Frankie's Knitted Stuff
The second row of sweets on the roof of the Gingerbread House is a line of pink and white striped marshmallows. These are easy to knit and the sewing up involves a magic trick with a big knitting needle. You will need small amounts of DK weight yarn in pink and white and 3.25 mm / US size 3 needles. I used Stylecraft Special DK in Fondant and Cream and my finished marshmallows are about 2.5 cm / 1" long. Using cream yarn and the long tail method, cast on nine stitches. \*Change to pink yarn and knit two rows. Knit two rows in cream. Repeat from \* once more, then knit one more row in pink and cast off, leaving a tail for sewing up. You should have a little piece of knitting with three ridges in each colour.
Darn in all the ends except the cast off one. This is where the big knitting needle comes in. Take a 6 mm / US size 10 needle and wrap your knitting round it. Sew the cast on and cast off edges together.
Now twist the knitting tightly into a spiral. Take your needle (the sewing one, not the big one) back and forth through the shape from end to end about six times. Each time you will catch some of the knitting on your needle. Turn the knitting needle in between each stitch so that you are working into different parts of the cylinder. And now for the magic part ... slide the sweet off the knitting needle and it will be a solid, hollow shape. Close the ends with a few small stitches and that's it.
Make eight of these knitted marshmallows.
Sewing the Marshmallows to the Roof
These go between the dolly mixtures and the chimney, four in a row. Pin and sew them to the roof using cream thread. Work right through to the inside of the roof using three small diagonal stitches for each sweet. Then sew another line of marshmallows on the other side of the roof, making sure that they are in line with the first row.
