Those stars are pretty and very clever, but they are hard on the hands! Here are some things that might help make them a bit easier:

• Use pointy, smooth needles if you have them
• If you have interchangeable needles, switch out the left needle tip for something smaller. This gives you more room around the stitches to maneuver. Theoretically, you’ll be okay gauge-wise since it’s the right hand needle that determines the size of new stitches, but if you’re nervous about it, you might go ahead and swatch the whole thing with a smaller needle tip on the left. Another option would be to slip the needed stitches onto smaller dpn’s if you’re not using interchangeables
• Use a crochet hook to form the new loops for the star.

My row gauge was way off, but it worked out fine since I was going to modify the rate of increases to create a slimmer shape anyway. The skirt is about 1-1/2” shorter than the pattern. At the bottom, I used a contrasting color--knit 1 round, purl 1 round, bind off in purl.