Filet Crochet Tuxedo Coat Sweater No. 851 (1919): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Fine (CYC #2) wool yarn — the original was Utopia Shetland Floss: 9 large skeins of Wistaria and ½ small skein of Dark Wistaria
• Crochet hook (original: No. 4)
• Tapestry needle
• Hook: Start with 3.5 mm (US E-4) and change size so 24 border rows measure 10 in (25.5 cm), as printed (no stitch gauge is printed)

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

Notes before you start

• Source: "Utopia Filet Crochet Tuxedo Coat Sweater No. 851" (No. 851), 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: 9 large skeins Wistaria Utopia Shetland Floss. ½ small skein Dark Wistaria Shetland Floss. 1 Crochet Hook No. 4.. 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: The book's abbreviation "M." is defined as "Mesh; Ch. 2, skip 2 sts., 1 d. c. on d. c." and is written as "mesh" (ch 2, sk 2, dc in next dc); where a design says its meshes have 1 ch between, that is stated in the row. "Space" and "block" are kept as printed. Dc counts printed between meshes (e.g. "7 d. c.") are kept exactly as printed.
• 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: Hook numbers (bone, ivory, amber/celluloid No. 1–5) refer to the book's own illustrated scale of 1919 hooks, which pictures the hooks but prints no diameters, so no exact metric size can be read from the book. The suggested modern hook is a starting point chosen for the yarn weight.
• 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: Size is given only as a 1919 bust size; vintage sizing and ease differ from today's — compare the printed lengths with a garment that fits before starting.
• Modernisation note: In this design a "mesh" is worked with 2 dc between meshes ("ch. 2, 2 d. c. in m."), not the book's standard single dc.
• Modernisation note: Check: Row 1 prints "Skip 5, ch. 3, 1 d. c. in every st." — the ch 3 after skipping 5 chains is left as printed.
• Modernisation note: Check: border Row 2 "7 d. c. in next st." (a fan) and Row 4 "6 d. c. in next 6 sts." (a block) alternate the fans and blocks; the printed "12 blocks from start" counts 24 rows as 12 repeats. Left as printed.
• Modernisation note: Check: the sleeves are chained on with 50 and 49 chains on the two sides. Left as printed.
• Modernisation note: Check: the sleeve increases total "26 m.", and the next row works 34 meshes and leaves 7, then works "the other 35 m."; these counts are not reconciled. Left as printed.
• Modernisation note: Check: the collar works "5 blocks alternately" on a 35-chain foundation; the width of each block is not given. Left as printed.
• Modernisation note: Metric conversions added.