on the top and one on the bottom of the row so it looks like a cross shape. (not an "X" cross but more of a "t" cross)

My "cross" shape

7. Now stitch all the edges together around the two prongs of the cross to make the cube, this can be a bit tricky if you're using a machine, but its alright if you round the corners a little bit on the cube because they will be covere
d up at the end. Make sure you leave a spot open so you can flip the whole thing inside out (so the seams dont show) and so you can stuff it!
8. Stuff that thing until your hearts content... but please dont over stuff it, just remember it's a COMPANION CUBE not a COMPANION BALL. Then after you're finished stuffing it stitch closed the opening. I found it best to leave one of the corners open to do this step since they are going to be covered up at the end it doesnt really matter if you have a noticeable seam after you close it up.
9. Time to put those corners on! This bit was also a bit tricky, you dont
want to put them on too tight because they are supposed to protrude from the cube a little bit, stitch around 2.5 of the sides then take a small amount of stuffing and cram it into the corner just to make it a bit more "corner-ey". and continue to stitch around the last side, tie off the thread and viola you have just done a corner!

10. Last step! The rectangle pieces you have laying around will go over the purple "legs" and in between the two corner pieces you have done. Stitch around all of the edges you can put a little bit of stuffing in this bit as well if you like but thats up to you. Tie off all your edges and you're finished!

 Now you may have noticed in my "finished" picture up there my rectangles in the middle dont look as though they have seams in the middle. Don't worry I'm not that adapt at sewing by hand... me in all my smartness didnt cut enough of them in the first place, and therefore had to make do with one to cover the whole distance instead of two thats why it looks a little bit stretched... but still I'd rather have one that I made myself than one that I bought from the shops and paid a ridiculous amount of money for.... seriously it couldnt cost them any more to make than it did you right? So why can they charge $50 for it when it barely costs $15 to make? HUGE PRICE MARK UP!!!! and mine looks just as good anyways!

Now so no one sues, all rights to the companion cube are for whoever made the portal game... i dont take credit for coming up with the design or the name or any of that stuff... I do however take credit for the pattern.... because lets face it you would have to be a freaking rocket scientist to come up with that on your own!

Now if you will all excuse me, I'm gonna go and put my feet up, have a nice cup of tea and watch some more bad youtube videos that make me feel guilty for not cleaning or eating the right foods.... and then I'm going to go to work and deal with some screaming children while I can barely breath out my nose due to my allergies not being able to make up their minds if they want to act up or not....

Yes I am in my pajamas.... but it is not even 9am and I will probably stay in them until I have to change clothes for work..... Don't Judge ME!!!! By the way I freaking love my socks, they have pandas on the toes, and the colors are so bright they almost glow in the dark! I just wish they were a little bit warmer, because it was 2 degrees outside this morning.... 2! I'm bloody freezing here!!!

Now that I think about it actually I'm gonna have to hide my pretty and comphy new foot stool.... because lets face it, it's pretty and comphy and the mario mushroom foot stool that I made for Lewy ages ago has gone a bit... er, flat.

 

Which is pretty funny when you think about it because when I first made it it looked like 

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and Lewy squished it with his big man feet!

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!

Gotta Catch Em' All!!

So yeah, not only am I a huge Harry Potter fan, but I'm totally a Pokemon nerd to top it off... and lately I've been seeing these people making Pokemon themed bras.... and I decided to try one out myself, since I know I would never actually be able to buy one in my size (apparently only girls with little boobies get the good bras *pouts*)

Step One: find a plain white bra, and a red and black texter or some fabric markers. I got a good deal on this bra from K-Mart it only cost me $5, but because I couldn't be bothered to go to another shop just to get a red marker I ended up paying $10 for the fabric sharpies from K-Mart as well (on the bright side I now have some pretty colors to write on material with now!)

Step two: Before you start going nuts with the fabric pens (because the ink won't come out in the washer) its best to outline everything in normal pen. As you can see from this picture one of my outlines was a bit off. After you have outlined everything in pen it's time to start coloring in! I swear this bit made me feel like I was 5 years old again XD now just a side note, if you are using markers and you are not sure if they run then for all that is holy please make sure the whole thing is dry before you start coloring in. I brought this stuff home in the rain and part of it got wet, I didn't notice before coloring and part of it ran I had to make a quick fix with fabric paint to cover it up...

Step three: color the top red. I'm not sure how much more explaining this part needs.... Make sure not to go over any of the seams, but make sure and cover all of the top. If you are using a strapless type of bra then remove the strap from the front before coloring just to make sure that you don't accidentally cover part of the strap with marker. If using a normal type bra make sure and leave part of the top white. The point is for it to look like a ball and if you cover the entire top of a normal bra it will look more like a triangle.

Step four: make the other side match! I know it will probably be hard to make them identical unless you have some sort of pattern, I free handed mine so they may not look 100% the same. Now I didn't worry too much about the edges of my lines because I have some fabric paint that I used to straighten them up and sort of outline everything.

FYI: this is what happens when part of the material is wet.... lucky for me I had the fabric paint to cover it up, but if you don't have fabric paint please be careful and make sure the whole thing is dry before coloring in!

Step five: Outline the black bits with some fabric paint (If you have it) to give the lines a more crisp effect and to make them stand out a bit more. If you are using fabric paint please be careful as it will stick to any material and even fingers... I also took this time to fix up my little runny spot with some white fabric paint.

And VIOLA! you have your very own PokeBra! to get rid of any normal pen marks just toss the whole thing in the washer... if you aren't sure about the markers leaking into other fabrics then please make sure and wash it by its self otherwise all your dedicates may turn pink or a very ugly shade of browny black...
After you have washed it and it's dry touch up any spots you might have missed or any spots which have gone light, and then put it on and feel fabulous!!!

Now please note that I don't claim any rights to this idea it is not mine, this bra is mine however and I followed an online tutorial for it. I decided to make my own but there are many others out there!

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!