What is the trick to keeping count

[Sam K]

Hi I’m an absolute beginner and probably didn’t pick the easiest project to start with, an ‘Edwards menagerie toy’ . I’ve got the hang of doing the stitches, tension etc but it requires increase in a round from the second row. Is there any trick to keeping count of how many stitches eg I have to dc1 then dc2 into the next stitch and do this six times to do 18 stitches in a row/circle.... what do you say to yourself as you go along? Dc1.1. Dc1.dc2.2.dc1.3.dc1.dc2.4?....I’m confused already...and if I don’t do that I find it hard to count along the stitches I’ve done and spend more time counting than crocheting!!! Help!!!

[Granny Square]

I do something like "one two three in-crease", or where ever you are in the scheme, where in=the first stitch, crease=the second stitch, into 1 stitch.   Sounds silly, but that's what I came up with as a beginner and it works for me.  Usually I can tell if I'm off in a row if I don't end up in the right spot at the end, if that makes sense.

By the way, I've thrown this little visual out here a few times but it does pertain to your question about keeping count...see the 'stitch' marked with the arrow?  That is not a stitch, it's where you connected the end of the prior row, to the beginning, and then (in the case of DC here) chained 3 for the first stitch.  I've been crocheting for decades, and I know this, but I still put a stitch marker in the first stitch when I'm working in the round like this, in case I zone out while watching TV.  Actually I usually 'use' the not-stitch as the last increase (instead of putting 2 into 1 "where the increase belongs", because skipping it can cause a little gap, but using it closes the gap and still keeps the count right.