Why is it important to keep equal number of turns when building a wheel?
Then you did not follow the advice if you had several very tight spokes.


  The important thing at this stage is to get all 36 spokes to be as
  close as possible to the same setting, all pretty loose.


The idea is a starting point with equal lengths.  And all pretty loose.

On your wheel threads out of site was probably too much of a starting point. 
Once the treads go out of site the only reference you have to one relative to the other is to count turns.