Stuck on a repeat... I think????

[Chantale]

I am stuck on a pattern that says:

16sc 1dec 7sc 1dec (3*)= 51sc

How the heck does this make 51sc? Which part is repeated 3x?

The next one is:

15sc 1dec 6sc 1dec (3*) = 48sc

Gah!

 

Edited August 4, 2020 by Chantale

[magiccrochetfan]

It doesn't make sense to me either.  Maybe some things were lost in translation?

[Granny Square]

Welcome to the 'ville!

This is a poorly written pattern, crochet patterns REALLY need to conform to established, conventional crochet 'grammar' to be understood, and this line is hosed up completely.

The goal is to decrease from 54 down to 51:  54 = 18 x 3, and 51 = 17 x 3, therefore I think it should have said " *sc 16, decrease, repeat to end", which would make 3 sets of 17 (over each group of 18 stitches, make 16, then combining the 17th and 18th stitch from the prior row into 1 stitch with the decrease,gives you 17 made over 18)

 

Edited August 4, 2020 by Granny Square
fixed typo

[Granny Square]

Forgot the second half of your question, but it would be the same concept for the following lines - do the math like I did, all the end stitch counts are 3 stitches less so the subsequent decrease rows would be 1 fewer plain stitches before the decrease.

 

 

[magiccrochetfan]

Granny Square, you are brilliant!  

[Granny Square]

Aw, shucks.    I was scratching my head for a bit before just happening to notice that 51 is divisible by 3, and a repeat x 3 factored in the pattern...

I did consider how to use that '7sc 1 dec' part of the repeat, but couldn't figure out a combination that would end up with 51 stitches.  And just ignoring it turned out to work elegantly count-wise, I just hope the shaping is supposed to be done evenly around, especially as subsequent rounds use 2 sets of numbers decreasing by 1 (16 & 7, 15 & 6, 14 & 5...)

 

[Chantale]

Thanks so much, Granny Square. Yes, the math was making me a bit nuts trying to work the stitch numbers. I think your suggestion will work well. Really appreciate the help! Next time I will be more careful selecting a pattern that I understand before getting started. Beginners mistake

Thanks  again!