Big cowl is a big pain

Working on the big herringbone cowl as a gift (shhhh) for a friend. "Cast on 220 stitches," reads the first line of the pattern. What was I thinking? I got about 12 rows in (let's see...12 x 220 is.... nevermind, I can't count that high) and had dropped so many stitches I just pulled my circular needle out and started over with another ball of yarn. The second attempt is going better. But I'm still battling the demons of dropped stitches!

(Above: Ruins of my first attempt on the floor. )