2 DAYS IN ADVANCE

Make fondant needles. Use black icing color to tint 1 1/2 oz. fondant gray. Knead 1/2 teaspoon Gum-Tex into gray fondant. For needles, roll two logs, 1/4 in. dia. x 9 in. long. Use 9 in. fondant roller with purple guide rings to roll out remaining gray fondant 1/8 in. thick. Use narrow end of tip 1A to cut two circles for knobs. Let all pieces dry overnight on cornstarch-dusted, parchment paper-covered board.

1 DAY IN ADVANCE

Assemble needles. Prepare thinned fondant adhesive following recipe directions. Use brush and adhesive to attach knobs to needles. Let set 1 hour. Use brush and silver Pearl Dust/lemon extract mixture to paint needles. Let dry 15 minutes on parchment paper-covered board.

Bake and cool 3-D sports ball cake halves. Prepare buttercream icing following recipe directions. Tint rose. Use spatula and rose icing to assemble halves according to pan directions. Position on cake board.

Decorate cake. Use toothpick to mark cake with yarn sections, 2 in. to 3 in. wide, running in various directions around cake. Use tip 8 and rose icing to pipe parallel lines inside each section to achieve the look of tightly wrapped yarn. Do bottom half of cake first, then position on cake board, leaving room for message, to finish top half.

Overpipe and assemble cake. Use tip 8 and rose icing to overpipe random outlines around cake for loose outer layer of yarn. Continue one outline onto cake board and write name. Insert needles.