Hi, Everyone! First off, I'm so glad to be here (this is my first post), and I'm glad that a lot of people are active in this group. I have been enjoying crocheting. So much so that I've started several projects. :)

This is my first wearable. I'm not even halfway through the pattern and I'm running into trouble already.

I'm doing the back piece first. The first 21 rows were easy enough, it's the 22nd to 41st rows that's bothering me. See, the instructions say:

rows 22-41: sl st in the first four st(s), ch 3, dc in the next ch space, *(ch 1, dc in the next ch space), repeat * ending with a dc in the turning chain. at row 41, you should have 43 stitches.

What I'm doing is for every row, I crochet as stated (sl st in the first four st(s)...). I'm at row 31 now and I'm not sure that I'm going to have 43 stitches at row 41. What does it mean when it says I should have 43 sts? What kind of sts? The dc plus the chain space?

I would really appreciate your help as I'm very eager to keep doing this project and finish it!

Thanks in advance!