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Sunday, August 1, 2010

Piece o' Cake

Recently I've been moving. It is NOT FUN. I bruise like a peach, I'm not made of muscle, and I got stung by a bee (true story). Also, a bed that Steve and I were going to get from storage was apparently locked up until the super got back from vacation. He had left every key with his sub except the one that was locking the storage place where the bed resided. So Steve and I are going to rent a truck again next weekend just to move the bed. Fun!

OK, enough of my whining. Nobody likes moving, and everyone's doing it these days, so I'm really not that special when you think about it. But it got me thinking: just because moving's not a piece of cake it doesn't mean nothing has to be! Inspired by going to the Foiled Cupcakes 1-year-anniversary party, I decided to de-stress by knitting the following:


Ah yes, the ubiquitous knit cake. It's silly, yes, but enough to get my mind off the stress of moving. I thought I'd share my recipe with you!
Ingredients:
2 small balls of different-colored yarn from your stash
1 cicular, convex button
1 set of US size 5 dpns
1 tapestry needle
1 scrap of cloth, about 16" x 16"
1 scrap of cloth, about 4" x 8"
Instructions:
Cast on 3 stitches on one dpn. With a second dpn, knit 2 stitches into the first stitch. With a third dpn, do the same with the next stitch, and with a fourth, work 2 stitches into the last stitch. Now you have 6 stitches in the round, 2 on each needle. Work 2 stitches into the front and back of each of those stitches, resulting in 12 stitches total. Continue increasing as follows: Round 3: knit 1, knit into the front and back of the next stitch; repeat till the end of round (6 times total).
Round 4: knit 2, knit into the front and back of the next stitch; repeat till the end of round.
Round 5: knit 3, knit into the front and back of the next stitch; repeat till the end of round.
Round 6: knit 4, knit into the front and back of the next stitch; repeat till the end of round.
Round 7: knit 5, knit into the front and back of the next stitch; repeat till the end of round. (You will have 42 stitches total.)
Now you will work the ridges of the cupcake paper. Knit 2 stitches and purl 1, repeat this till the end of the round. For the next round, knit 1 stitch and purl two, repeating this till the end of the round. Repeat these past two rounds until the ribbing measures an inch and a half.
Switch to your second (frosting) color. Knit into the front, back, and front of all the stitches in the round, increasing your number of stitches from 42 to 126, 42 on each needle. Try to make these stitches loose, as they will put a strain on your needles. Next, knit for two rounds. To decrease the ruffle, knit 3 together 6 times, knit 2 together, and knit 1. Repeat this till the end of the round. You will have 48 stitches.
Next, purl 5 rounds, knit 2 rounds.
Insert the stuffing:
Fold the 16" cloth in half, and then half again, lengthwise, making a 16" x 4" folded strip. Holding one of the short ends, roll tightly until you have a 4" tall cylinder. With the smaller scrap, fold it in thirds, lengthwise, so you have a folded strip a little more than an inch wide. wrap it around the middle of the cylinder, and insert it into your knit cupcake.
Now you will start decreasing:
Round 1: purl 6 stitches, purl two together; repeat till end of round.
Round 2: purl
Round 3: purl 5 stitches, purl two together; repeat till end of round.
Round 4: purl
Round 5: purl 4 stitches, purl two together; repeat till end of round.
Round 6: knit
Round 7: knit 3 stitches, knit two together; repeat till end of round.
Round 8: purl
Round 9: purl 2 stitches, purl two together; repeat till end of round.
Round 10: purl 1 stitch, purl two together; repeat till end of round.
Round 11: purl two together; repeat till end of round.
You will have 6 stitches left. Cut your working yarn, leaving a 3-inch tail. Pass the tail through all six stitches, taking them off their needles, and pull. Use this tail to thread though the button and use the yarn needle to sew it in and then weave in the ends.
Now, with a 12" piece of yarn, sew the increase part of the ruffle (the first thing you did with the frosting yarn) to the decrease side, making the ruffle more ruffly. Weave in ends, and you have a cupcake!

...Do not eat it.