Dc in next Dc

[CQueenEsther]

Hi, I am struggling with one part of a pattern.  Although I have been crocheting for a while, I am just starting to do it via patterns.  The baby dress pattern has one area that is stumping me.  It is directing me to "dc in next dc" after a ch 3.  I do not understand.  The pattern calls for shells (sh) and I understand what those are. I also understand the directions for sp and ch-3 sp.  Just really do not know what  "dc in next dc" actually means.  Later it asks for "dc in next 2 dc" and "dc in next 3 dc"

 

HELP!

[Nicolapen]

I think dc in next dc means find your next dc Stitch and do a double crochet in it. dc in the next 2 dc would be do 1 dc in each of the next 2dc stitches. dc in the next 3 dc is 1dc in each of the next 3dc stitches.

 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Nicjane

[bgs]

Patterns often tell you where to place your stitches.  Usually they are worked into the stitches of the previous row.  

dc in next dc is telling you to make a dc into the next dc of your previous row .   dc in next 3 dc is telling you to make 1dc into each of the next 3 dc of previous row.  At some point it may tell you to skip some stitches in that row.  

[Granny Square]

Don't think of the shell as 1 monolithic "stitch", but as a specific repeat of stitches (that includes DCs) that has been given a 'group name' by the designer to save typing. 

In the next row, the group of stitches that fell under the mini-repeat called 'shell' in the prior row are just treated as individual stitches in this pattern.  When your pattern says "DC in the next DC", that's exactly what you do, even if you have to skip some other stitch to get to the next DC, or whether that DC was part of a shell in the prior row, or not.