Knitabel

Here are some of the Christmas stockings that I've knit. I've actually made six of these for different people. It's my own pattern, and I'm pretty happy with it. The only thing about it is that the size that the stockings turn out is not consistent. The two stockings on the left in this picture are what I consider "normal", while I've had one turn out smaller and the one on the right in the pic is obviously much larger. And this is with the exact same needles and the same size yarn.

How do you take "emotional state" into gauge?