Gauge and Ease Frustrations

The one thing that is starting to dawn on me is just how hard it is to estimate the amount of positive or negative ease needed in a knitted garment.

I had no idea it could be as hard as I've found it to be. My first attempt at knitting a jacket for myself ended up way too big, and I frogged it. I considered making a gift of it, but the proportions was just not flattering. Not at all what I was after.

The second attempt was the vest I made in December. This also ended up too big. This time I got the measurements right, but the fabric was too soft and elastic, which made it a couple of sizes too big anyway.

I'm halfway done with the camiknickers from the pattern I posted. I decided to knit it in the round, not realizing it would make it very hard to gauge whether it would fit, so for now it's hibernating while I'm summoning the courage to place the stitches on a string and try it on.

Finally I started on the red Miss Lemon Cardigan. This time I decided to knit it flat, and started on the back piece after swatching. I calculated gauge correctly, but when I tested the fit after 7 inches on my dressmakers dummy I discovered that it was still too loose, and had to unravel it down to the ribbing. This is starting to annoy me quite a bit. It seems I will have to knit the equivalent of a small baby blanket of the stitches I plan to use to see how the fabric behaves.

How do the rest of you knitters cope with this?