Gauge, Gauge, GAUGE!

Yuck! I hate gauge.

First off I have to think every stinkin' time I type it so I get the u and the a in the proper order. Always wrong the first time too.

Second, I find that my gauge from a year ago is so much different than it is today. Why you might ask (and please do ask!) Well, because after pondering this for the past 39 rounds of this "second" sock, I realise why it is off. Let's start at the beginning... a very good place to start. (hear the do re mi?)

I am on a no spending diet. It sucks but it has to be done. So in an effort to have something to do "any" thing to do, I have pulled out my old knitting projects that are already started. You know, those otherwise known as UFO's UnFinished Objects! So in the past few weeks I have finished a very plain shrug in very bargain-in-my-stash-sale yarn. Jo Sharp DK Wool in seashell
pattern here
http://www.caron.com/projects/shadows/sss_shrug.html
yarn here
http://www.josharp.com.au/Yarn/Yarn.html

I have finished one pair of socks which needed only the decreasing for the toe on the second sock... shameful I know.

I have finished a shell top in tagliatelli merino tape raphael colorway
pattern booklet but not the pattern showing here, and yarn shown
http://www.threadbearfiberarts.com/yarn/colinette/tagliatelli.php

I have finished another pair of socks, well no I have finished ONE sock with size two dpns and cast on for the "mate" sock twice in two different sized needles until I realised that I must have used size ONE dpns to make the sock. The bottom part of the first sock (after all the decreasing was done) does not matter that much that it is in 2's vs 1's but I have a tiny ridge where I first tried the size 3's LOL

Well anyway, on to the "mate" sock. The size 2's were too large when I cast on so I had to wait until I went home (I knit at work remember?) and then I had to dig and dig and dig until I found the pair of socks that DID have the size 1's dpns IN them (the original one had stitch holders when I picked it back up) and so now

EEEK ! the rest of my clever post disappeared!

Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down

Some how I just can't get the picture of Sally and her brother sitting before the window staring at the rain out of my mind! It is gloomy here. It is rainy here. It is dismal here. It is cold looking here. It has looked this way since early December some time! What is WITH this weather? I swear most days it looks like it could snow!

I am not knitting today at work. Why not? because in my haste to get out the door and get to work while a parking slot near my building was still available, I forgot to grab the bag with the Tagliatelli project in it! So I do have the dayflower scarf project but no needle to thread the lace pattern place marker thread with through the row. As I ahve not yet switched over to Super dental floss, I need the needle to mark where I am. I do NOT relish the thought of starting all the way form the beginning if I mess it up without the lace pattern place marker in sight. I have three repeats done already! 16 rows to a repeat. whoooopeeeee

So to do something sort of knitty I am reading two blogs from gals in my knitting group. I even clicked on the link to one of their husband's blogs to read his even-shorter-than-her-blog blog. sigh.... here i sit... just staring out the window watching the grey grey grey grey go by.

Oh I did do something technical today. I set up my phone to be able to send and receive the occassional text message. now DON"T go sending my text messages as they cost me ten cents a piece! but today more tornados rippe through Florida and 14 people died and I was all concerned about my son away at college (Daytona Beach Embryy-Riddle Campus) as his campus was the one hit Christmas Day last year. So I called the cell phone company... 611... and then chose a million different numbers to finally get to a "live" person to see if I could indeed set up my phone to be able to send and receive txt msgs with a per msg charge. yupper roonies! so she set that up for me. Then embarrassingly enough, i had to ask her "HOW" do I do that? Send a text message that is. So she looked up my phone and gave me step-by-step instructions to send a message and Bless her heart, how to READ one too.

THEN I sent one to my son (thinking he was in class at that hour) explaining WHY I was txting him (tornados near him) after an agonising 5 minutes I have it ready to send and presto in less than 10 seconds I have a lengthy reply from him! geeesh I can type for this blog MUCH faster than I can txt msg. And I used abbreviations too. So, as you can tell from the fact that he replied, he is okay and was sleeping!

He has an interview tonight for Resident Advisor and I hope he does well at it. It would be a nice savings next year on the "room" part of college. And the privacy factor (he would not share the room, but would the bathroom) would be a nice plus for an only child. Don't you think?

well off to stare out the window some more
have a grand and glorious day
denise/deBRAT text messager novice!