After I finish this post I'm going to log off, eat something, and watch the next killer spider movie on Sci-fi. Give me a ball of yarn and the Sci-fi channel and I'm a happy woman.

I wasn't too happy last night, though. Last night I cast on for a vest I plan to knit. I did a gauge swatch and discovered my gauge (stitches per inch) was 4.5, and 6 rows per inch. I did the math (correctly). I used the same needle (I am a circular needle diva, the only time you'll see straights in my hands are when I am using double-pointed needles to finish a hat). I cast on (put X amount of stitches on the needle to begin knitting).

Since I gained a fair amount of weight last year (when I was up or down, I didn't care what I ate, with blubbery consequences), I had to cast on 116. I did. "Work 3 inches in garter stitch". I did one row. Hm... looks kind of wide, there. I knit another row. I am not that fat! It's not getting better. What the ??? I finish the third row and measure. The back is supposed to be 26 inches wide. It says so right there in the picture - 26 inches. It has the little arrows and diagrams. 26 inches. I measure it. 43 inches.

WHAT? I did a gauge swatch... what happened? The nearest I can figure, the garter stitch edging threw my gauge in the toilet. The directions didn't tell me to knit a gauge swatch in garter stitch, it said "Stockinette stitch". I was very upset last night as I frogged (rip-it, rip-it) all my hard work and wound the yarn back onto the skein.

So today I'm wavering between anger at the STUPID pattern and feeling very idiotic and baffled by my ability to "grow" my knitting. I'm going to try again, knitting a vest front from "Teach Yourself Visually Knitting Design". They have very easy diagrams and directions; you start from your gauge and work from there. You don't try to make your gauge meet their gauge; it meets your gauge.

I plan to make a cardigan vest, that buttons up the front. I'll make the left front and see if it's "right", if it is, I can work on the other front and the back, then seam it all together and finish it. Ron's been a good cheerleader, egging me on. He's made it clear he doesn't want me knitting him anything, though.

Ron just called to me that our snowman (Frosty the cat) came to visit. Frosty had an adventure last night. He bruised his leg and it's a little tender to walk on (he can put weight on it, and is, but he's a little stiff). I gave him some leftover pain medicine from his neuter operation (about a half dose) and he started walking better before he crashed out on top of my dresser. Poor baby HATES going to the vet so we're going to wait on that a few days. Ron's feeding him treats last night.

I'm so awful, though. I "confronted" Ron about an hour ago.
"Go on, tell me the truth."
"What truth?" Poor Ron.
"You know. "
"What?"
"You stepped on him, didn't you?"

Disclaimer, the cats learn very quickly to avoid Ron. The only time either of us stepped on a cat it was me. The offended cat used his claws quite well and it took about a year for the scar on my foot to disappear. Just in case someone doesn't have a sense of humor...