WordPress Custom Loop Markup

index.php

<?php
// Loop Markup (lm)
// Show 9  posts
// add "first" class for each first post in line (3  per line)
$lm_ItemsPerLine=3;
$lm_CurrentItem=1;
$lm_LineClose='';                        
$lm_LineOpen='<div style="overflow:hidden;">';                        
query_posts(array ('posts_per_page' =>9) );
if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
 
<?php $first_post_class='';?>
<?php if($lm_CurrentItem==1){echo $lm_LineOpen; $lm_LineClose='</div>';$first_post_class=' first';}?>
 
<article id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>" <?php post_class( 'clearfix fourcol'.$first_post_class ); ?> >
 
    <header class="article-header">
        <h3 class="h2"><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="<?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h3>
    </header>
 
    <section class="entry-content clearfix" itemprop="articleBody">
        <?php the_excerpt(); ?>
    </section>
 
</article>
 
<?php if($lm_CurrentItem==$lm_ItemsPerLine){echo $lm_LineClose;$lm_CurrentItem=0;$lm_LineClose='';} $lm_CurrentItem++;?>
 
<?php 
    endwhile;?>
    <?php echo $lm_LineClose;?>    
<?php                            else : ?>
 
        <article id="post-not-found" class="hentry clearfix">
            <header class="article-header">
                <h1><?php _e( 'Oops, Post Not Found!', 'theme' ); ?></h1>
            </header>
            <section class="entry-content">
                <p><?php _e( 'Uh Oh. Something is missing. Try double checking things.', 'theme' ); ?></p>
            </section>
            <footer class="article-footer">
                    <p><?php _e( 'This is the error message in the page.php template.', 'theme' ); ?></p>
            </footer>
        </article>
 
<?php endif; 
    // Reset Query
    wp_reset_query();
?>`