This Topas yarn is starting to really irk me. I love the way it feels and looks, but I can't get a consistent gauge with it. I was getting 5 stitches per inch, so I figured I could do Bonne Marie's boat neck shell. I scaled the pattern back a bit to make the size work, and I cast on, starting with a garter stitch edge. Humongous! OK, frog those few rows, swatch again. Now it's just about 4 stitches per inch with garter stitch, 4.5 with stockinette. That's on #6 needles. I don't have any 5s, so I'm at a bit of a standstill. The fabric looks OK at this gauge, but now I have to re-think the pattern. Either use something different, or whip out the calculator and do some more math. I think I got spoiled working on that Summer Tweed stuff, since I was actually using patterns made for that yarn - a first! I actually like this halter pattern that the Yarn Company has on their site, but I'm at a loss as to how to obtain the thing and I kind of don't feel like buying it when it would be easy enough to figure it out on my own. I'm just being lazy and cranky, maybe because it's hot.