bitten by gauge and other things

I knitted up about 100 yards of yarn on Best Friend's sweater before I realized that gauge was wrong.

I'm making another Emerald. Since I made one for Sister last year, I went ahead and cast on with the same yarn (Lamb's Pride Bulky) and the same size needle (US10). The sweater's knitted in the round from the bottom up and starts with 20 rows of ribbing. Partway through the ribbing I realized that I cast on 114 sts and not 118 but I'd make up for it when I knit on the shawl collar.

It wasn't until I knit about an inch of stockingnette that I checked the gauge and realized that it 4 stitches to the inch instead of 3 stitches. That's a big difference when we're talking 114 (or 118) stitches around.

I did a swatch on US size 13 and got 2.5 stitches to the inch, plus it was rather open so wouldn't be quite as warm as intended. The mohair content didn't bloom enough to make it a solid fabric.

It looks like I'll have to use size 11s but both of my size 11 needles are in use, in a commissioned baby blanket and a take-along shawl. I could either buy another needle, or finish one of those projects. I'm opting to finish the baby blanket.

So sorry Best Friend! Your sweater has been preempted by a baby blanket, again.

In other news, I lost my handknit beret, which I think of as my Obama beret, since I made it with the trip to the inauguration in mind. I think I left it at the state capitol when I went yesterday for a By the People lobby day on immigrant rights.

I really liked the yarn. It was Sheep Shop 2 in the G43 colorway (lovely name, eh?). It's like Manos del Uruguay and costs about the same, but softer and with less yardage. I bought the yarn from Lakeside Fibers in Madison, Wis, using a gift certificate given to me by Mother-in-law.

Last night I pulled out a skein of purple Manos with the idea of cranking out another hat but worked on the baby blanket instead. The receipient is waiting for it and I do have other hats. Plus, it's easier to do the blanket while reading the Twilight series.

Yes, I've been bitten by the Twilight bug. They're such fast and fun reads. I'm in Team Jacob and love that part of Book 4 is written from his point of view instead of Bella's. The sociologist in me is really interested in finding out how his culture(s) work. Plus he's got a better sense of humor and more light-hearted than Edward. Even the titles of his chapters are funny.

And lastly, Husband and I traded in our cellphones and computer for iPhones. I love it. I have been posting pretty easily onto Facebook from the iPhone but for some reason can't blog from it.