a loose, sloppy melange

Loose. I'm a loose knitter. It's official. I was knitting next to the TsockTsarina at Panera's yesterday, bemoaning how ridiculously low I have to take my cast-on numbers to avoid making socks that could fit around my head. She graciously checked my gauge. Oh... my... God... On #1 needles, with fingering, I was getting 5-6 stitches per inch. (Note: the Tsarina did not call me loose, else I would have begun to wail, right there in Panera.)
I posted on the "Techniques" forum at Ravelry for suggestions. So far, I've gotten some good ones, such as changing where I hold my index finger. I have to do something. I've been seeing my knitting getting sloppier lately. So that's me: loose and sloppy.
(How does one's knitting become loose when one is anxious and wound up as tight as can be?)

Not only am I loose and sloppy, I'm way uncoordinated. I tried spinning for the first time, using some fleece that Maven gave me. Literally, I could not coordinate my two feet to alternate in pushing the pedals! Probably just as well that I don't get a spinning bug right now - I'd probably spin loose, sloppy yarn...


I just volunteered to index When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön for the Shambhala community at Tanjur. As soon as I saw the thread on the Mindful Knitters forum at Ravelry, I joined the project. I was just about to begin rereading this book, and I'm a librarian - what a perfect opportunity to be useful to myself and others!