I dont understand why my counting is completely off? (Im a beginner)

So i got this crochet kit bc i was rlly excited to start and thought it was so cool, but have completely lost motivation to crochet because everytime i try do a different stitch thats not chain, im completely off count. For example: my foundation chain is 12, when doing a single crochet on top i end up with like 7. Im not sure why this is happening and ive rewatched tutorials over and over but dont see the problem😭. it makes me rlly upset because i was so excited to start but now i cant even crochet a sqaure because it ends up all wonky.

Another thing is that the yarn i got in the kit is really fuzzy.. i dont know how to put it but picture a straight like of cat fur. I dont know if that helps identify the problem haha.