Crochet help needed - Pinapple Shawl

[CallieTorres]

Pinapple Shawl

Ok - am stuck on the first bit, i know how to DC etc, but what should R1 looks like? Why has she put the bits in brackets?

Shawl:
R1: ch4, [1dc, ch1, 2dc, ch1, 2dc, ch1, 2dc] in the 4th ch from the hook, turn
R2: ch3, 1shell in 1st chsp, (ch2, 1shell in next chsp) x2, 1dc in the last dc, turn

Not sure why it's in square brackets, but you're meant to do all those stitches in the same loop from the chain of 4. At least that's how I read it. Maybe the square brackets are there to indicate 'don't go trying to put all these stitches in different loops' although you can't anyway, because there aren't any more to work in.

ok, thanks.....

do i need to Ch3 instead of 1DC in the first instance?

Yes, you chain 4, the first is the stitch to work in and the other 3 are the turning chain, equivalent to one DC. So it should look like a fan of 8DCs, grouped in 4 sets of 2. The first DC is actually a chain 3 but it's near enough.

oh i cant get this started, i must have tried at least 17 times now!!!

It's a lot of stitches to get inside one loop. I would do a magic circle, this is a big loop done in a special way that means you can tighten it up later. I had a look for a YouTube vid and I don't know if this is the exact same shawl, as she seems to be starting with 3 groups of 2 DC rather than 4, but I reckon would work to get you going.

you're very kind tribot - thank you