Ladies’ Filet Sport Sweater No. 857 (1919): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Light (CYC #3) alpaca yarn — the original was Utopia Alpaca Yarn: 7 balls of main color (not named) and 1 ball of Blue
• Crochet hooks: main size (original: No. 3) and one size finer for the belt
• Tapestry needle
• Hook: Start with 4 mm (US G-6) for the body and one size smaller for the belt; no gauge or measurement is printed, so swatch and compare with a size 38 garment

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

sk

skip

rep

repeat

row

row

inc

increase

dec

decrease

Notes before you start

• Source: "Ladies’ Sport Sweater No. 857" (No. 857), 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: 7 balls Utopia Alpaca Yarn, 1 ball Blue Utopia Alpaca Yarn, Crochet Hook No. 3.. 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: No stitch gauge is printed anywhere in the book; work a swatch and match any printed measurements (in the modern gauge line) before starting.
• 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: Repeats are kept as printed ("repeat from * 3 more times" means 4 repeats in all).
• Modernisation note: "Finer needle" and "fine needle" (for the belt) written as "finer hook"; the book names no size for it.
• Modernisation note: The book prints no sleeves for this design; the armholes are finished with Blue sc. Nothing has been added.
• Modernisation note: Check: shoulder Rows 2–24 give one front only ("work other front the same"), and the printed counts in these rows vary from row to row. Left as printed.
• Modernisation note: Check: front motif Row 10 ends "10 d. c., 16 m." where the matching start of the row has 7 dc. Left as printed.
• Modernisation note: Check: the front pocket band repeats 3 times plus the original (4 motifs) while 7 pockets are made around the sweater with the back's 3 motifs. Left as printed.
• Modernisation note: Two filet charts are printed with this design: a floral yoke motif and a small block motif (the pocket motif).
• Modernisation note: Metric conversions added.