Greetings fellow Pivo-tico-tivo-pico-voli-ers!

I'm working on getting started on one of my own. I have this supply of black Shine Worsted that I bought for another project and didn't wind up using it for (Tubey...changed to Karabella Aurora 8).

I'm trying to use the Shine Worsted....and I'm getting 24 stitches to 4" on size 6 needles with my flat knitted gauge swatch.

This seems impossible, considering the original yarn (regular Shine sport)/needles (US #4) called for. My plan was to find a reasonable gauge and then choose a smaller size based on the gauge I get, rather than having to futz with the pattern excessively. I don't want to use an overly tight needle size, so I can preserve the hang of the garment.

I'd love to know if
a) I'm crazy
b) I'm the world's tightest
knitter
c) other people got similar gauge and subbed Shine Worsted in this pattern

TIA for any help you can offer!