Geek Cake

Sunday was my dad's birthday, Raj's is this Saturday, and my brother-in-law's was about a month ago (and we never really celebrated it) so we went on a family hike on Sunday, followed by dinner and cake at our house. In honor of us celebrating the birthdays of all the males in our clan, I decorated this cake in sweet, geeky berries depicting their XY chromosomes. How could I resist???

I used this tutorial for tips on frosting the cake, and smooshed some berries in between the layers for a bit of added yumminess. The cake was from a mix (Dr. Oetker's Organic Chocolate Cake--pretty dry) and the frosting was from this recipe--it was delicious without being too rich (I made a batch and a half, and had barely enough to fill and frost the cake).

For our hike, we went to the Coal Creek Trail. It was a really nice, relatively easy 6 miles. The scenery was gorgeous, a little pocket of oasis in the middle of suburban sprawl.



But it was humid as heck! This cute sign was posted at the trailhead. Hehe.

An experiment

You know what that means! I'm blocking the purple blob. Finally! Which brings us to the experiment I'm conducting: can I block this shawl on the floor of my apartment without the cat bothering it? I sure hope so. I planned on blocking it on the table using those handy knitter's block puzzle pieces, but it proved to be just a bit too large. I may end up locking Butters out of the living room for the night if I decide he's not trustworthy (he's probably not).

As soon as I put the purple blob into soak, I cast on for a 2nd purple blob! I had a whole 52 grams of the J. Knits Lace-a-licious left over, and decided to knit a shawl from a much simpler pattern that will require far less concentration.

Went for a little day hike on the eastern edge of Mt. Rainier National Park yesterday with the fam. Naches Peak Loop Trail. It was a good hike, though we spent about twice as long in the car, which was kinda lame.

The wildflowers were in full bloom, and they were just lovely! There were lots of people on the trail. The views were absolutely stunning.

I wish it was closer to home, but we have those hours in the car to thank for the finishing of the purple pangea shawl. :)