Free preview · full pattern in the Vintage Crochet Hats, Bags & Accessories
Night Cap in Square Crochet (1854): vintage crochet pattern
A lady's night cap worked flat in square crochet (filet) with a small repeating figure, finished at the back with a band of triangular points (vandykes) drawn up with a braid cord and tassels, and edged with a narrow scalloped border. Worked in No. 12 cotton.
By the crochetpatterns.io editorial team · Updated · Editorial policy · pattern testing in progress
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Skill level | Advanced |
| Yarn weight | Lace (#0) |
| Yardage | Not printed. (as printed; yardage not given) |
| Hook | 1.6 mm |
| Gauge | Not printed. |
| Finished size | Not printed. The foundation is 184 ch (61 squares). |
| Time | about 15 hours |
Materials
- Cotton crochet thread about size 10 (period: cotton No. 12; approximate), white
- Narrow braid for a plaited cord, and two tassels of the same
- Fine sewing needle for running in the ends
- Hook: Start with a 1.6 mm (US steel 7) hook and adjust to suit your thread (original: crochet hook No. 16, eagle card-board gauge; approximate conversion). No gauge is printed.
Yarn Kit & Substitution Options
This pattern calls for 350 yards of weight #0 yarn. Select a suggested yarn to see required skeins and estimated cost:
Caron Simply Soft · 100% Acrylic
315 yds per skein · High-yield yardage, silky no-scratch texture
2 skeins required
approx. $$10.98 total
Abbreviations (US terms)
- chain
- slip stitch
- single crochet
- double crochet
- stitch
- stitches
- row
- round
- skip
- repeat
Notes before you start
- Source: "Night Cap 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: Cotton, No. 12; crochet hook, No. 16; eagle card-board gauge; 184 chain.. 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: Square crochet abbreviations: “o.” / “os.” = open square(s) (1 dc, ch 2, sk 2); “c.” = close square(s) (3 dc). Rows are transcribed as printed, e.g. “19 o, 1 c, 25 o, 1 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: Crochet hook numbers belong to the book's “eagle card-board gauge”, a period bell-type gauge in which higher numbers are finer. The metric and US sizes given are approximate conversions only, and no gauge is printed.
- Modernisation note: Period cotton numbers (Evans's crochet cotton and “boar's-head” cotton) do not match modern thread sizes exactly; the modern thread size is a starting approximation. Choose the thread that suits the hook and gives lace of the right fineness.
- Modernisation note: No yardage or weight of thread is printed for this design, and none is estimated.
- Modernisation note: The book notes that the cap “is worked principally in close and open squares”. Rows 4–6 shape the ends with sl st and ch 3, sk 2; from row 7 the rows begin and end with 2 dc. The book's “[a]” marks are kept as printed in row 26.
- Modernisation note: Check (stitch totals): counting o and c as 3 sts and each dc as 1 st, rows 1–3 total 184 sts and rows 7–13, 15 and 21–23 total 169 sts, but row 14 (and so row 16) totals 167 and row 19 (and so row 20) totals 199 — row 19 prints “5 times” where the matching rows 11 and 23 print “4 times”. Compare with the engraving before working rows 14, 16, 19 and 20.
- Modernisation note: Check: row 5 prints the repeat without its marks (“1 c., 1 o., 1 c., 7 o., 5 times”), and “miss 2 to 2 o.” is not explained.
- Modernisation note: Check: in the fifth row of each point the book prints “3 dc., miss 2”, where every other row of the point begins “3 ch., miss 2”; transcribed as printed.
- Modernisation note: Check: row 26 and the points are worked in short rows, turning at each point; the directions are transcribed as printed, and the engraving shows the points drawn together at the back of the cap by the cord.
- Modernisation note: “Vandyke” means a border of points.
Row progress: 0 of 6 done (0%)
Stitches
0 of 6 done- Chain (book's definition, “ch.”): “A loop of thread made on the hook, and through this the thread is drawn, forming the first chain stitch; draw the thread through this one, and a second is formed.” = ch.Mark row complete
- Slip stitch (book's definition, “sl.”): “Insert the hook in the stitch next to that already on the needle (unless the directions particularly say, miss so many,) and draw the thread at once through both stitches.” = sl st. The book says it serves “to carry the thread from one part to another, without either breaking it off or widening the work.”Mark row complete
- 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
- Square crochet (book's definition): “Open squares are formed thus: 1 dc. 2 ch., miss 2, repeated. Close squares contain three dc. stitches, thus: 1 c. 1 o., would have 4 dc. 2 ch.” The foundation chain must be “divided by three and leave one over”, the extra stitch being the dc that closes the last square. Here o = open square (1 dc, ch 2, sk 2) and c = close square (3 dc); each square takes 3 sts, and the “1 dc” at the end of a row closes the last square. This is modern filet crochet.Mark row complete
- Repeat marks (book's definition): stitches between two similar marks (✕, +, *, †) “are to be done as many times as directed; thus, ✕ 3 dc. 2 ch. ✕ three times, means 3 dc. 2 ch., 3 dc. 2 ch., 3 dc. 2 ch.” So “twice” or “3 times” is the total number of times the group is worked. Written here as (…) twice, (…) 3 times.Mark row complete
Working on:
Chain (book's definition, “ch.”): “A loop of thread made on the hook, and through this the thread is drawn, forming the first chain stitch; draw the thread through this one, and a second is formed.” = ch.
Continue this pattern
The rest of the Night Cap in Square Crochet (1854) pattern is in the Vintage Crochet Hats, Bags & Accessories
Still to come in the full pattern:
- Cap
- Band and points at the back
- Edge of the band and points
- Border of the cap
- Finishing
Included with 202 patterns for $12 — $0.06 per pattern.
Errata
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Frequently asked questions
Where is the Night Cap in Crochet pattern from?
It was published as "Night Cap 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 Night Cap in Crochet?
Size 10 crochet cotton (approximate). Not printed.
What hook should I use?
Start with a 1.6 mm (US steel 7) hook and adjust to suit your thread (original: crochet hook No. 16, eagle card-board gauge; approximate conversion). No gauge is printed. Gauge: Not printed.
