Pattern reading help for a newbie

[Lisam1303]

Hi, I'm new to crochet and so far so good but now stuck on a pattern step.

Say:  rounds 8-12 dc all sts (42 sts).  Does this mean 42 sts in total or 5x rounds of 42?

Picture for ref

[Granny Square]

The (x sts) at the end of each round is a sanity check to make sure you have the number of stitches in the round that you are supposed to have, not an instruction to do something.  So at the end of round 7, you should have a total of 42 stitches.  Rounds 8 thru 12 have no increases, so you will also end up with 42 stitches for each of those rounds.

[Lisam1303]

Amazing thank you!