My UT star baby blanket won honorable mention at the Texas State Fair this year so, TH and I and family road tripped to Dallas to see it on display. My FIL’s comment was, “it’s orange?”! He and the Mrs. went to tu but all of their kids went to aTm and married Aggies, so he didn’t quite follow why I made a burnt orange afghan. So, I told him the story of how I have a REALLY good friend, the kind you’d not only help hide a body, but you’d let them bury it in your yard and be their alibi…..but, she went to tu, so when I wanted to make her a baby blanket, I decided to overlook the rivalry and make her a longhorn colored blanket. What do you think of the aTm t-shirt with the UT blanket?

Here, you can see it with the rest of the display. Overall, I was very pleased with how it was shown.

Another friend, Sam, entered a blanket for the first time this year. She was my crochet mentor when I started the pinwheel blanket many moons ago. We even went to the P.O. together to mail our entries. I was thrilled for her that she won Honorable Mention.

Another square from the Neopolitan baby blanket, inspired by my super-fabulous SIL…

The chocolate cables and pink bobbles are modified from the Seaweed square (square 30) on page 41 of 100 more afghan squares to knit by Debbie Abrahams



I’m not sure why this makes me think of ice cream, but I like it.

I started a sock for TH. The pattern appeared perfectly innocent and this was by far, the men’s sock pattern that I preferred based on the pics.

Before it was all said and done, there were several clues that this sock journey was not going to end with a complete double rainbow.
Clue Number 1: The ribbing.
I got about 12 rows into it before I realized knit 2 purl 2 was slamming 4 knit stitches up against each other near the beginning and ending of the rounds. Upon further examination, printing the pattern had cut off vital information like the fact that the ribbing should be k1p1. I should have figured this out much sooner, but I was in a happy knitting daze laying around and watching TV with TH…I rip this and cast on again….no biggie.
Clue Number 2: Random purls.
As I continue around the heel and think I’m following the pattern, there seem to be purls where I would prefer a nice section of knits….should I follow the pattern or go rogue. Against my better judgement, I continue to follow…

Clue Number 3: Test sock size at 75% complete.
uh oh.
I can barely get the sock over my foot! How on earth is TH going to get this sock on?
Immediately, I begin praying for some kind of Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants scenario. Barring that, I do not see any way this will fit over his foot – the cast on is too tight. How did this happen? um. oops. it seems that when I cast on the second time, I only cast on over one needle and not two. Insert choice words here. What kind of a sloppy knitter am I that I forgot to cast on over two needles? well, at least I’ll only make that mistake once, surely?
I carefully try the sock on TH (keeping in mind it still has needles in it) and while it is a very close thing, the sock actually will go onto his foot.
But who is going to wear a sock that it takes a shoe horn to get on? He claims that I should just finish the sock and not worry about it and is convinced he can get the sock on more easily since he owns the foot.
Clue Number 4:
The pattern says something to the effect of, “I ended up with the wrong number of stitches and here’s what I did to correct it.”
Are you kidding me? You wrote a pattern and you ended up with the wrong number of stitches? Didn’t you realize what the issue was when you made your second sock? I don’t want to throw stones, but really? seriously?
I take a deep breath and get off my high horse as I realize that I didn’t end up with the wrong number of stitches…so, I ignored that row…..but I was already so ticked at this sock that there was no turning back.

Here’s the offensive sock that is almost assuredly going to get frogged once I’ve made my peace with it.