first time granny square

[Ceilia]

trying to read a granny square crochet pattern and i don’t understand why one bit of the instructions are in brackets and one bit isn’t. 

Patern is as follows 

ch3, 2dc, (ch2, 3dc) 3 times, ch2, slst to close rnd. (12dc, 4ch-2-sp) 

i don’t understand what i’m supposed to do 3 times and why the first brackets are there. and if the last brackets are the summary of the row, it doesn’t even make sense because doing the math there’s no way i could get to 12 dc in total.. 

i’m sorry if this doesn’t make sense!!! please help!! 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Ceilia
spelling mistake

[bgs]

 (12dc, 4ch-2-sp)  is the summary of stitches and spaces for the round

 

 (ch 2, 3dc) 3 times means do everything within the ( ) 3 times

Usually the ch 3 starting your round is counted as a dc 

so ch 3, 2 dc equals 3dc

 (ch 2, 3dc) 3 times equals 9 dc giving you a total of 12 dc

 

This is a good reference on how to read patterns

https://www.craftyarncouncil.com/standards/how-to-read-crochet-pattern

Edited March 23, 2021 by bgs

[Granny Square]

Both ( ) and * denote repeats; end-of-row summary stitch count punctuation varies.  Another legitimate way to write your line would be

ch3, 2dc, *ch2, 3dc; repeat from * 2 times more, ch2, slst to close rnd. (12dc, 4ch-2-sp)