(Hap­py Mid-Autumn Fes­ti­val! :D)

Yup! With the absence of real moon­cake and rab­bit lantern today, I’ve made cro­cheted ver­sions of them to celebrate!

For ref­er­ence, here’s the edi­ble kind of moon­cake. It has a pas­try shell, with lotus seed paste (the grey-ish part) and egg yolk (the yel­low part) inside. I’m look­ing for­ward to shar­ing these with my fam­i­ly this week­end! :D

But for now, here’s a cro­cheted slice o’moon­cake! :D

When I was a child my par­ents used to buy me lanterns to cel­e­brate Mid-Autumn Fes­ti­val, and the rab­bit lantern is a clas­sic one, prob­a­bly has to do with the leg­end of the Moon Rab­bit. I can’t find a pic­ture of a clas­sic rab­bit lantern, the Macau pavil­ion in the World Expo was the clos­est thing I could find.

And here’s the cro­cheted rab­bit lantern, com­plete with strings and a stick!

While the rab­bit lantern was more of a free-form exper­i­ment, I did jot down the pat­tern for the slice o’moon­cake :D

So, the ingredients!

Worsted weight yarn in brown, tan, and yellow

3.5mm cro­chet hook

Tapes­try needle

Stuff­ing

Top/Bottom of pas­try shell (make 2):

With brown.

Row 1: ch 2, 2 sc in sec­ond ch from hook, ch 1, turn.

Row 2: sc in first sc, 2 sc in next sc, ch 1, turn.

Row 3: sc in first sc, 2 sc in next sc, sc in next sc, ch 1, turn.

Row 4: sc in first sc, 2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in each of next 2 sc, leave a 12″ tail for sewing, fas­ten off.

Back of pas­try shell (make 1):

With brown.

Row 1: ch 6, sc in sec­ond ch from hook, sc in each of next 4 sc, ch 1, turn.

Row 2–4: sc in each sc across in back loop only, ch 1, turn.

Row 5: sc in each sc across in back loop only, leav­ing a 12″ tail for sewing, fas­ten off.

Lotus seed paste and egg yolk (make 2):

With tan.

Row 1: ch 6, sc in sec­ond ch from hook, sc in each of next 4 sc, ch 1, turn.

Row 2: sc in each sc across, ch 1, turn.

Row 3: sc in first sc, switch to yel­low yarn, sc in each of next 3 sc, switch to tan, sc in last sc, switch to yel­low, ch 1, turn.

Row 4: con­tin­ue with yel­low, 1 sc in each of next 4 sc, switch to tan, sc in last sc, switch to yel­low, ch 1, turn.

Row 5: con­tin­ue with yel­low, 1 sc in each sc across, leave a 12″ tail for sewing, fas­ten off.

Assem­bly:

Sew top and bot­tom of the pas­try shell to the back pas­try shell, then sew the lotus seed paste and yolk pieces to the pas­try shell, leav­ing front (yolk/yellow) edges open, stuff, then sew front (yolk/yellow) seam close. Weave in ends.

Enjoy! :D