Black hole for needles and socks

I seem to have a black hole nearby that munches on knitting needles and socks.
I've been keeping a large pillowcase full of single socks, and reunited about 20 pairs of socks two months ago..still have about 10 singles looking thoughtfully for their pairs. these are store-bought socks, mind you, so it's not like they hopped back onto needles and hid someplace, although I do seem to have quite a few missing-in-action needles as well.

According to my rav needle inventory (which I updated in May 2011), I supposedly have quite a few metal circulars in circulation - some I've identified as being assigned to ufos or works in progress. The others, I've simply recorded as"out-unknown", as the only remnants I have is the hang bag it came in.

After taking the weekend to just do things for me..I dug happily into a new project using the regal silk and knit 5", this including a hem and a pleat which was finicky and fussy. Finally, it's sitting flat and it looks beyoo-ti-ful.
Then, today, i tried it on.

WHOA there - too big..even after having swatched and predicted that I was doing ok, somehow, my gauge is off, and it's too big at my hips, and I'm not sure I can fudge it. Somehow when I looked at while I was knitting, it seemed like it would be ok. now, i'm not so sure. So, i'm going to swatch again with a US5.

According to my needle inventory, I am supposed to have 3 or 4 of these needles. guess what ? they're all out, either "out-unknown" or "out on a project". Two that are out and known are: 1. On the Dover Castle Shawl - status: currently stalled because i'm a beginner lace knitter and the pattern is too complex for my tiny brain, so it requires attention, and i'm generally only getting knitting time at knit night, which is not good for good attention.

and 2. is the sweet jazz scarf project which was supposed to be an easy knit, but ended up being super boring between the short rows and the rough-feeling yarn. not inspiring. first time i'm knitting with wm and my attention span is waning.sad.

Since the dover castle shawl could do to go down a needle, and I have plenty of 4s - at least, so my needle inventory says (heh, heh). I'll try that again on a US4, and take back the US5 to swatch the regal silk top again.

Yay a domino effect- Maybe it'll convince some needles to come out of hiding.