Stuck- stichin kidz llama kit

[Gabilove1999]

Hello. I’m working on a llama kit by stichin kids. I made it to round 24/40 on the head/neck/body portion and am completely stuck. I created the head and neck, then,

”Round 24: Ch 14, sc in 2nd ch from hook and in next 12 ch, sc in next 18 sc, sc in. Ext 12 sc. End up with 44 sc.”

I’ve done it twice how I thought was correct but I always end up with two extra chains. I don’t know what to do.

[Granny Square]

So, you are in the middle of working in the round, and have x stitches attached to your hook, and you chain 14.  (actually, this pattern sounds familiar, I helped someone with a llama pattern not that long ago--(finds other thread)....and it was stitchin kids).

On THAT pattern, you started with the head and neck, and IIRC you made a chain that became the 'spine' from neck to the tail end, and you began working on the llama body 90° from the direction you had been working the neck, down 1 side of the spine and back using the unused loops of the chain then continued around the neck, back down the spine, etc; so you aren't working around just the chain.  

I just googled "stitchin kidz crochet kit llama tutorial" and there are several youtubes, one that is about the head and neck; I didn't view them, but the llama looks like the same, or very similar pattern I helped the other person earlier with; you can do a search here to find that other thread, I didn't link it because the stitch counts weren't quite what you said.

Edited December 28, 2020 by Granny Square

[bgs]

Very interesting. Just thinking this thru.

Sc in 2nd ch from hook = 1sc

and in next 12 ch = 12 sc

sc in next 18 sc = 18 sc

sc in ext 12 sc = 12 sc

So that is 45 sc total and not 44 as pattern says and you are winding up with 2 extra chains? 

[Granny Square]

I think this was the kit, or if there is a whole family of llamas, this looks very similar to the one I remember (the person on the other thread I mentioned deleted her links).  I think being 1 stitch 'off' going around the body spine down probably isn't going to matter much, or maybe just sc2tog somewhere inconspicuous (or picking out the extra chains?) to get the count right..

Edited December 28, 2020 by Granny Square

[bgs]

3 minutes ago, Granny Square said:

I think this was the kit, or if there is a whole family of llamas, this looks very similar to the one I remember (the person on the other thread I mentioned deleted her links).  I think being 1 stitch 'off' going around the body spine down probably isn't going to matter much, or maybe just sc2tog at the end to get the count right..

I was trying to figure out how she was ending up with the 2 extra chains and even more puzzled when the tallied stitches came out 1 more than the given stitch count.

[Granny Square]

Oops, I really hosed up my logic on that post, and also didn't do the math and went with the OP's count of 2 extra chains.  Apologies to the OP and thanks for clarifying, Bgs.

My (faulty) thought process was 'just sc2tog over those 2 extra chains and it shouldn't be a big deal to have 1 extra stitch'.    Also, meant to say 'SC2tog somewhere ELSE inconspicuous' (meaning, to get back to the right stitch count if she didn't want to be 'off' by 1). And she can't pick out the chains, if she were truly short 2 chains they'd be chain UNDERSIDES if she was going from tail to neck and back to tail. 

[bgs]

I think we might need to see a good photo or two of what her work looks like and possibly the instructions for previous round as we do not have the whole pattern to look at.  My first thoughts like you jumped back to the other llama questions and wondering if she realized she was working down the chain, around stitches on neck, then back down the other side of that chain.

[SarahKnight]

I have this same kit and I've been confused at Round 24 too. I got past everything except the last 12 sc.

I got the part with the spine, worked back down (12 sc) worked around the neck (18 sc) and now I'm stuck because there's nowhere to go from there. I'm facing the back of the spine, so I can't work any stitches in. I don't know if I did the first part wrong? Or if I'm missing something?

Edited December 28, 2020 by SarahKnight

[Granny Square]

Oops, I really hosed up my logic on that post, and also didn't do the math and went with the OP's count of 2 extra chains.  Apologies to the OP and thanks for clarifying, Bgs.

My (faulty) thought process was 'just sc2tog over those 2 extra chains and it shouldn't be a big deal to have 1 extra stitch'.    Also, meant to say 'SC2tog somewhere ELSE inconspicuous' (meaning, to get back to the right stitch count if she didn't want to be 'off' by 1). And she can't pick out the chains, if she were truly short 2 chains they'd be chain UNDERSIDES if she was going from tail to neck and back to tail. 

Oops again, I composed this post and didn't post it, just found it as I was going to reply to Sarah Knight.  (I've been trying to cut back on coffee, sort of a pre-New Years resolution, maybe that is a bad idea....)

[Granny Square]

Sarah, you can work into the underside of the chain, using the loops or loop of the chain that you didn't use the first time around (there are 3 way I know of to work into a chain, 2 use 1 loop normally, the other uses 2 loops).

Can I ask - how many stitches were around the neck, before the chain?  Were there 18 or 19?  Because I just started to diagram this, and realized there would have to be, or more likely be, 19 in the neck before the chain; I diagrammed it as 18 and realized the chain  would 'use up' 1 stitch, leaving only 17 'free' stitch tops, not 18.

[Granny Square]

Also, and I didn't catch this before, if you chain 14, skip the first chain and sc across the next 12, that leaves the chain closest  to the neck 'empty'.  While it's not impossible to skip that chain and make the next sc into the neck stitch adjacent to the neck stitch the chain sprouted out of, I'd think it would leave a hole.  Not saying it's wrong, just an observation.

[SarahKnight]

Alright! So I found a way to make it work, thanks to Granny Square for helping me out.

I hope OP finds this helpful!

You ch 14, just like the instructions say.

sc into the second stitch from the hook. Back loop only.

sc across the NEXT 12 back loop only. (13 in total on there)

sc 18 on the neck, (both loops) connecting the spine and the neck together in a single chain.

At this point there should be one stitch left before the spine.

Skip that stitch, and sc the next 12 into the spine. Front loop only.

Now you should have 44 stitches, just like the instructions say.

Your first stitch of the next round will connect one side of the spine to the other, forming a kind of continuous, oddly shaped loop that you can work your stitches into for the next couple of rounds.

[bgs]

2 hours ago, SarahKnight said:

I have this same kit and I've been confused at Round 24 too. I got past everything except the last 12 sc.

I got the part with the spine, worked back down (12 sc) worked around the neck (18 sc) and now I'm stuck because there's nowhere to go from there. I'm facing the back of the spine, so I can't work any stitches in. I don't know if I did the first part wrong? Or if I'm missing something?

Now you are going to work down the other side of that spine in the unused loops of that chain 14 .  You are setting up to start crocheting in the round in an oval shape for the body.

https://www.allaboutami.com/foundationchain/

[Gabilove1999]

Oh my goodness I am so incredibly happy to see all of this help!! Sorry for a somewhat delayed reply, I've been working since posting this. On one hand, I'm glad I'm not the only one confused by this pattern haha but on the other, I am also sorry that you had to experience this frustration Sarah Knight. I'll definitely just have to leave that little hole somewhere (either how granny square or sarah said it) to avoid being extra confused later by stitch count being off from that point on. That definitely makes the most sense to me. My work pictures would be about the same as Sarah's but if anyone would still like to see them for any reason let me know. As soon as I am able to work through this, I'll update here in case I still can't figure it out (but I be it'll be fine). Also, bgs, that link is SO helpful thank you. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!

Edited December 31, 2020 by Gabilove1999