Baby Bootees No. 762 (1919): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Super fine (CYC #1) baby yarn — the original was Utopia 3 Fold Saxony, ½ skein (main color not named)
• A small amount of Blue for the trim and drawstring
• Crochet hook (size not printed)
• Tapestry needle
• Hook: Start with 2.25 mm (US B-1); no hook size, gauge or measurement is printed, so fit the sole to the baby's foot

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

sl st

slip stitch

sk

skip

st

stitch

sts

stitches

rep

repeat

row

row

inc

increase

dec

decrease

V-st

V-stitch

Notes before you start

• Source: "Baby Bootees No. 762" (No. 762), Utopia Yarn Book: Being a Practical Treatise on Knitting and Crocheting (Fourteenth Edition), Henry E. Frankenberg Co., New York, 1919. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: Made with Utopia 3 Fold Saxony, ½ skein. Gauge: Not given.
• Modernisation note: Stitches converted by the book's own definitions ("Explanation of Terms Used in Crocheting"), not by name: s. c. ("insert hook in ch. or st., draw the wool through, over, and draw through both loops on hook") = modern US sc; h. d. c. (over, insert, draw a loop through, over, draw through the three loops) = hdc; d. c. (over, insert, draw a loop through, over and through two loops twice) = dc; t. c. / treble crochet ("over twice", then through two loops three times) = tr; sl. st. (insert, over, draw through st and loop on hook) = sl st; ch. = ch; "over" = yo. For these stitches the 1919 American names already match modern US usage, so no stitch changes height.
• Modernisation note: Period abbreviations and wording modernised: s. c., h. d. c., d. c., t. c., sl. st., ch. written as sc, hdc, dc, tr, sl st, ch; "m." written as mesh; "st. of ch." written as "ch" where the stitch is a chain; "wool"/"thread" written as yarn; "needle" (used for the crochet hook) written as hook; "break off yarn" written as "fasten off"; "repeat" written as "rep"; ordinal row names ("Second Row", "Twenty-first Row") written as Row 2, Row 21.
• Modernisation note: Long printed paragraphs split into one row, round or step per line; stitch order and counts unchanged. Section headings added for navigation where the text runs on.
• Modernisation note: Utopia yarns are 1919 trade names with no exact modern equivalent. The modern CYC weight given is an approximation only: Utopia Shetland Floss was a soft, fine, lofty 2-ply wool (treated here as fine, CYC #2); Utopia Alpaca and Llama wools, and the Worsted and Silk Mixture, as light (CYC #3); Utopia Germantown (zephyr) as light (CYC #3) and 8 Fold Germantown as medium (CYC #4); Scotch Knitting Yarn/Worsted as medium (CYC #4); 3 Fold Saxony as super fine (CYC #1). Yardage is never printed — the book gives skeins, balls or hanks only, and their weight is not stated.
• Modernisation note: No materials heading, hook size or gauge is printed; the yarn is given under the title. The blue trim color is named in the text only.
• Modernisation note: "Taking both loops" written as "working through both loops". "Shoe" and "boot" (used for the bootee) kept as printed.
• Modernisation note: The sole rows are numbered from the printed "Second row—2 s. c. in first and last st. for next 2 rows"; the numbering follows the printed sequence and does not change it.
• Modernisation note: The finishing line is added: the book prints the sole but not how it is attached. Sewing it to the lower edge is our suggestion.
• Modernisation note: Check: "Repeat 2 rows till 13 s. c. are on each side of center 3 sts. (29 sts.) or 12 rows" — Row 1 is not an increase row, so the repeat probably means the increase row (Row 2) is repeated; the counts do not reconcile exactly. Left as printed.
• Modernisation note: Check: "next row 1 s. c. in each of first 11 s. c., 1 ch., turn, repeat this row till 19 ribs or 38 rows" — the row leaves stitches unworked at one side each time; how the heel is formed is not further explained. Left as printed.
• Modernisation note: Check: upper Row 1 "sc in next rib, 1 s. c. next rib, 2 ch., 1 s. c. in same rib" and the asterisk placement are left as printed.
• Modernisation note: The illustration shows the bootees with the knitted sweater No. 760 and knitted cap No. 761 from the same page; those two knitted designs are not included.