Crochet Jacket in Shell Pattern (1911): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Super fine (CYC #1) fingering-weight wool — approximate; the original was 2 oz of 2-ply fingering wool
• 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
• Narrow ribbon for the underarm and wrists
• Tapestry needle
• Hook: Start with 3.25 mm (US D-3) — approximate; work to the printed 7½ in (19 cm) back rather than to a hook size

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

st

stitch

sts

stitches

rep

repeat

sk

skip

sh

shell

row

row

FO

fasten off

Notes before you start

• Source: "Crochet Jacket" (No. 7), 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: 2 oz. 2-ply fingering 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: 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 scan renders the two measurements as “74 inches” and “24 inches”; the printed page reads 7½ inches and 2½ inches, which is what is used.
• Modernisation note: The scan renders the second row's shell as “8 tr”; the printed page reads 3 tr, matching the first row, and 3 is used.
• Modernisation note: Check: the book does not say how many rows the right front takes before the neck — only “work over 11 patterns, turn and work back to the cuff, then forward to the neck”. The left front is given 12 rows after its chain; work the right front to match.
• Modernisation note: Metric conversions added.
• Modernisation note: Finishing line (weaving in ends) added.