Whenever I’m not quite sure what a pattern is asking I try to look for how many stitches there should be after the set of instructions. So the instructions hopefully say something like “K2 in each of the next 2 sts." [B][50 or whatever #] sts[/B]
So if I think they are asking me to do increases and if I do what I think and I end up with the same stitch count as they want me to be at, at that point, then I must have done it right. This isn’t fool proof but it’s another clue to solve the puzzle that these patterns can be!