Cupcakes Galore!

I decided to make some knitted cupcakes for my new cake stands, so I set to work with the cupcake pattern from One Skein by Leigh Radford. Initially I didn’t find it a total ‘piece of cake’ (excuse the pun) because knitting in the round and decreasing into a circle is not easy with fluffy novelty yarn, but eventually I really got into it and discovered how stupidly satisfying they are when finished! Seriously, they are oddly addictive. I put it down to the fact that if, like me, you enjoy baking, this is a way to admire your work for a lot a longer…Here is my first attempt:
Having knitted four of the cupcakes according to the pattern, however, I decided that while cute, they were slightly mushroom-like. So I set about trying to make a more cupcakey-cupcake, and eventually I produced this cupcake pin cushion for my friend Nicky for her birthday.
First: For the base, I did just plain knitting for the first two rounds and then began the rib. For the top, after round 6 I did a round of plain knitting and then the final row (row 7) of decreases. These mods meant that the top of the cupcake base/paper (the green bit) was a touch wider than the bottom of the base/paper and the topping/frosting (the white bit) raised up a little in the centre. I also knitted the top with two strands of yarn, one thick fluffy yarn and one fine knobbly green one (which was the same colour but not the same yarn as the base), giving the frosting a two-tone look.

Second: When stuffing, I put lots of stuffing in the bottom of the base/paper and as I got to the wider part at the top I sort of pulled the stuffing apart a few times width-wise to take advantage of the wider top. I also put a dollop of stuffing on the top of this to take advantage of the way the topping stood up, and then I sewed it together. I then made the whole cupcake slightly damp by wetting my hands and I molded it into shape, making the very bottom narrow and the top full.
Last but not least I put pins in it and wove a little ribbon in and out at the top - without pulling it too tight - and put it in a cake box!

Spiral Rib Bag in One Day!

Tempted by several Super Bowl Sales in a number of local yarn shops (and I did go to one to buy yarn for my husband's requested vest), I decided that what I really needed to do was delve into my stash and use up some of the single skeins I've bought at previous Super Bowl Sales and never used.

Last year, I bought a skein of Lamb's Pride Bulky to pair with a single skein of Patons Glittallic that I had gotten from a swap pal. I had the intention then of making the Spiral Rib Bag from One Skein. Never even started, this project was forgotten as others took its place. Now I pondered doing baby hats for Afghans for Afghans (which I may still do), but I looked at the Spiral Rib Bag pattern again and decided to give it a try. I knit with these two skeins held together, and since both are bulky weight, this made for a tight, sturdy fabric. The bag is big enough to use as a sock project bag, it's really cute! The Glittallic is completely used up and the Lamb's Pride is now a little oddball.


Mission accomplished! It's great to finish a project in ONE DAY! Now, back to Lizzy and my socks. The sock weight yarn and size 1.5 needles feels sooooo thin and tiny after the double bulky weight bag!

Cup Cake

I made this lucky 7 cup cake for my grand daughter Noelle's 7 th Birthday, she told me "honestly" she was playing soccer with it!!! Good thing it wasn't a real one.Her dad thought it was the letter V for our last name Vitiello, I guess it's how you look at it.

Back to Bowls

Having some trouble posting here, I hope this works! Well, over a year ago, I made a whole bunch of felted bowls and sold/gave them away. Now I'm getting requests for more - they were so quick and fun to work up, I don't know why I ever stopped making them! Blogged a little bit more about them here.

My First One Skein Project

Well, I bought the book as soon as I saw this blog. I also joined the blog right away. But then it sat on my shelf for a long time while other projects took precedence.

I have finally completed my first One Skein project! I did the baby hat in Patons Soy Wool Stripes yarn in Natural Violet.

I absolutely loved working with both the pattern and the yarn. I followed the sizing for newborn, even though this is a worsted yarn (#4), not DK or light worsted (#3) as called for. It might be a bit big on a brand new baby, but not for long. I also made one in Bernat Satin Solids in Spring (a light mint green). I like the pattern so much that I'm working on a matching baby sweater using the umbrella pattern of the hat. :)

~Dee
Diary of a Mad Crafter

Blogged with Flock

So, where are all the One-Skeiners?


Here is my one skein knitted bowl. I made it with some leftover stash of Noro Kureyon...



But it's not really a bowl, is it?

Well, it does make a sweet candle cover. CAREFUL of the wick!

Felted Bowls Made Wonderful

If you are looking for an alternative to
felting your One Skein Felted Bowls in your front loading machine or even your
top loading machine, try the Wonder
Washer

It works wonders! 
CatKnitz