Weekend Knitting a Bust

So the plan to knit to Monterey and back was a bust. I knitted the first 4-5 rows of the back about half a dozen times. One time I broke it while trying to loosen up the cast on. A couple of times I found a stitch had gotten away about half way back from where I stopped to check. So I'm going to use a different cast on, which I have used before, but need to look up to jog my memory how to do it. I'm hoping it will provide a bit more stretch that cotton chenille is not.