Granny square help please

[adrienz]

I am not new to crochet but new to reading written patterns :/ and I need some help please!!

I am trying to make an afghan pattern from the Leisure Arts "Blocks & Strips" pattern book (pattern #2, "Simply Pretty" on page 6)

I made the first round (ch 5 and join with slip st to form ring - then ch 1, (3 sc, ch 2) 4 times in ring) but am now totally stuck on Round 2!

Round 2: (right side): Ch 3 (counts as first dc), turn; (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in next corner ch-2 sp, dc in next sc, skip next sc, * dc in next sc, (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in next corner, ch-2 sp, dc in next sc, skip next sc; repeat from * 2 times more; join with slip st to first dc, finish off: 24 dc and 4 corner ch-3 sps

Please and thank you!!!!!!!! :)

[Granny Square]

Welcome to the 'ville!

Round 1 is going to make a ring with 4 corners (the chain spaces being the corners).

You ended round 1 with a chain space.   Since you are turning for the next round, the first thing you will encounter is the chain space.

Sometimes it helps to break down a long written instruction into separate little steps. My comments in bold:

Round 2: (right side): Ch 3 (counts as first dc), turn;

(2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in next corner ch-2 sp, ( ) means do all the stuff in ( ) in 1 stitch or in this case 1 'spot'. 

dc in next sc, skip next sc,

* when you see an asterisk it means to repeat, it tells you later how many times

dc in next sc, (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) in next corner, ch-2 sp, dc in next sc, skip next sc;  this is the part that gets repeated

repeat from * 2 times more; how many times  more to repeat that part

join with slip st to first dc, finish off:

24 dc and 4 corner ch-3 sps this is not an instruction, it's a sanity check for you to count your stitches and make sure your round has that stitch count - this is a common source of confusion for new crocheters, and I would assume to one new to written patterns.

Here is a site that gives a lot of info on reading crochet patterns that I think you'll find helpful - https://www.craftyarncouncil.com/standards   check out the menu on the right side, lots of good info there.

 

 

[bgs]

Where are you having a problem as it seems pretty straight forward?   Sometimes I find too many steps written on one line overwhelming so I rewrite it just putting a step or two per line.  Sometimes I can not visualize what a long sequence of instructions will look like but if I grab my hook and yarn and just focus on following the directions one step at a time it works out.

This is what I got.