Edward's menagerie help needed for beginner

[Cyndinthia]

Hello,

im in need of some help. I'm a new crochetter however I've been able to read and follow most of the Edward's Menagerie aardvark pattern except for this:

ch10 and join into circle

Rnds 1-4 D.C. (4 rounds)

I understand how to do the first part but totally lost on how to do rounds 1-4. Please help!

Thank you so much!

[Tampa Doll]

Do they tell you how many stitches at the end of the rows. 

If they have 10 stitches, then it is a DC per chain in the first row, then you DC in each stitch for the next 3.

[redrosesdz]

Welcome to Crochetville!

Edward's Menagerie is a book that I've looked at multiple times, but not bought.  I looked at Amazon, because they show inserts from books.  I see that the animals come in 3 levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced.) The aardvark is not listed in the beginner level.  Have you done any of the beginner level animals, yet?  This is the type of book that builds on skill levels.  It assumes you're going to start at the beginning of the book and work your way through.  So, when it gets to more difficult instructions, it assumes you already understand the simple instructions and is therefore cryptic about it.

Most ami starts with a circle.  Then you do X number of SC stitches in the middle of the circle (not in the circle's chains). Round 2 is usually 2 SC in each round 1's stitch.  Round 3 is 2 sc, 1 alternating around.  Round 4 is 2 sc, 1 sc, 1 sc around. 

Somewhere in the book before the instructions is the detail on what the book means by Rnds 1-4 D.C. (4 rounds).  Do not go by anyone's guess, including mine.  It must be exact for it to work.  You have to find it in the book.  Sorry we can't help more!

[magiccrochetfan]

Hi Cyndinthia, welcome from me too!  I agree with both Mary Jo and Sharon.  It's always important to be aware of all the info in a book/magazine, where often there are how-to sections at the front or back of the publication for all the patterns.  Same is true for single patterns, sometimes there are notes at the very beginning or after the end of the pattern itself.  

In this case, I agree with Mary Jo that you need to do the same number of stitches as you have in your initial chain.  I found the book on google books, and while i can't see the intro section that includes How to Use this Book, nor can i see all of the patterns, I can see the aardvark pattern.  there is no stitch count for rounds 1-4 (which would have been helpful) but there are for round 5 and 7.  in round 5 you have 2 increases, resulting in 12 stitches total in round 5, so that would indicate that there were 10 stitches in round 4.  Apparently in this book "dc" means "make a dc in each stitch in the round".  (I'm not a big fan of this really abbreviated way of writing patterns myself, but maybe there is an explanation of it in the first section.)  

Also just for reference, the stitch names are UK terms, so dc is what we in the US call sc.  

[Granny Square]

I don't have the book either, but here is what Winston the Aardvark looks like http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/winston-the-aardvark

I'm not sure, if you are not a member of Ravelry, if you can see members' projects and their comments.  (One person named hers Aarrthur, which I thought was funny).  There were some comments about being confused about the nostrils and connecting the ears, but they were able to 'wing' it, and most said the pattern was easy (for presumably not beginner crocheters).

This appears to be a UK book, so UK DC is US SC - just pointing this out in case you aren't in the US.  oops...Hi Magic!

[magiccrochetfan]

Hi Granny Square!  the day wouldn't be complete without a little synchronized posting 

[Cyndinthia]

@redrosesdz I turned to this site for help and didn't find your reply very helpful. The only difference between levels 1 & 2 are a basic color change in the pattern. 

 

I understand you have looked at the book but have not bought it therefore I'm surprised out believe you know so much about it. The book actually doesn't build on skills. It actually suggests on page 8 that if you are new to crochet to "try on a level 1 or 2  first" and you do not "need a degree in anything to make a level 3 animal." And nowhere in the book does it explain how to accomplish the steps I'm inquiring about hence my motivation to post the question here. Your suggestion that I must "find it in the book" seems false and impossible. 

 

If I could make a suggestion, you might want to resist the urge to reply to a post if you cannot assist with an answer. 

[Cyndinthia]

@magiccrochetfan thank you very much for your help. 

[Cyndinthia]

@Tampa Doll unfortunately, it didn't list the  stitch numbers as it does in other row instructions. I thought 10 just like you but didn't want to guess. Thank you for your help. 

[redrosesdz]

I suggested that you find the answer in the book, because it's there somewhere. Because the instructions are cryptic, rather than normal pattern language, any answers in here are just guessing. (Unless you get an answer from someone that has made it before. ) All amigurumi has to be exact. If you guess or fudge it, it won't turn out like it's supposed to look. The reason I suggested the earlier levels is because they may hold the answer to what the writer means.

I'm sorry if you thought my answer was insulting and unhelpful. I didn't mean for it to be either. I was honestly trying to help. I read the pages that are displayed on Amazon before answering.

If you truly can't find the answer anywhere in the book, you should be able to email the publisher from their website. That way you can get the exact answer, instead of a guess.

[magiccrochetfan]

9 hours ago, redrosesdz said:

I suggested that you find the answer in the book, because it's there somewhere. Because the instructions are cryptic, rather than normal pattern language, any answers in here are just guessing. (Unless you get an answer from someone that has made it before. ) All amigurumi has to be exact. If you guess or fudge it, it won't turn out like it's supposed to look.

Not to be disagreeable, but my answer is not a guess.  I looked the book up on google books and found the pattern.  Though there is no st count for the first 4 rounds,  round 5 gives a count of 12, and with 2 incs in that round, there have to be 10 sts in round 4.  I don't know whether this book has further info anywhere to explain the writing style, but I've seen another ami book in which the patterns were written similarly, and there wasn't much of an explanation anywhere in it to clarify the "shorthand".  

Also, in my opinion, ami don't have to be exactly made according to the pattern, any more than anything else does.  A stuffed animal is going to look slightly different than the original just because of individual differences in stitch gauge, anyway, and a stitch or three here and there won't change the look significantly.  

Just my 2¢ worth and as I've said before, the great thing about the forums is the opportunity to have discussions and see other points of view :-)  

[redrosesdz]

I saw that rnd 5 has 2 increases and a stitch count of 12 in your earlier post. I agree that rnd 4 has to have a stitch count of 10. However, whether to make rnd 1 in the stitches or in the circle and whether the rounds are spiral or joined is not clarified. They make a difference. Guessing wrong impacts future rounds. 

I've made a lot of different amis from different designers and sources. Most use a more cryptic pattern writing than other types of crochet projects. However, the instructions are there. The instructions for rnds 1-4 are missing on the aardvark's pattern page, so they have to be elsewhere in the book. 

From my experience, everytime I messed up the stitch count and tried to fudge it, I had to rip it out, because future intructions no longer worked. If you're following an ami pattern, stitch counts, placement, etc. all have to be exact or it won't come out right. Ami is the only type of crochet that can't be fudged, unless you're winging it, instead of following someone else's design.