Shell-Pattern Crochet Bonnet (1911): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Fine (CYC #2) baby wool or wool-blend yarn — approximate; the original was 1 ball of Ivorine wool (ball weight and length not printed)
• Fine crochet silk or thread for the edging — the book says only “silk”
• Crochet hook (original: No. 10 Strathnoid) and a finer hook for the silk edging
• Ribbon for drawing up the bonnet and for strings
• Tapestry needle
• Hook: Start with 3.5 mm (US E-4) — approximate; change size until the crown lies flat

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

tr

treble crochet

st

stitch

sts

stitches

rep

repeat

sk

skip

sh

shell

row

row

rnd

round

FO

fasten off

Notes before you start

• Source: "Crochet Bonnet" (No. 23), What to Make for Baby, Part One (Ella Allan), Mrs Ella Allan's Publications; printed by The Specialty Press Pty. Ltd., Melbourne. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: 1 ball ivorine wool; Crochet hook No. 10 (Strathnoid). Gauge: Not given.
• Modernisation note: Stitches converted by the book's own “Explanation of Crochet Stitches” page, not by name — the key is a British one, so every stitch is renamed here: chain = ch; “single crochet” (“put hook through work at stitch indicated; draw thread through work and through loop on needle at same time. This is sometimes called Slip Stitch.”) = modern slip stitch (sl st); “double crochet” (d c: insert the hook, thread over and draw through making 2 loops, thread over and draw through both) = modern single crochet (sc); “treble” (tr: thread over, insert, draw through making 3 loops, thread over through 2, thread over through the remaining 2) = modern double crochet (dc); “double treble” (thread over twice) = modern treble (tr); “long treble” (thread over three times) = modern double treble (dtr). The heights are confirmed by the book's own turning chains — it turns a d c row with 2 ch and a treble row with 3 ch — so nothing here rests on the names alone.
• Modernisation note: Check: the book's key and its patterns disagree over “long treble”. The key defines Long Treble as three wraps (modern dtr), but the designs print “long tr” with their own parenthetical definition, “wool twice over needle” (Nos. 20 and 23), which is the key's Double Treble = modern treble (tr). The patterns' own printed definition is followed, so “long tr” is written tr throughout. No. 32's “triple treble (silk 3 times over needle, and draw off 2 stitches at a time)” is the modern double treble (dtr).
• Modernisation note: The book's abbreviations are written in modern US form: ch = ch, d c = sc, tr = dc, st(s) = st(s); “miss” = sk; “wool over” / “thread over” = yo; “needle” (used for the crochet hook as well as the knitting needle) = hook; “hole” (the space under a chain) = ch-sp or sp; “break off” / “fasten off” = FO; “repeat” = rep. Ordinal names (“1st Row”, “2nd Round”) are written Row 1, Rnd 1; where the book calls a circuit of a round piece a “row” its own word is kept. The book's words “shell”, “group”, “cluster”, “tuft”, “star”, “eye” and “picot” are kept as printed, each with the book's own definition given at first use.
• Modernisation note: Long printed paragraphs are split into one row, round or step per line; stitch order and counts are unchanged. Section headings added for navigation.
• Modernisation note: Hooks are printed only as Strathnoid numbers (No. 10, 12, 13, 14) — a proprietary sizing with no diameters printed — or as “fine hook”, “fine steel crochet hook” or “large hook”. No exact metric size can be read from the book, so the suggested modern hook is an approximate starting point chosen for the yarn and tied to any printed measurement.
• Modernisation note: No stitch gauge is printed anywhere in the book. Work a swatch and match any printed measurement (repeated in the modern gauge line) before starting.
• Modernisation note: The yarns are 1911 Australian trade names with no exact modern equivalent, and the book prints no yardage and no ball or skein weights. The CYC weights given are approximations only, to be matched by gauge or measurement rather than by weight: 2-ply fingering as super fine (CYC #1); 3-ply and 4-ply fingering, 4-ply “Lady Betty” and Andalusian wool as fine (CYC #2); “Ivorine” wool as a fine baby wool (CYC #2, approximate — the book gives no ply for it); crochet silk and “jumper silk” as a fine thread rather than a yarn. “Ivorine” and “Lady Betty” are brand names, not colours or fibre descriptions.
• Modernisation note: No finished measurements, ages or sizes are printed for this design; the figures given are the book's own stitch and row counts and any lengths it prints.
• Modernisation note: Check: no year is printed in the book. The title page gives only the title, “57 designs in knitting and crochet”, “Part One”, the author and the Melbourne printer; the cover instead says “55 designs in knitting or crochet”. The year 1911 is the date recorded for this scan, which notes that it is approximate.
• Modernisation note: The book's photographs are black and white and this design's colour is not printed, so the colour given is read from the photograph only.
• Modernisation note: The front border's “1 long tr (wool twice over needle)” is written 1 tr, following the book's own parenthetical definition.
• Modernisation note: Check: the edging is worked in silk, but no silk is listed in this design's materials.
• Modernisation note: Check: the book does not say how many rounds the crown takes, only to increase “until you have 6 between each”; count the increases on the work.
• Modernisation note: Metric conversions added.
• Modernisation note: Finishing line (weaving in ends) added.