It worked!

A quick pause from this evening's activity (more on that in a bit) to show you what I completed this morning:

I re-sized the Malabrigo Loafers to make a pair for Lil Emperor-and it worked! Here is a pic of the first one (adult small), next to Lil' Emp's. Of course, the trick is knitting the second one. I did write down what I did; I just know it was off a bit numbers-wise, but I continued more instinctively than mathematically. I think I have the shaping in my head fairly well now, which is why I can't wait too long to get the second one done.

But first-I must get through my task at hand! I might not be up these wee hours of the night, if I had not worked on finishing the mini-loafer, but heck-who am I kidding?! I'd still be up because...tonight is the night that I drag out my cake pans, dyes and other decorating goodies so that I can justify all my past purchases and cupboard space! It is time to make the Annual Cake. Yes, folks, it is that time of the year again: Lil' Emperor's Birthday! Last year was the 'big' "7 on the 7th"; this year, I had to explain to him that he was not having a huge party when he reminded me on the last day of school that, it was the last day of school and that he needed his invitations!
Me: "What invitations?"
LE: "YOU KNOW! The ones for my party! I need to invite my whole class except for..."
Me: "What do you mean except for ____?! Anyways, I thought we'd do a smaller party this year."
LE: "OK, I'll invite just the boys and one girl...""
Me: "And which girl would that be?..."

And so the conversation ensued. But in this time, I get him to agree that a small party with just the few boys whose parents I am in contact with would be an acceptable party for him. And yet here I am, still doing the cake (a down-sized version of the usual double-layered 4' high 1/2 sheet plus 3-4 dozen cupcakes...). This year, it is a stacked 1/4 sheet (which I guess amounts to a 1/2 sheet!) with a 'Pokeball" on top. Yeah, Nartian knows the kid is seriously into Pokemon, as her Monkeys had to endure his chatter and banter and imposition of Pokemon on them for a whole ferry ride and more when we were up in Washington for sock camp!

LE dictated chocolate AND vanilla cake...he approved a marbled cake, which made it much easier for me! I sliced a 1/2 sheet in half and am stacking them into a double-layer 1/4 sheet cake. The 1/2 domes will be a "Pokeball" on the cake and miscellaneous extra eats!

So the crazy thing about dying icing is that it is very difficult to get a good red. The only good red dye available for food got banned years ago-yeah, same red as was/is? used for marachino cherries! Apparently, once notice was given it was no longer going to be sold, I guess the marachino cherry people stocked up on it. I guess the ban was maybe on being able to get the dye versus using it? Anyways, I can't recall...I learned that years ago in my Beginning cake decorating class! I was also taught that it is difficult to get a good black, too. But I am happy to report that I used a more recently purchased black decorating dye and got a decent black. Maybe black dye options have improved? Or maybe having this knowledge, I added a huge amount of dye paste to a small amount of frosting which addressed the issue from the start. This particular 'black' has a purply undertone. Blacks will either have a purply or greenish undertone cuz you can't get a straight black.

So here is a pic of the massive amount of frosting I made. "Decorator's icing"--very fluffy, no? And a heck of alot of calories, too!
The cool thing is that it gets all fluffed up with air, but smooths out nicely after you kinda let it 'settle', then mix it up, thinning with a bit of water. This is serious decorator's icing-old school style.



Like many of my hobby/interests, I don't get into them half-assed. I get all serious into them, yet somehow never serious enough to become advanced. With cake decorating, I stopped short of airbrushing. And I did notice a blown sugar class being offered when I was at the store today; it has been cancelled but when it gets rescheduled, I am seriously thinkin' I need to be there! Anyways, I did 'graduate' from Sugar N Spice's cake decorating series-yes, I took Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. Plus I took a chocolate flower class, Gum Paste flowers, and South African Wedding Cake decorating. Yeah, serious! This wasn't pastry chef Culinary Academy, nor was it Wilton's. This was secret-society professional cake decorating variety!

So about that red dye--getting a good red is difficult, which means you need to use a s--t-load of it to get anything close. And it will still be quite pink! And it will give the frosting a slightly different taste. And it seems that no matter how hard I try, the paste is able to magically creep its way up whatever implement I am using to scoop it out or mix it into the icing. So now my fingers are a magic red color-probably look more red than the icing, actually!

Yes, there is a reason I only do this once or twice a year! And a reason why I'm finding the yarn dying much more attractive!

And for kicks, since other bloggers seem so much better everyday-what-am-I-seeing life photos, I thought I would show you a piece of my yesterday...

It was the Fillmore Street Fair! And I had to bring Lil' Emp to his basketball clinic only two blocks away! What this means for me, folks, is that I got to drive around for 15 minutes looking for a parking space! The good news is that I did find a good space (no time limit, no meter!), but it's absolutely all about timing; hoping that someone will be leaving at the right time just as you are placed in the right position to get that parking space! And under 15 minutes sure wasn't bad for a day like yesterday-especially when my friend said she had to wait 'forever' just to get into the paid lot!

So this was in no way a quick post, but it got done between mixing, coloring, decorating...So tomorrow morning-the finishing touches--adding the Pokemon characters and the candle! Oh crap...still need to fill goodie bags! Luckily there will be fewer kids, but I found out my cousin will be coming with their 3 kids, so add on a few more! Now I really gotta go!