The long and the short of it

Last week I worked pretty much exclusively on the cardigan and I was moving along nicely. Back and both fronts were finished (after I redid the left front once again) and I started on one of the arms. I felt confident that the wool is going to last, and that, with a little bit of luck (okay, maybe with a lot of luck) I might be done by next weekend.
Life was good.

Finished back

On Friday I thought I should try blocking the pieces I've got (I can't really do it during the week, as I'm usually spending my nights in hotel rooms on weekdays. The hotel staff might take exceptions to wet wool stretched out on their beds). I started with the front, gently washing it in mild soap, pressing the exessive water out in a towel and then lightly stretching it on my old couch, pinning it in place and waiting for it to dry. The wool, which was nice and soft to begin with, got even softer.
Again, life was good.

Right front after blocking.

Then I made the mistake of holding the blocked front against my chest, wanting to see how far down it went.
It almost hit my knees!!!
Aarghle!!!
I pulled out my measuring tape and measured.

bottom to beginning of raglan.

25 inches!!!

This was suppose to be 19.5 "
How in the world did I manage to knit 5 1/2 inches more than I really should have?
I'm an engineer, I'm suppose to know how to measure.
Maybe the blocking made it longer? Did I over-block it? Is 'over-block' even a verb? Can I go back to the un-blocked state?
I measured the so far unblocked back of the cardigan. 24 inches bottom to raglan start.
How did I miss that?
Why did I not only made this mistake on the back, but on both fronts as well? (well, the last one is easy to answer, as I measured the fronts against the back and not on again the tape)
I did mention 'Aarghle!!!'

Big question now - do I accept that the cardigan will end at my knees and just plow on as if nothing happened?
Of do I accept that I seriously messed up and if I don't go back and rip everything halfway up, that I will never wear the cardigan as I can't stand a cardigan that does end at my knees?

Okay, I start ripping right away....

At least, my frustration with the cardigan lead to me picking up the Castle Sampler once again and I do have a bit of progress to show.


Hmm, looking at the farbic I've got and the amount I've still got to stitch, it looks to be a bit tight on the sides....