I need to make a cake for someone who is VERY into knitting. When I say VERY I mean she does demonstrations at the renaissance fair on using a spinning wheel to make your own yarn. She has owned her own knitting shop, but works with me in "techie" stuff. I know I will do a knitting ball made of cake and fondant, and some fondant/gumpaste knitting needles, but I am at a loss as to how to put them all together. I don't think I'm at the point where I could make the large part of the cake a ball so I need to do something on a square or round cake. If she were into sewing in general I could find GREAT inspiration from "The Whimsical Bakehouse", but she actually despises regular sewing! Any ideas? No way I could make a knitted sweater out of fondant or buttercream! Oh, and she knits these awesome looking socks if that helps.
What about a basket with balls of yarn and knitting needles? The idea came from watching Duff make the tennis balls. You could make a larger cake into a basket and then literally make smaller balls of cake that you could cover in fondant and then set into the basket.
from debbie brown's book:
http://www.debbiebrownscakes.co.uk/50_easy_party_cakes/pages/playful%20kitten_jpg_jpg.htm
cute variation --
instead of kitting on top....
have it on side -- as a pregnant momma cat knitting baby booties.
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option 2
the ball, the needles, and then a piece of work that appears to have the message knitted right in.
Granted, I have never tried these techniques, but heres's my .02
Is there some sort of embossing tool to pattern the background to look like it is knitted? Or can the basketweave technique be modified to look like knit work? Then lay your ball of yarn and knitting needles on top of this? Sounds lke you're on to a great design. Let us know how it comes out!
wilton makes a sportsball pan, with two halves that can easily be placed together to make a perfect ball. just like the link from debbie brown, you could use rolls of fondant or even buttercream piped with a round tip to make the yarn.
you CAN do a sweater or socks with bc!!! let me see if i can find a link here...collette peters did a simple bc sweater with a round tip and a circular motion as she moved sideways to make the yarn knit, loop look, and there is a very beautiful cake by maryann (argh, cant think of her username) using the same technique. hold on ,i ll be back with the links.
http://www.colettescakes.com/book_cc_cc.html
my books, colettes cakes, part II beginner cakes, bottom right corner, knit sweater....
Thanks guys! I did actually buy the sportsball pan this weekend. I might just go with that and not do a bottom layer, as I found out there are two birthdays in the same week, so I will be taking in two cakes so two smaller cakes is ok (normally would do one big cake, but I already asked the birthday gals what kinds of things they were into for the cake). I was eyeballing that Debbie Brown cake in a cake supply store this weekend, and will probably go with that idea. So is a clay extruder the proper tool to use for this kind of thing?
a clay extruder would work great. just remember to soften your fondant with vegetable shortening to make it more pliable. i have a cheapie extruder from michaels that i paid about five bucks for (i may have had a 40% off coupon...dont remember) but it works just fine AS LONG as the fondant has added fat.
I bought one at JoAnne's this weekend for about the same price after coupon, it's small, but I think it will do the trick. Thanks so much for the help 
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