Totally Unravelled

I have signed up for Ravelry (I know I'm behind the times) ... but it seems to be a bit dangerous. On my first little Ravelry outing ... before I knew it ... half a day had passed by ... and that is dangerous!

I have added a couple of my knitting projects to my profile and I hope to make my Hugs, Kisses and Cables pattern available soon. It seems to be a wonderful forum to find out tricks and hints from other knitters - over come those parts of a pattern that you might be struggling with ... alternative ways to use patterns ... I fear there will be many many more hours (erm days) spent perusing the information available ...

I'm really struggling with the Sylvi pattern from the Twist Collective. My gauge was perfect with size 10 needles ... but then when I began knitting the pattern the sizing was totally off and the size small was turning out to be smaller than an extra small. After 60 rows or so I decided to unravel my knitting and start again with a bigger needle size (US 10.5) and try the size medium pattern. But it is still knitting up too small. It is really hard to know whether to keep going and see what happens or start over yet again ...
... and if I start over again - how do I start? Bigger needles? Bigger size?Maybe using my own choice of yarn was a mistake ...
Maybe I knit super tight (I think I do) ...Maybe I should just stay clear of trying to make clothes (maybe I'm wimping out too soon) ...
Or maybe it is the reason why hand knitted things are so special and unique - they all turn out a little different?
Do you just learn how your knitting style will change a pattern? Or will I have these endless debates with myself for ever more ...

Over 100,000 Knitted Stitches of Love

... 277 stitches per line ... 16 lines per cable pat ... 23 cable pats ...... 4,140 extra stitches for the bobbles ...... and it all adds up to ... 106,076 knitted stitches ...

... which just sounds like a really disappointing number. Why didn't it add up to over a million? As that is what the last few cable pats felt like!

And I have to thank Sol of Lappesola for introducing me to this pattern from The Twist Collective (if you are into knitting check them out) ...
... is it not beautiful? I have purchased the pattern (and boy it looks complicated!!) It will make a perfect project to have on hand for when the bump has arrived and is asleep for 20 minutes here or there. They do sleep sometimes right?