The pattern for the Adiri sweater clearly states that the lace is a multiple of 16 inches. The size I’m making tells you to cast on 216 stitches. It is evident that this is not a number divisible by 16. I did not notice this before I switched from the ribbing to the lace, and have thus knitted that transition and frogged it several times. Finally it hit me that I was never going to end up with the right number by just counting carefully to 216 over and over. I have now made it to Row 5 or so, and I think I have it.
When you’re knitting something with great care and diligence and it doesn’t work, it’s good to stop and do some math. There must be something wrong somewhere, and it isn’t always you.
After ripping back to the ribbing three times, I just increased evenly around to bring the total number of stitches up to a number that could in fact be divided by 16 — 224 — and it has been smooth sailing since then.