Baby's Sacque and Pompadour Bonnet (1920): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Sacque: fine (CYC #2) wool yarn used doubled (the doubled strand works roughly as light, CYC #3) — the original was Lion Brand Crochet Wool, 3 balls, white, pink or blue
• Bonnet: fine (CYC #2) wool yarn — the original was Lion Brand Pompadour Wool, 2 skeins white and 1 skein blue or pink
• Crochet hooks in two sizes (original: No. 2 for the sacque, No. 1 for the bonnet)
• 5 yd (4.6 m) ribbon for sacque rosettes; 2 yd (1.8 m) of 1½ in (4 cm) ribbon for the bonnet
• Tapestry needle
• Hook: Start with 4 mm (US G-6) for the sacque (yarn doubled) and 3.5 mm (US E-4) for the bonnet — approximate; no gauge or measurement is printed, so compare with a baby garment that fits

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

sk

skip

st

stitch

sts

stitches

rep

repeat

row

row

rnd

round

inc

increase

dec

decrease

Notes before you start

• Source: "Baby's Sacque and Bonnet", Lion Yarn Book: Describing Latest Creations in Worsted Work, The Lion Yarn Co., 1920. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: 3 Balls of LION BRAND Crochet Wool in White, Pink or Blue; 1 No. 2 Bone or Amber Crochet Hook; 5 Yards of Ribbon for Rosettes.; Baby's Pompadour Bonnet — 2 skeins of LION BRAND Pompadour Wool in White; 1 Skein of Pompadour Wool in Blue or Pink; 1 Bone or Amber Hook, No. 1; 2 Yards of 1½-inch Wide Ribbon to Trim.. Gauge: Not given.
• Modernisation note: The book prints no crochet lesson and no definitions of its basic stitches; it defines only star stitch (with the Auto Scarf) and a picot edge (with the Filet and Knitted Sweater). Its s. c. and d. c. are read as American terms, which are the same as modern US sc and dc, for this reason: the filet designs build open meshes out of d. c. worked on a chain ("Ch. 94 sts. and work 92 d. c. on ch.", then "46M"). Only a tall stitch (modern US dc) forms filet meshes; a British-style "double crochet" (= US sc) could not. The book is an American (New York) publication. So no stitch changes height; s. c. = sc, d. c. = dc, ch. = ch, slip st. = sl st.
• Modernisation note: Period abbreviations and wording modernised: s. c., d. c., ch., st./sts. written as sc, dc, ch, st/sts; M and B written as mesh and block; "skip" as sk; "yarn over" as yo; "fasten wool on" and "fasten yarn at" as join yarn; "fasten back in" as sl st in; "break off" as fasten off; "crochet needle" as hook; "repeat from star" as rep from *; "sts." after a chain count dropped ("Ch. 94 sts." written as "Ch 94"); ordinal row names ("Second Row") written as Row 2 (or Rnd 2 when worked in the round).
• Modernisation note: Long printed paragraphs split into one row, round or step per line; stitch order and counts unchanged. Section headings added for navigation.
• Modernisation note: Hook numbers (No. 1–5, bone or amber) are 1920 makers' numbers; the book prints no diameters, so no exact metric size can be read from it. The suggested modern hook is an approximate starting point for the yarn weight, to be adjusted to the printed measurements.
• Modernisation note: No stitch gauge is printed anywhere in the book; work a swatch and match the printed measurements (given in the modern gauge line) before starting.
• Modernisation note: Lion Brand yarns of 1920 have no exact modern equivalent. The modern CYC weights are approximations only: Lion Brand Shetland Floss (a soft, lofty yarn) as fine (CYC #2); Lion Brand Knitting Yarn / Knitting Worsted as medium (CYC #4) — the book's own advertisement page lists Lion knitting worsted in "4 oz. hanks"; 3-fold (3-ply) Saxony as super fine (CYC #1); Pompadour Wool as fine (CYC #2); Lion Brand Crochet Wool (used doubled in the sacque) as fine (CYC #2), so the doubled strand works roughly as light (CYC #3). Yardage is never printed — the book gives skeins, hanks or balls only.
• Modernisation note: Size is given only as "Ladies'", "Misses'" or an age; vintage sizing and ease differ from today's — compare the printed lengths with a garment that fits before starting.
• Modernisation note: "Taking both threads of st." written as "working under both loops"; "drop 32 sts." written as "leave 32 sts unworked"; "break yarn" as "fasten off"; "Cr. beading" as "beading".
• Modernisation note: "Widening spaces" written as "inc lines".
• Modernisation note: Check: "crazy stitch" is named but not explained anywhere in the book. The name was used for more than one shell-type pattern at the time, so no instructions have been added; choose a crazy-stitch or shell border that suits the edge.
• Modernisation note: Check: the rosettes are "as illustrated" only; no directions are printed.
• Modernisation note: Check: "Finish back of neck with shell of * 4 d. c. and 1 s. c." does not say how many stitches to skip between shells. Left as printed.
• Modernisation note: Metric conversions added.