These are knitted cupcakes. Aren't they cute! The picture comes from Leigh Radford's book One Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit and Crochet.a note for knitters:
I started to make one but the pattern for the sides is alternating a knit and purl stitch every other stitch, and I got off one stitch and didn't want to continue since the mistake is very visible now.... it's also supposed to be done in the round, which can be even trickier! And on double pointed needles. I just used single-pointed needles that are not in the round, and it would have worked fine to sew the two sides together afterwards (with the same yarn). Here's my attempt at the pattern. I didn't get very far, but you should be able to see the ribbing and the mistake in the pattern as the stitches get closer to the needle.