need help with this pattern

[luckygrrl]

(Boy, this is not my day for crochet, huh. )

 

I'm making a baby poncho, from this pattern on the Coats & Clark site and I've come to a part where I'm stumped. I've never worked with a pattern before that had anything more complicated in the repeating instructions than something like

 

* whatever it's asking you to do; rep from * across, etc...

 

I can figure out what to do inside the asterisks with those kind of instructions. Now, I've encountered a pattern with a ** and I'm a little stumped. I thought I had it figured out, until I got to the end of my row. Let me try and explain....

 

Here's the row that's giving me trouble (inc in this pattern means 3 sc in one stitch, btw):

 

Row 3: Ch 1, skip first sc, sc in next 3 sc, * inc, sc in next 2 sc; draw up a lp in next sc, skip next sc, draw up a lp in next sc, yo and draw through all 3 lps on hook – dec made; sc in next 2 sc **; rep from * to last 2 sc, end at **; skip next sc, sc in last sc; turn.

 

I can't figure out what the ** is trying to tell me. It seems like the ** is at the end of the repeating pattern, so I was assuming from the instructions that I'd repeat what's inside the single asterisk * until I got to the last 2 sc, I'd skip the next sc, then sc in the last sc. In which case why bother with the ** at all. However, going by that thinking, that's not where you're at in the pattern when you get to the last 2 sc!

 

I've got 2 sc left in the row and this is what I just completed prior to it, in red:

 

* inc, sc in next 2 sc; draw up a lp in next sc, skip next sc, draw up a lp in next sc, yo and draw through all 3 lps on hook – dec made; sc in next 2 sc **; rep from *

 

I know I'm at the right point in the pattern and haven't added stitches or anything incorrect, because it's very easy to see, since it's forming this ripple effect. All I can think of is that in Row 3, they put the ** in the wrong place. I mean, it did seem weird that it was at the end. And when you read what the next row says, it seems that the ** is in the middle of the repeat, which would make more sense. Like, repeat pattern X, but in the middle of pattern X the last time you're doing it, stop short at point Y (being the **). See Row 4:

 

Row 4: Ch 1, sc in first 4 sc, * inc **, sc in next 7 sc; rep from * to last 4 sc, end at **; sc in last 4 sc; turn.

 

That to me would mean that when I have 4 sc left, the last thing I'll have done just before the sc in last 4 sc part is the increase.

 

 

Can anyone help me with this? Am I doing it right, and the pattern is wrong in Row 3? Or am I misunderstanding the pattern?

 

I think I need a tea:kettle. Or maybe a beer. lol

[luckygrrl]

Mkay, just adding to this since no one has responded yet and I was getting itchy to continue! lol

 

I went ahead and just finished the Row 3 like I thought, skipping the second to last stitch and sc in the last stitch. Row 4 and 5 just went off without a hitch, with the ** meaning what I thought. So I guess I'm left wondering.... was that a mistake in the pattern, or somehow was I just reading Row 3 wrong? I don't think I've ever encountered a mistake in a pattern before.

[Chrome Kitty]

The ** is in the wrong place in row 3. It should have been

 

"Row 3: Ch 1, skip first sc, sc in next 3 sc, * inc, sc in next 2 sc**; draw up a lp in next sc, skip next sc, draw up a lp in next sc, yo and draw through all 3 lps on hook – dec made; sc in next 2 sc; rep from * to last 2 sc, end at **; skip next sc, sc in last sc; turn."

[luckygrrl]

Thanks so much! That's what I was hoping to hear. I'll be sending them an email after I finish this project (waiting in case there are any other errors ).

 

Thanks!