What does the number in brackets at the end of a round mean?

It is how many stitches you should have when that round is finished — an error check, written there so you can catch a mistake at the end of the round that made it rather than four rounds later. It is not an instruction and you do not work it.

What does 6x (sc, inc) mean?

Work the group in the brackets six times: one single crochet, then an increase, then single crochet, increase, and so on. Different publishers write the same thing as *sc, inc* rep from * 6 times, or [sc, inc] 6 times, or (1 sc, 2 sc in next st) x6. They all mean the same round.

What is the difference between a round and a row?

A row is worked back and forth and turned at each end, so the right side alternates. A round is worked continuously in one direction, either in a spiral or joined at the end of each one. Amigurumi is almost always rounds worked in a spiral, which is why nothing is turned and why a stitch marker matters — there is no seam to tell you where the round began.

Does the turning chain count as a stitch?

Sometimes, and the pattern has to tell you. Most patterns say so explicitly — "ch 2 (counts as first dc)" or "ch 1 (does not count as a stitch)" — because the two give different stitch counts and different edges. If it says nothing and the counts do not work, try the other reading.

What does "in the same stitch" mean?

Work the listed stitches into the base stitch you just worked into, rather than moving on to the next one. It is how a shell, a bobble and an increase are all built: several stitches sharing one base. "In the next stitch" is the opposite instruction and the difference is one stitch, which is enough to put a whole round out.

Why do my stitch counts not match the pattern?

Most often one repeat too few or too many, and the giveaway is that the gap is a multiple of the repeat's size. Second most often: a US pattern read as UK or the reverse, which changes what every abbreviation means. Third: a turning chain counted when it should not be. Paste the rounds into the checker above and the round where it first goes wrong is the one to look at.

Learn

How to read a crochet pattern

The abbreviations are the easy half — a list you look up once. What people get stuck on is the grammar: which bracket means repeat, which number is a count and which is an instruction, and whether that chain at the start counts as a stitch. Here is the whole of it, on one round.

A crochet piece worked in the round seen from above: one continuous spiral of small even stitches winding outward from the centre, with a single stitch marker clipped to the outermost round. — Worked in the round, a pattern is one long spiral rather than a stack of closed circles — which is why the marker matters: nothing else tells you where a round began.

One round, taken apart

Round 4: 6x (2 sc, inc) → 24

Round 4: Which round. Rounds are worked continuously; rows are turned. Amigurumi is nearly always rounds.
6x: Do the thing in the brackets six times. Other patterns write this as “rep from * 6 times”, “[…] x6”, or “(…) 6 times” — same instruction, different house style.
2 sc: Two single crochet, one into each of the next two stitches.
inc: An increase: two stitches worked into ONE base stitch. That is where the extra stitch comes from, and why the round grows by six — one per repeat.
→ 24: How many stitches you should have at the end. Not an instruction. It is there so you can catch a mistake now instead of four rounds from now.

The same round, in every notation you will meet

There is no standard, and this is the single biggest reason patterns look harder than they are. All four of these are the round above:

6x (2 sc, inc) → 24
*2 sc, inc; rep from * around (24)
[2 sc, 2 sc in next st] 6 times [24 sts]
(sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st) around — 24 sts

The asterisk and the brackets both mark where a repeat begins; “around” means keep going to the end of the round rather than a fixed number of times. And an increase is often spelled out as “2 sc in next st” rather than abbreviated — same stitch, more words.

The count at the end is an error check. Use it.

It is the one part of a pattern that exists purely so you can catch yourself. And almost nobody uses it, for an understandable reason: checking it means counting a hundred and forty stitches by hand, at the exact moment you would rather keep going.

So here is the counting done for you. Paste a pattern — yours, or one you are about to start — and every round is worked out from its instructions and compared with what it claims.

Paste the rounds

Round	Claims	Actually
Round 1	6	6	✓
Round 2	12	12	✓
Round 3	18	18	✓
Round 4	24	16	-8
Round 5	24	24	✓
Round 6	24	24	✓

1 round does not add up. In the sample that is planted: round 4 says 4x where the shaping needs 6x, so it produces 16 where it claims 24 — and you would notice four rounds later, when the piece stopped growing.

When a count is out, the size of the gap usually names the mistake. Out by a multiple of the repeat size means a repeat too few or too many. Out by exactly one, at the start of a round, is usually a turning chain counted when it should not have been.

The three traps

US or UK terms

A UK double crochet is a US single crochet. A pattern in the other dialect works perfectly all the way through and produces the wrong fabric, because the counts still add up.

Convert a pattern between the two →

The turning chain

“ch 2 (counts as first dc)” and “ch 1 (does not count)” give different counts and different edges. A pattern that says nothing is a pattern you have to test both ways.

Same stitch or next stitch

“2 dc in the same st” and “2 dc” are different instructions one word apart, and the difference is where every increase in crochet comes from.

Questions

What does the number in brackets at the end of a round mean?: It is how many stitches you should have when that round is finished — an error check, written there so you can catch a mistake at the end of the round that made it rather than four rounds later. It is not an instruction and you do not work it.
What does 6x (sc, inc) mean?: Work the group in the brackets six times: one single crochet, then an increase, then single crochet, increase, and so on. Different publishers write the same thing as *sc, inc* rep from * 6 times, or [sc, inc] 6 times, or (1 sc, 2 sc in next st) x6. They all mean the same round.
What is the difference between a round and a row?: A row is worked back and forth and turned at each end, so the right side alternates. A round is worked continuously in one direction, either in a spiral or joined at the end of each one. Amigurumi is almost always rounds worked in a spiral, which is why nothing is turned and why a stitch marker matters — there is no seam to tell you where the round began.
Does the turning chain count as a stitch?: Sometimes, and the pattern has to tell you. Most patterns say so explicitly — "ch 2 (counts as first dc)" or "ch 1 (does not count as a stitch)" — because the two give different stitch counts and different edges. If it says nothing and the counts do not work, try the other reading.
What does "in the same stitch" mean?: Work the listed stitches into the base stitch you just worked into, rather than moving on to the next one. It is how a shell, a bobble and an increase are all built: several stitches sharing one base. "In the next stitch" is the opposite instruction and the difference is one stitch, which is enough to put a whole round out.
Why do my stitch counts not match the pattern?: Most often one repeat too few or too many, and the giveaway is that the gap is a multiple of the repeat's size. Second most often: a US pattern read as UK or the reverse, which changes what every abbreviation means. Third: a turning chain counted when it should not be. Paste the rounds into the checker above and the round where it first goes wrong is the one to look at.

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