Oh Stewardess, I speak Crochet.
February 26, 2016 5:11 PM   Subscribe

Craftfilter: Help me parse & translate this pattern instruction?

I crochet, at an intermediate-beginner level, but have rarely needed to decrease. I'm making easter favors, and love this pattern, but I cannot for the life of me, parse the decrease instructions.
I know that sc2tog means "decrease by single crocheting two stitches together", and I can find all kinds of tutorials on how to do it. I am fine through round 8 and then... I don't get it.

Here is the relevant section of the pattern:
Round 9: *sc 2 tog, 1 sc in each of the next 3 sts, sc2tog, 1 sc in each of the next 4 sts, rep from * 1 more time — 18 sts.

Round 10: *sc 2 tog, 1 sc in each of the next 2 sts, sc2tog, 1 sc in each of the next 3 sts, rep from * 1 more time — 14 sts.

Round 11: *sc 2 tog, 1 sc in next st, sc2tog, 1 sc in each of the next 2 sts, rep from * 1 more time — 10 sts.

Round 12: sc 2 tog around — 5 sts.
It seems like the two instructions in round 9 are the same. And, not only are they the same, but I don't understand how the instruction in round 12 is different than the rounds before.

I've spent all afternoon trying to figure it out and am out of patience. Help!
posted by ApathyGirl to Grab Bag (5 answers total)
 
Best answer: I count more than two instructions in round 9 but I know what constitutes one instruction is fuzzy, so I'll break down the instructions a little more. See if this makes sense:

Round 9 goes: sc2tog sc sc sc sc2tog sc sc sc sc, then do all of the above one more time.

Round 10 goes: sc2tog sc sc sc2tog sc sc sc , then do all of the above one more time.

Round 11 goes: sc2tog sc sc2tog sc sc, then do all of the above one more time.

Round 12 goes: sc2tog sc2tog sc2tog sc2tog sc2tog
posted by clavicle at 5:18 PM on February 26, 2016 [8 favorites]


clavicle's interpretation is correct. The number of stitches given in your pattern is a way of error checking yourself before you move onto the next round -- e.g. if you end up with 18 stitches in round 9, for example, then you've done the correct number of decreases.
posted by telegraph at 5:26 PM on February 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


Thirding clavicle. This kind of round notation is pretty standard in written crochet patterns but I can see how it would look weird if you hadn't encountered it before. This is why I greatly prefer charted crochet patterns!
posted by arrmatie at 5:33 PM on February 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


Coming in to applaud clavicle's interpretation.
posted by SLC Mom at 8:18 PM on February 26, 2016


Response by poster: THANK YOU!
I'm used to patterns that make use of commas and semicolons, to mark what's together and what's next.

Thank you again!
posted by ApathyGirl at 9:20 PM on February 26, 2016


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