Regis, I think I'm going to use a lifeline.

Hello commiserating people. There was one more pull out after that last frogging, but luckily I was only 2 rows in. But a big thank you goes to Rohan Knitter, who was the first to enlighten me and tell me about the lifeline.

The lifeline is exactly what it sounds like. It's a line of waste yarn that is placed in the stitches before you begin a repeat. It goes under the stitches, so if you get into trouble and need to pull out, you just have to pull out to the last repeat [where the lifeline is] and the waste yarn is essentially holding your stitches so you can insert your needles and start again from that point.

I seem to be on track here now; maybe it's the lifeline, maybe it's because screwing up 5 times previously served as practice, maybe it's because I turned off the television while I'm knitting, whatever it is, my lines are straight at this particular point in time.

It's explained MUCH better [as well as on video] on Knitting Help - which is another lifeline.