A little Gauging Snafu

First off, I want to say that Tool at the Molson Ampitheatre last Saturday was AWESOME!! If any of you get a chance to see them live, TAKE IT!!

On to the snafu...
When I first saw the Gatsby Girl Pullover in the Fall 2006 Interweave knits, I knew I had to knit it.

So I bought the yarn (a substitute, too poor for Rowan), got out my needles (3.5 mm) and set out to gauge this sucker. The pattern says 28 sts and 36 rows = 4" on larger (3.5 mm) needles. So I cast on about 30 sts and knit a few rows in stockinette stitich.

WAY to few stitches per inch.

So I tried 3.25 mm. Same result. As 3.25 was my smallest single point needles, I went to the Headwater Wool site to look into getting some smaller Addi straights. I decided to look at my LYS instead because Headwater doesn't carry quarter sizes (at least on their website they don't). The Addi straights there were too pricey, so I went to Wal-Mart and got Boye 2.75mm.

Still too few stitches per inch.

Then I took a good look at the pattern and realized something: the pattern only has a small stockinette section at the bottom of the pullover. The rest is mostly rib stitch (k1, p1).

So again with the 3.5 mm, using the right stitch. In the end, the right needle size was 3.75 (another trip to Wally's for some Boye's).

So the moral of the story is: Read the pattern first! (Especially if the stitch type isn't clearly stated in the gauge section).

Now if only I can make this pullover in less than a year....

...And nobody lost an eye!

But someone picked up extra stitches (10!) making a scarf, but we won't talk about it. After all, it was the yarn, not the six Coors light! But I digress...

Last Friday, I hung out with drunken knitters (because, you know, sober knitters are WAAAAY too normal!). When I told a certain redhead, he said "Someone's gonna lose an eye." No eyes or other body parts were lost, but fun was had! And I have 2 pictures to prove it.

Here is one of Sophie's super-neat skeleton, chillaxing in a sock designed and made by rocketbride. Look for it (hopefully, fingers crossed) in a knitty near you (if she can find a suitable photographer).NOTE: Sock pattern does not include skeleton.

Here is another awesome pic. Yours truly forgot her tape measure (and this is before the drinking started!) and I had to borrow one. Sophie's tape measure came with a few extras...

There's an arm-warmer and a few other objects I can't identify. Oh, and if you look closely, you can actually see the tape measure.

Good times, good times. I think I'll do it again next month!