Just came across this thread and have a couple of comments.

The poster trying to put most of the attributes in one column by using odd numbers for sort order will not be successful, because the mod code does not work on sort order number (1,2,5,7) but on sort order sequence (first, second, third...). So all attributes will be organized into two columns based on their place in the sequence, not the actual number assigned.

I have recently done a mod to allow individual control of attributes in the layout (essentially assigning each .wrapperAttribsOption an id based on the Option Name id). This does not work automatically on anonymous attributes; you need to style each attribute to get it in the left or right side, but you have total control over what goes where. The code changes were extremely simple. Support thread and temporary download link: Flexible Attributes support

Something combining the two might be good, allowing a combination of universal application and individual control.