I’m telling you, you can’t trust them.

I made a swatch the other day. I showed you. I knit it, I washed it, I measured it, and the gauge was well nigh close to perfect.

I should have known right then. My gauge is NEVER perfect. It’s always loose and relaxed. But still … it matched, right? So … I cast on the 88 stitches for the back and knit the first 6 rows. Then I measured … instead of 17″ across? 22″

A good five inches too big. (12.5 cm for those of you playing in metric homes.)

That was some whopper of a lie!

So … ripped that out. Dropped down two needle sizes and cast on for the smallest size sweater. 82 stitches for the back. Started knitting …

It’s at least closer, anyway.

Sigh. My loose gauge is going to be the death of me. As it is, I didn’t start knitting with a smaller needle this time, because it seemed insane to knit a sweater in worsted weight with a US size 1 needle, even just for four rows. It’s bad enough to be knitting the body on size 3 instead of a 6 like the pattern calls for.

Chappy’s not a happy camper right now because there’s a thunderstorm outside. He’s sitting right next to me, though. (You can just see the edge of the floor cushion I’m sitting on.) He’s been quiet all day, really. I don’t know if it’s because of the weather or just because he’s been tired, but he’s really only perked up when he’s had dishes to clean.

There were a lot of them, too. Not only regular meals, and the occasional snacks from me or Dad, but I baked bread today for the first time in a couple months, as well as a Lemon Pound Cake. And a fresh batch of granola, because that’s always good. His tongue’s been busy, even if he hasn’t gotten out for a walk since yesterday.

Okay … you knew this was coming, right?

People, have you been watching CHUCK this season?

Because, if you haven’t you MUST. Like, tomorrow, Monday night at 8:00 (7:00 central) on NBC. As we go into the last six episodes of season three, Chuck is finally a full-fledged spy and, more importantly, he and Sarah are together. The episode this week is called “Chuck vs the Honeymooners” and it looks positively giddy and fun. Amazingly good. The sneak peeks and previews that have been popping up on You Tube are adorable. (The Hart-to-Hart spoof for the next week’s “Chuck vs the Role Models” episode is pretty hilarious, too.)

You really must give this show a try if you haven’t already. I don’t care what you think you want to watch on Monday nights, this show is better (grin).

Tags: Knitting/Spinning // 3 Comments »