Provisional Cast-On

So far I'm not a big fan of the pro visional cast on. I've spent the last hour casting on Picovoli and I'm going to take it out and start over. It seems like the yarn just gets wound around the needles over and over so everything gets looser as I knit and by the time I get to the 2nd round I have a huge gaping hole at the beginning of the round as you can see in the picture. Plus, there were a few spots where the yarn didn't catch the provisional yarn so I'm basically short a few stitches. Ugh, once I get the stitches cast on properly I think it'll be an easy, fun knit. But it's taking forever to get started! I've been searching Google and blogs to find out what size needles others have used with this pattern and Shine yarn for days. (I decided to go with 4s instead of 5s by the way - my very unscientific swatches looked the same to me). I really think I spend more time reading about knitting than actually knitting. Which brings me to my other latest obsession, Koigu. I've also been doing hours of internet research on this yarn and think I'll have to get some. There are so many colors I can't decide which one to buy, especially since it's so hard to see on the computer. I saw a beautiful pink/green colorway on the Brown Sheep blog, which I'll probably end up going with. I was planning on knitting the Cowny socks from Nancy Bush's KOTR but was going to go with a solid color since I'm usually pretty boring with my color choices. But that Koigu yarn is really amazing! I wanted to try Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock but I really just don't like any of the colors. I'll probably either go with a solid color of Lorna's Laces or a wild Koigu colorway. My last (and first) pair of socks didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped so I'm not sure why I even want to make any more socks. They're just not comfortable at all and I kept ripping them out and starting over. It'll probably take me another month or two until I make a decision. The good side of my OCD is that I don't have a yarn stash because it takes me so long to decide on a pattern, yarn, where to buy, etc. Like I said, I spend more time reading about yarn than actually knitting! Ok, I have no idea if any of this post made sense, it's WAY past my bedtime. Goodnight all and good luck with the last minute Christmas preparations!!!