With Sarah’s help and one more look in The Purl Stitch, I figured out what was wrong. I should’ve been doing the SSP at the end of the row so it lines up with the SSK that I did at the beginning of the previous row, and the P2tog at the beginning so it lines up with the K2tog. I ripped those rows and redid my decreases (for a third time!) and it worked out like I expected it to. Finally. I spent the day frustrated because I couldn’t figure it out. But then I tried to visualize how the stitches would lay and it clicked. It also helped that the pictures in The Purl Stitch, shows them being worked in the correct places in the row. So it dawned on me what was going wrong. Now I can continue working on my sleeve and maybe I’ll have it finished this weekend. I think I will cast on immediately for the 2nd sleeve instead of leaving till after I do the front or back.