Gauge Woes

So, the yarn I ordered for mom's cardigan came in the mail a lot sooner than I expected!  I whipped out my size 5's and started gauge swatching.  I was highly skeptical that *anyone* could get a gauge of 4.5 stitches per inch with dk weight yarn on size 5 needles, but hey, I figured the pattern designer knew what she was doing.

Of course, my swatch came out WAY too small.

Moved up to sixes.  Still way too small.

Sevens? Too small.

Eights.  Close enough that it would have been acceptable, if it weren't for the fact that using size 8 needles on a smooth dk weight yarn made the fabric so loose it was practically see through.  Clearly, this wouldn't do.

So I did a little research and found that the specific yarn used by the designer may be labelled like a dk, but knitters say that it is really more of a worsted weight yarn.  This makes my gauge issues a little easier to understand.  So, I went back to WEBS, and ordered the same yarn, Berroco Comfort, in the same color - Beet Root - but in worsted rather than dk.  I'm still wondering what needle size I'll need to get 4.5 stitches per inch though.  I still just don't see that happening on size 5's!

Meanwhile, I'm using the dk Comfort to make myself Cassie Castillo's Camellia Shrug from the winter/spring 2011 Knitscene.  It's coming along gorgeously so far!