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Card Basket in Crochet (1854): vintage crochet pattern
A round card basket with a flat colourwork base worked in single crochet over window cord, and openwork sides, in rich blue Berlin wool with gold-colour and scarlet filoselle. Originally published as "Card Basket in Crochet" in The Ladies' Complete Guide to Crochet, Fancy Knitting, and Needlework (Mrs. Ann S. Stephens) by Dick & Fitzgerald in 1854, it.
By the crochetpatterns.io editorial team · Updated · Editorial policy · pattern testing in progress
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Skill level | Intermediate |
| Yarn weight | Super fine (#1) |
| Yardage | Not printed as yardage; the book gives 2 oz blue wool and ¾ oz of each filoselle. (as printed; yardage not given) |
| Hook | 3 mm |
| Gauge | Not printed. |
| Finished size | Not printed. |
| Time | about 9 hours |
Materials
- Fingering-weight (CYC #1) wool in rich blue, approximating Berlin wool (2 oz / 57 g printed)
- Stranded silk or silk-blend embroidery floss in gold colour and scarlet, approximating filoselle (¾ oz / 21 g each printed)
- Fine cotton cord (period: window cord), worked in as a core
- Wire and ribbon for the top band; ribbon bows
- Hook: Start with a 2.75–3 mm (US C-2/D-3) hook and adjust to suit your wool; the book names only a “bone crochet hook” and prints no gauge.
Yarn Kit & Substitution Options
This pattern calls for 350 yards of weight #1 yarn. Select a suggested yarn to see required skeins and estimated cost:
Knit Picks Stroll Sock · 75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon
231 yds per skein · Durable stitch definition, machine washable
2 skeins required
approx. $$13.98 total
Abbreviations (US terms)
- chain
- single crochet
- double crochet
- stitch
- stitches
- round
- skip
- repeat
Notes before you start
- Source: "Card Basket in Crochet", The Ladies' Complete Guide to Crochet, Fancy Knitting, and Needlework (Mrs. Ann S. Stephens), Dick & Fitzgerald, 1854. Public domain in the USA.
- As printed — materials: Rich blue Berlin wool, two ounces; gold colour and scarlet filoselle, three-quarters of an ounce each; fine window cord; Bone crochet hook.. Gauge: Not given.
- Modernisation note: Stitch names checked against the book's own definitions (pp. 22–23), which describe the same stitches as modern US terms, so they are kept: “ch.” = ch; “sl.” / “slip” = sl st; “sc.” = sc; “dc.” = dc (US, not UK); “tc.” (treble crochet) = tr; “l tc.” / “long tc.” (long treble crochet) = dtr; “miss” = sk. Note that the book's “tc.” is a modern US tr, not a UK treble (US dc).
- Modernisation note: Period wording modernised: “needle” (meaning the hook) → hook; “commence” → begin; “close for a loop”, “close in a round” and “form it into a round” → join into a ring (the book does not name the joining stitch unless it says “slip”); “under” a chain → in the ch-sp; “fasten off” → FO; “alternative” → alternate. Repeat marks (✕, +, *, †, ¶, (a)) are written as parentheses with the book's total count.
- Modernisation note: Printed paragraphs split into one step per row, round or instruction; no stitches, counts, rows or rounds added, removed or reordered.
- Modernisation note: “Berlin wool” was a fine, soft worsted-spun wool. Ordinary Berlin wool is approximated as fingering weight (CYC #1) and “8 thread” (double) Berlin wool as sport to DK weight (CYC #2–3). The “bone crochet hook” has no printed size; the modern hook is a suggestion only.
- Modernisation note: “Filoselle” was a soft floss silk; the book (p. 39) says it is “about the size of Berlin wool”. Use a stranded silk or silk-blend floss of similar thickness.
- Modernisation note: “2 scarlet on 1 gold”, “3 scarlet on 2” and “4 gold on 3” mean that many sc worked over the fewer sts of the round below (increases).
- Modernisation note: Check: rnds 1–4 give only stitch totals (12, 18, 24, 36); the book does not say where the increases go.
- Modernisation note: Check: rnds 5–8 give only colour counts (10, 12, 16 and 16 sts per quarter) without saying where the extra sts go, and rnd 12 totals 34 sts per quarter although its written increases add only 4 sts to the 28 of rnd 11. Follow the counts as printed and keep the four quarters alike.
- Modernisation note: Check: the book does not say which colour begins the sides, or which sts of rnd 7 “3 sc. on 3 centre of 5” refers to (the 5 dc of rnd 6 lie below rnd 7). Rnd 9 is printed as “To be worked on the same row as the last”.
- Modernisation note: “Window cord” was a fine cotton sash cord; any fine smooth cord can be used as the core.
- Modernisation note: Line: listed with doilies and mats as a table furnishing.
- Modernisation note: Metric conversions added.
Row progress: 0 of 2 done (0%)
Stitches
0 of 2 done- Single crochet (book's definition, “sc.”): “Insert the hook in the chain, and draw the thread through it; this forms a second loop on the hook. Draw the thread through these two by a single movement and the stitch will be completed.” = modern US sc.Mark row complete
- Double crochet (book's definition, “dc.”): “Raise the thread over the hook, so as to pass it round, before inserting the latter in the chain; draw the thread through, and you will find three loops on the hook; bring the cotton through two … finish the stitch by drawing the thread through these.” = modern US dc (not the UK dc).Mark row complete
Working on:
Single crochet (book's definition, “sc.”): “Insert the hook in the chain, and draw the thread through it; this forms a second loop on the hook. Draw the thread through these two by a single movement and the stitch will be completed.” = modern US sc.
Continue this pattern
The rest of the Card Basket in Crochet (1854) pattern is in the Heirloom Doilies & Tablecloths
Still to come in the full pattern:
- Base (sc worked over the cord)
- Sides (rounds alternately blue and gold)
- Finishing
Included with 236 patterns for $19 — $0.08 per pattern.
Errata
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Frequently asked questions
Where is the Card Basket in Crochet pattern from?
It was published as "Card Basket in Crochet" in The Ladies' Complete Guide to Crochet, Fancy Knitting, and Needlework (Mrs. Ann S. Stephens) by Dick & Fitzgerald in 1854. The publication is in the public domain in the United States; this version is transcribed and modernised by crochetpatterns.io.
What yarn or thread do I need for the Card Basket in Crochet?
super fine (#1) yarn. Not printed as yardage; the book gives 2 oz blue wool and ¾ oz of each filoselle.
What hook should I use?
Start with a 2.75–3 mm (US C-2/D-3) hook and adjust to suit your wool; the book names only a “bone crochet hook” and prints no gauge. Gauge: Not printed.
