Pattern Help

[Giacinta]

Hi, I'm teaching myself to crochet using online videos.  I bought a kit that was labelled "good for beginners", however I'm already stumped by Row 4 in the instructions!  I'm hoping someone in the forum can help me decipher the following in the pattern:  

Row 4: Ch 2, turn, hdc flo in each ch st and sc st across the row (63 hdc sts) 

I figured out that hdc flo means half double crochet front loop only, but I don't understand what the rest is telling me to do.  Chain stitch and single crochet stitch across the row?  what about the hdc flo?  HELP!?

 

[bgs]

The chain stitches and single crochets are in row 3.  They are what you work row 4 into---your front loop only half double crochets.   You work these across row 3.  

[Giacinta]

9 hours ago, bgs said:

The chain stitches and single crochets are in row 3.  They are what you work row 4 into---your front loop only half double crochets.   You work these across row 3.  

Thank you for your reply! Unfortunately I’m still confused...so Row 4 consists entirely of half double loop crochets? The chain stitch and single crochet are in Row 3, and form the base for the half double loops? And I should then end up with 63 stitches? 

[Granny Square]

Here is a slight rewrite of row 4:

Row 4: Ch 2, turn, hdc flo in each ch st and ALSO into each sc st across the row (63 hdc sts) 

The 63 at the end of the row is just a sanity-check stitch count so can make sure you followed the instructions correctly.

[Giacinta]

Thank you so very much for your guidance.  I will likely be back with more questions as I move along!  

[Giacinta]

So I have one more question about Row 4....When I watch the tutorials about how to half double crochet, it says I need to insert my hook through the third loop from my last hcl.... but in the case of this pattern, I should be inserting my hook through every stitch rather than skipping two?  Also, my previous row was granite stitch...does that mean I should insert the hook through both strands of the granite stitch or just the front loop?  I hope this makes sense...Am I understanding that right?  

 

[Granny Square]

Is hcl meant to be hdc?  Because I don't know what hcl is (that's not a standard stitch), and don't know what you are referring to re: the 'third loop'.  You yarn over, insert the hook into both loops of the stitch you need to put the hdc into (unless it says front or back loops only), yarn over again (now there are 3 loops on the hook), yarn over again and pull thru all 3 loops.  You don't do anything different with a third loop.  see Annie's attic stitch videos, hdc is #6 https://www.anniescatalog.com/crochet/content.html?scat_id=368&c=0

Are you watching a video for your specific pattern?  Because I may be misunderstanding you, but it sounds like you are making assumptions about needing to do something that this pattern is not telling you to do, because some other pattern told you to do that thing.  If it doesn't say to skip 2, don't skip 2.  

Granite stitch video, which does not involve hdc, (altho you could sub hdc for the sc) just throwing this out there.  AKA woven stitch, a lot of crochet stitches have multiple names.

Here is another site you might find helpful,  it may answer some of your questions for all sorts of different things, including, well, standards that you would expect to see in a well written pattern, and expect to know, that a pattern might not tell you.  See the menu on the right side of the page.

Part of where I am going is: a pattern will NOT tell you, if you are making a stitch, that you will insert your hook under both top loops in the next stitch, or indicated stitch, in the row below--this is understood.  A pattern SHOULD tell you if you are to insert your hook in a DIFFERENT spot (front loop, back loop, other places). 

A pattern will NOT tell you, that if you just made a stitch, that the following stitch will be made into the following stitch in the row below--that is understood.  A pattern WILL tell you  whether to skip 1 or more stitches, put 2 stitches into 1 stitch, and so on.  

I hope this makes sense, because it sounds like you are confusing yourself by thinking there are more rules than there are.  The good news is, it is easier than you think it is--just follow what the pattern says.

The bad news is, there are some badly written patterns out there, or patterns with errors in them.  What I have found is to first follow what it says if I think something looks weird, because sometimes I learn cool new things that way.  And, sometimes it goes awry like I thought it would, and have to figure out how to work around the issue.  

 

 

[Giacinta]

Oh my goodness, yes, I meant hdc... so sorry!   And your response makes complete sense! In the instructional video I watched, it presented hdc as a stitch in which you skip to the third stitch before making the hdc loops.  But perhaps I should have dug a little deeper, because I hear you clearly saying that skipping to the third stitch is not by definition part of the half double crochet stitch, and that if it was, it would have been written in the pattern.  Looking back at the instruction in the pattern, I do see that it reads "hdc flo", which I take to mean "half double crochet, front loop only", so the pattern itself answers my second question.  Unfortunately the pattern does not have its own instructional video, so I've been YouTubing it to teach myself the stitch patterns , but with mixed results re: clarity.  I will definitely check out the links you recommend.  I truly appreciate you taking the time to write such a thorough and helpful response.  

[Granny Square]

You are welcome!  I was getting a little wordy, there, glad it made sense!

I like videos to learn a new technique, how to do a new-to-me technique or convoluted stitch, that sort of thing, but I prefer written or diagrammed patterns.  That Annie's Attic site that I linked is a good one, also New Stitch a Day (link to the main page,  if go to 'stitchionary' at the top, there's groupings of stitch types for crochet (textured and plain, bobbles, chevrons, other stuff) or you can just  type in the stitch you are looking for in the search box--unfortunately the output has a strange logic to it, I typed in 'half double crochet' and the basic stitch was the 8th & 9th version of the stitch (one for beginners, one "not", interesting).  

[Giacinta]

Okay, I'm getting the hang of things, I think.  Thank you so much for the quality resources.  Very helpful!  I have another pattern question.  At the beginning of each row, the pattern tells me to chain a few stitches (it varies, depending on what stitch the rest of the row requires).  I've taken those extra chain stitches to be there because without them, I'd end up with the wrong number of stitches in the row. I am, however, a bit confused as to what to do with them.  For example, in this row, the pattern reads as such:  "Ch 3 (counts as dc st here and throughout the pattern), work Bobble Stitch in front loop only in next st, *dc flo in each of the next 2 its, bobble flo in next st; repeat from * across to last 2 its, dc in last 2 its of row (63 bobble its and dc sts)".  I don't understand what "Ch 3 (counts as dc st here and throughout the pattern)" means.  Do I use those chain stitches as the beginning of my Bobble Stitches after I turn my work to start the row?  Do I skip them and start the Bobble Stitch in the last stitch of the previous row?  And what does "counts as dc st here and throughout the pattern" mean?  Thank you so very much in advance!

[Granny Square]

Those chains at the end of rows are 'turning' chains (even tho you don't always have to turn to use them, some patterns use them in the round).  Their purpose is to get your yarn up to the height of the stitch in the next row.  The last link  in my post 2 stitches up from this one ("site you might find helpful") should explain this...yes...Here's the page you'll want to look at .

Briefly, for sc, the turning chain is 1 and does not count as a stitch.  For dc, the turning chain is 3, and DOES count as a stitch--DO study that part, because patterns will assume you know this, and know how to deal with it in the right way as explained--notice there is a right and a wrong way to deal with the first 'real' stitch in the row (you want to skip it 99.99% of the time,like it tells you. because the 3 chains 'act' like they are 'in' that first stitch), and at the end of the row you will work into the top chain of the prior row's turning chain as your last stitch in the row, because that turning chain counts as a stitch.

So normally, in straight dc, at the end of a row, you turn, ch3, skip the first stitch dc in the next stitch, and go on your merry way.  In YOUR pattern, it's being unusually helpful by saying that very same thing that most patterns assume you already know.  Something you often see in a lacy pattern is to chain more than 3 and tell you why,  like "ch 4 - counts a dc+ch1 here and throughout", for the purpose of you keeping your stitch count on track.

 

[Giacinta]

Sorry for the delay, I'm just now getting time to really study and make sense of this.  I think I understand....and I think this might be why my work appears to be getting wider as I go along...That I was counting the slipknot as a stitch, and then working into the turning chains.  Whoops.  Thank you so very much for the help and the detailed explanations.  I'm going to study all of this some more, as I don't think I quite grasped it on the first go-through.  If it's okay to keep asking questions....I may do so again?  If I'm being overly pesky, please let me know!  

[Granny Square]

Not pesky at all, we don't charge by the question  so fire away!

BTW, you are not the only beginner who has gained or lost stitches working back and forth, it's the subject of a lot of threads here.  I am a believer in stitch markers (I like bobby pins, they're cheaper than the stitch markers at the craft store), so it might be a thought to put a marker in the top chain of a turning chain, and move it up when you use that stitch, until you get the hang of spotting and using the right stitch to end a row in.