So, I’ve finally got some beautiful yarn for my Union Square Market Pullover sweater. The gauge the pattern calls for is 27 stitches over 4″ (10 cm); the size on the yarn’s wrapper is 28 stitches for that size. No problem, right?

Wrong. I pulled out the called-for needles (US Size 3)–in bamboo, nonetheless, instead of the Addis I love–cast on 27 stitches. Started knitting a swatch. Hmmm . . . seems a little big. Pulled out the ruler. Double-checked it. Triple-checked. 5 1/2″? You’ve got to be kidding. How can my swatch be almost 40% larger than the one called for??

Okay. Fine. Pulled out size 2 needles. Knitted my swatch . . . 4.5″ for 27 stitches. This is insane. I refuse to knit an entire sweater on size 1 needles! I mean, they’re fine for socks, but an entire sweater? I’ll still be working on it in my retirement home.

So, tomorrow, I’ll sit down with my pattern and my calculator and try to figure out what I actually need to cast on for this sweater. Maybe the laceweight would have worked after all. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who has these kind of gauge problems, and I can’t help but wonder why. I used to get pretty close to gauge and rarely had to go more than one needle size in either direction to have it work out, so I’m not sure what happened (grin). Sometimes I can fudge it by just knitting the smallest pattern size. While I’m not fat, I’m not that small, either–by rights, a Medium would be the size I’d be making, and using the smaller numbers often ends up working right, as long as I keep an eye on row-gauge for shaping. But, while I’m more than willing to drop down a few needle sizes if necessary . . . there’s not much room to go from size 3.

Anyway, I’ll wash my swatch tomorrow and see what happens. Meantime, my Flower Basket Shawl is making progress. I think one more repeat and then I’ll do the edging. I can’t wait to see it finished. Not because I’m not enjoying it, mind you, but because I’ve crossed that invisible line between “Enjoying the Process” and “Can’t Wait for the Finished Product.”

Chappy wanted me to thank all of you for the happy birthday greetings. He said that he had a wonderful time, and he’s loving his new toys.

I heard from an old pen-pal from Germany today. We’ve been writing since I was, oh, a sophomore or junior in high school, so that’s like 21-22 years. In fact–and I suppose this will just prove that I really am a geek–we met through a JRR Tolkien fan club. (I really have been a fan for a long time, you know, not just since the movies!) It’s been over a year since I heard from him, and it was so nice to get the e-mail. Gerhard was the first person I ever got truly interesting letters from–he obviously hadn’t learned the same formula for letters that we’d learned in school, because his wasn’t just the “Hi. How are you. I’m fine. Today I went to school” variety. His was fascinating. Lively, conversational, and darn it, illustrated with pencil sketches all the way through. I immediately started working to upgrade my own epistolary skills. He remains the best letter writer of my acquaintance, though we don’t have much in common any more and we’re not as regularly in touch. Still creative, too. He writes his letters on the back of his 365-day a year movie calendars, and instead of using conventional envelopes, uses full-page magazine ads, wrapped around the folded sheets, with the address squeezed in over a likely spot on the illustration. (My mail deliverer must really love him for this.) Anyway. It was good to hear from him.

• Tags: Friends, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Sigh…. //