Running into snags

I didn't do much knitting or crocheting this weekend, having the opportunity to spend precious girl time with my beautiful daughter Sarah. We got some work done at home in the morning, and  then went thrift shopping with thrifty friends and found a few treasures, brought home dinner, and snuggled together to watch the first two episodes of the first season of Dr. Who. Hurray for girl time!

It was back to the hooks and needles yesterday. I'm almost finished with the Kerchief Scarf, and really liking the way the brown silk/cotton yarn looks in contrast with the main color:

The last ball of the brown ran out,  however, so I had to stop and spin some more from the unraveled sweater.

In the meantime, I picked up the Irish Lace Collar and ran into a snag on the fourth row. It's an old pattern from an old magazine, and I haven't located a reference to it anywhere online yet. Here's what the mag photo looks like:

Isn't it beautiful? The work begins at the top near the neck, and the first two rows are very easy. The third row creates that first line of Vs that you see, with triple picots at the bottom point of each V. Here's what I've got so far:

Of course, it's not blocked yet, so the Vs aren't straight and the picots aren't flat. Here's a closer look at a couple of those Vs with the triple picots on the points:

The problem is at the fourth row. The pattern instructs me to single crochet in the slip stitch in front center of the first triple picot, and then create a second row of these Vs and triple picots the same way I made the first, except that instead of single crocheting into an sc from the row below (as in Row 3), I'm to sc into the slip stitch in front center of the triple picot from the previous row. That's where I'm stuck.

Normally when crocheting lace, each row is built on top of the previous by crocheting into a stitch or a space. I've never crocheted into the front center of anything, and I just can't figure out how to do it. I tried approaching each triple picot from the right or the left, but it causes that little three-lobed picot to "bend its head" to one side or another. When I tried to treat it like a "front post" stitch, it lays across the top of the picot, mostly hiding it. Could that be right?

Anyone out there have experience with a similar pattern? I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'll keep at it and see how I fare.

BTW, during my research I found that the issue of White Crochet Magazine whence I found this pattern was not the one-and-only issue, as previously thought. It seems it was published until at least 1994. My apologies.