Okay, you turn leaving the 16 sts, unworked and purl back to the edge of the row. Then when you turn to knit back, I think you purl to 16 sts before you turned on the previous row. Then turn and purl to the end again. So each row you k 16 less stitches. Then you go back and purl. At the end of 12 rows (you will have 6 sets of 16 sts staggered along one end of the needle) you knit ALL the sts. This is called 'working short rows' and it's done to shape a piece of knitting.
sue- knitting heretic