Syllables

Since beginning to make contributions to Sieve and the Sand in April, I have been experimenting a lot with form poetry. Specifically short, syllable poetry: haikus, senryus, and tankas. So that being said, necessity would dictate that it’s crucial I’m aware of my syllable counts.
During the process of writing the aforementioned styles, I’ve had to repeatedly check, double-check, and verify the syllable count in each word I’m using. In doing so (in addition to using m-w.com like its my job), I’ve discovered a handful of words with a number of syllables that were not at all what I would have expected. Two examples include the words “against” and “blanket.” We’re told to sound the word out; A-gainst. Two syllables, right? Wrong. One. Blank-et. Two again, right? Wrong again. Still one syllable. Isn’t that so odd? I’m kind of curious as to who or what committee makes these executive language decisions—I’d like to be on it and bring a little reform to the syllable world.