For the love of all things knitted and my sanity, tell me where I am going wrong

[MayhemandMadness01]

Please help - I can not get this pattern to work

Cast (thumb method) 81 sts

3rd row: P2, K3, P2, ybk, Bind 3, P3, ybk, Bind 3, P4, ybk, Bind 3, P3, ybk, Bind 3, P2, K3, P2, K45

Bind 3 in instructions is:
Slip next st, k1, yfwd, k1 then psso the k1, yfwd, k1

Am treating yfwd as yarn over needle to compensate for psso as pattern remains as 81 sts overall.

What am I doing wrong? I am short of 4 stitches everytime I've tried it, please take pity on me and explain on a stitch by stitch basis as my head hurts!

are you doing the ybk to give yourself an extra stitch on those rows too?

Been doing ybk as moving yarn back between needles, is this where I'm going wrong?

I would expect that to be the purl equivalent to the yfw on a knit row if you see what I mean.

I think for ybk you need to take the yarn back over the top of the needle rather than between the needles. So that when you then do the slip 1, k1, you will have made an extra stitch from the ybk which will compensate when you then psso.
That should make 4 stitches in total over the row
Does that make sense? Difficult to explain in words!

Thank goodness someone else was knitting these cushion covers. I got to the same row and having problems with the ‘bind 3’ also and found its mot the problem of making up stitches on the first few that includes 4 x bind 3, but your left on knitting and continuing the same row with only 42 stitches to knit out of the 45 you should have left, once the bind 3 parts have already been knitted.