Ladies’ “Pansy” Crocheted Sailor Hat No. 578 (1919): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Light (CYC #3) alpaca yarn — the original was Utopia Alpaca Yarn, 3 balls of Gray
• Fine (CYC #2) wool oddments in various colors for the pansies — the original was about 1 skein of Utopia Shetland Floss
• Chenille yarn: 3 skeins Dark Green and 2 skeins Purple (the book does not give a weight; the text calls for "No. 4" green and "No. 2" lavender chenille)
• Round sailor hat frame and green satin lining
• Crochet hook (original: No. 4)
• Sewing needle and tapestry needle
• Hook: Start with 4 mm (US G-6) and change size so the crown and brim fit your hat frame (no gauge is printed)

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

hdc

half double crochet

dc

double crochet

sl st

slip stitch

st

stitch

sts

stitches

sp

space

rep

repeat

rnd

round

inc

increase

lp

loop

Notes before you start

• Source: "Ladies’ “Pansy” Hat Crocheted of Gray Utopia Alpaca and Gray and Lavender Chenille, No. 578" (No. 578), 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: 3 balls Gray Alpaca Yarn. About 1 skein of various colors Shetland Floss. 3 skeins Dark Green Chenille. 2 skeins Purple Chenille. Round sailor hat shape and green satin lining. 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: This design is printed in the book's compressed shorthand ("wk." work, "e." each/every, "r./rs." row(s), "inc./dcr." increase/decrease, "cro." crochet, "y." yarn, "cen." center, "fr." front, "gr./grs." group(s), "rd./rds." ridge(s), "sp./sps." space(s), "re." repeat, "patt." pattern, "pl." plain, "cir." circle, "che." chenille, "col." color, and color abbreviations such as "pk." pink, "wh." white, "bl." blue); these are spelled out.
• 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: Rows are labelled as rounds because the hat is worked in the round ("to circle the r., close e. r. with tight sl. st.").
• Modernisation note: Check: "triple crochet" ("Tr. C., Tri. Cro.") is listed in the book's abbreviations separately from "treble crochet" but is never defined; here it is "made short to give twisted effect". Left as "triple crochet" — a short tr is the most likely reading.
• Modernisation note: Check: the "popcorn st." of this hat is not defined in the book, and "single sts." ("S. St.—Single Stitch" in the abbreviations) is not defined either. Left as printed; swatch before starting.
• Modernisation note: Check: no directions are printed for the leaves, and "chenille No. 4 / No. 2" are chenille sizes with no modern equivalent. Left as printed.
• Modernisation note: Check: the crown sentence "no inc. is needed on fol. 5 popcorn rs. and 6 tr. cro. rs." gives the depth of the crown sides; the brim then begins on "6th popcorn r." Left as printed.