This week I’m knitting with Universal Yarn Uptown Baby Sport, which is 100% pill-resistant acrylic yarn that is super soft. Available in a wide array of shades, Uptown Baby Sport looks and feels great in projects for children.
Yesterday, I made a matching hat, complete with a water lily flower to accessorize the Party Time Dress. Today I’ll adorn the table in preparation for the Tea Party. What do you need to serve with tea? Why cake, of course. So today I’m making a cake … actually, the frosting for the cake.
I’ll be working with all four of my yarn colors; Lily and Pink Pearl for the cake, Tea Rose, Pink Pearl and Lily for the embellishments, and Lily and Petal for the placemat.
I’m using all four colors of Uptown Baby Sport to make the table accessories.
Back on Day 2, I made a swatch with a variation of the Feather and Fan motif. Instead of making it open and lacy, I made it closed which was accomplished by purling through the back loop of the yarn over. Let’s talk about yarn overs (YO). It’s not uncommon for current patterns to use the term YO regardless of whether the next stitch is a knit or a purl. In reality, how you go about doing a YO is different depending upon the next stitch. Older or vintage patterns usually distinguished between the two. For example:
yfwd = Yarn forward. The next stitch would be a knit and therefore a YO would be created by bringing the yarn to the front of the work and knitting the next stitch. Sometimes this would be referred to as wlfwd, meaning wool forward.
yrn = Yarn round needle indicating that the next stitch would be a purl. Since a purl stitch needs the yarn to be in front, the YO is accomplished by bringing the yarn to the front of the work, taking it over the right hand needle to the back of the work, then bringing it forward to the front. Now it’s in position for the purl stitch and the YO is already made and on the right hand needle. (aka wrn = wool round needle)
yon = Yarn over needle. If the yarn is in back, bring it over the top of the right needle and then take it to the back. If the yarn is in front, take it to the back and over the top of the right needle. This differs from yrn as its purpose is to alter the positioning of each leg of the YO stitch. A regular YO will have the right leg of the stitch in front and ready to be worked on the next row leaving a lacy hole in your fabric. But, if you knit (or purl) through the back loop of this stitch (i.e., the left leg), it closes the hole. We often knit through the back loop of a stitch, but it tends to be a little trickier to purl through the back loop. By using this technique, the left leg of the YO is in the correct position for knitting or purling and creates the same effect as “through back loop”.
All set? Let’s make a cake.
materials
- 1 ball Uptown Baby Sport in Pink Pearl (Color A) (still using left over yarn from the other projects)
- 1 ball Uptown Baby Sport in Lily (Color B)
- US3 [3.25mm] 32” [80cm] circular for magic loop, or 16” [40cm] circular, or 1 set of double pointed needles
- tapestry needle
- 1 double roll of toilet paper
abbreviations
K = Knit
P = Purl
K2tog = Knit 2 sts together
SSK = Slip, Slip knit-wise, then knit the 2 sts together through back loop
Kfb = Knit into the front and back of the same stitch
st(s) = Stitch(es)
YO = Yarn Over, bring yarn to the front of work before knitting the next stitch.
YON = Yarn Over needle
rep = Repeat
rnd = Round
dec = Decrease
Instructions
Cast on 96 sts with Pink Pearl (Color A) and join in the round being careful not to twist sts. Place a marker to denote the beginning of the round.
Work 6 rounds garter stitch (*K1 rnd, P1 rnd, repeat from *).
Join Color B (Lily).
**Rnds 1 and 2: Knit 2 rows.
Rnd 3: *K2tog (2 times), (YON, K1, (4 times)), SSK (2 times); rep from * to end of rnd.
Rnd 4: Color A – Purl 1 rnd (note that by purling through the YON, it creates a closed stitch)**.
Repeat from ** 9 more times (40 rnds – 10 complete pattern repeats) ending with rnd 4.
With Color A (Pink Pearl)
Rnd 41: Knit 1 rnd.
Rnd 42: Purl 1 rnd.
Rnd 43: Knit 1 rnd.
Rnd 44: *YO, K2tog, repeat from * to end of rnd.
Rnd 45: Knit 1 rnd.
Rnd 46: Purl 1 rnd.
Rnd 47: With the Right needle, pick up the corresponding stitch from rnd 41 and place it on the Left needle. Knit this and the next stitch on the needle together.
Cake Top
With Color B (Lily)
Knit 1 rnd.
*K6, K2tog; repeat from * to end of rnd (12 sts dec = 84 sts).
Knit 1 rnd.
*K5, K2tog; repeat from * to end of rnd (12 sts dec = 72 sts).
Knit 1 rnd.
*K4, K2tog; repeat from * to end of rnd (12 sts dec = 60 sts).
Knit 1 rnd.
*K3, K2tog; repeat from * to end of rnd (12 sts dec = 48 sts).
Knit 1 rnd.
*K2, K2tog; repeat from * to end of rnd (12 sts dec = 36 sts).
Knit 1 rnd.
*K1, K2tog; repeat from * to end of rnd (12 sts dec = 24 sts).
Knit 1 rnd.
*K2tog; repeat from * to end of rnd (12 sts dec = 12 sts).
*K2tog; repeat from * to end of rnd (6 sts dec = 6 sts).
Cut yarn. With the tapestry needle, draw the yarn through the 6 remaining stitches and pull tightly to close the gap and secure.
Place the frosting fabric over a double roll of toilet paper.
The cake is ready made with a closed version of the Feather and Fan pattern stitch.
The completed cake looks good enough to eat; though I suspect it would be a little dry.
As you can see from the picture above, I’ve added some roses to the top of the cake. I call them the hibiscus rose flowers. The instructions use a variation of the Feather and Fan motif, but without yarn overs. They’re knit flat and use the crochet cast on method to create a picot edge.
Hibiscus Rose Flowers
materials
- US3 [3.25mm] needle
- E-4 [3.5mm] crochet hook close (or close in size)
- tapestry needle
special abbreviation
CH = Chain
Instructions
Crochet Cast on as follows.
Cast on 7 sts, CH2, *Cast on 12 sts, CH2 repeat from * 4 times total; Cast on 7 sts = 62 sts.
Row 1: Sl1, Knit to end of row.
Row 2 and all even rows: Sl1, Purl to last st, K1.
Row 3: Sl1, *K2tog, K8, SSK, repeat from * till 1 st rem; K1.
Row 5: Sl1, *K2tog, K6, SSK, repeat from * till 1 st rem; K1.
Row 7: Sl1, *K2tog, K4, SSK, repeat from * till 1 st rem; K1.
Row 9: Sl1, *K2tog, K2, SSK, repeat from * till 1 st rem; K1.
Row 11: Sl1, *K2tog, SSK, repeat from * till 1 st rem; K1.
Row 13: Sl1, *K2tog, repeat from * till 1 st rem; K1.
Cut Yarn.
With the tapestry needle, thread the cut yarn through the stitches on the needle and draw them in together. To make a rose, roll the fabric around and use the tapestry needle to secure all layers together to hold it in place. To make the hibiscus flower, leave it more open and secure it in place. You can even crochet a stamen for the hibiscus with the crochet hook and a contrasting color by chaining 6, then slip stitch back down the length.
The Hibiscus Rose flowers put the icing on the cake, and the Hibiscus flower will adorn the table.
As you can see from the photo, the rolled rose flowers form the icing on the top of the cake. When left open and by adding a stamen, it resembles a hibiscus flower. I’ll use the open flower to adorn the table.
Placemat
As promised on Day 2, I made a placemat, or rather a large swatch, with the 2-color herringbone stitch. I love the look of it and will likely use that stitch pattern again on future projects. It’s been added to my “favorite things” stitch pattern list.
The one I made is more in scale with the table setting, however, the instructions provide for both the smaller version and a regular sized placemat. Since color work is easier to follow from a chart rather than written instructions, a color-coded chart is included. I used a US4 [3.5mm] needle for the main field, but my color changes were not as loose as I would have liked. When I make the next one, I’ll likely use a US5 [3.75mm] needle.
materials
- 1 ball Uptown Baby Sport in Petal
- 1 ball Uptown Baby Sport in Lily (again, I used leftover yarn from the cake)
- US2.5 [3.0mm] knitting needle
- US4[3.5] knitting needle or whatever sized needle you need
- tapestry needle to weave in ends
abbreviations
RS = Right Side of work
WS = Wrong Side of work
measurements
Small 10”H x 12½”W (Regular 12”H x 14”W)
Gauge is not that important but it will affect the overall finished size. This is the gauge that I achieved with the US4 [3.5mm] needle – 29 sts & 28 rows = 4” [10cm].
Instructions
With smaller sized needle and Color A, cast on 68 (80) stitches.
Knit 6 rows, slipping the first stitch on each row.
Change to larger sized needle and proceed with chart maintaining a slipped stitch edge on each row, and a garter stitch border in Color A.
Continue with pattern until work measures 11½” (13½”), or desired length from cast on edge, ending with a row 4.
Change to smaller sized needle and with Color A, knit 6 rows, slipping the first stitch on each row.
Cast off and weave in ends.
My projects are complete and the table has been set for our Uptown Girl to host a Tea Party with her friends.
My projects are now complete and the table has been set for our Uptown Girl to host a tea party with her friends. I even included a couple of the swatches as coasters, or mug rugs as they’re sometimes called.
The ease of laundry care and anti pilling qualities of Uptown Baby Sport means that our little princess will likely outgrow her new outfit before showing signs of wear. Who knows, maybe even pass it down to little sister. That provides an opportunity to make a larger size in some of the other 27 colors that Uptown Baby Sport has to offer.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s posts. I enjoyed making everything, especially the cake and might just be making a few more as fun Christmas gifts this year.
Stay safe and happy knitting!!
This is part 5 of 5 in this series
Go back to part 4: Knitting a feather and fan hat to match the ‘Party Dress’
