A Strong Irish Edging: vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• A fine white cotton crochet thread, about size 20 to 40 — ours; this design names no thread at all
• A fine steel hook to suit the thread
• Hook: Start with about 1.5 mm (US steel 7) — ours, approximate. The book prints no hook for this design. Change size until the fabric is firm and even.

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

rep

repeat

row

row

lp

loop

pc

popcorn

st

stitch

Notes before you start

• Source: "A Strong Irish Edging", Beautiful Crochet on Household Linen (The Home Art Series, edited by Flora Klickmann), The Office of “The Girl's Own Paper & Woman's Magazine”, 4 Bouverie Street E.C., & 65 St. Paul's Churchyard, London. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: No thread and no hook are named for this edging. It trims a cloth the book describes as “a heavy cream linen”, two sides of which are hemstitched, the sides that are not hemstitched being the selvedges.. Gauge: Not given.
• Modernisation note: Stitches are converted by this book's own printed key and its own printed mesh arithmetic, not by stitch name. This is a BRITISH book. The naming key stands at the head of book page 81 (image p-088.jpg) under “Abbreviations used.” and reads: “Ch = chain ; d c = double crochet ; tr = treble ; S = solid mesh ; O = open mesh.” The book then prints its filet arithmetic at book page 12 (image p-020.jpg) and again at book page 29 (image p-037.jpg): “Each open mesh is made by working 2 ch, 1 tr over 3 ch, and each solid mesh by working 3 tr over 3 ch. Each row should be turned with 5 ch, if the first mesh is an open one, 3 ch if it is solid.” A solid mesh of 3 tr turned with 3 ch can only be built from a stitch three chains tall — the modern US double crochet; a US treble would have required 4 ch and 6 ch. Book page 51 (image p-059.jpg) then names the whole ladder in one breath — “3 d c, 3 l tr, 6 tr, 6 htr, 6 d c” — giving d c, htr, tr, l tr, which is the British ladder and maps onto the modern US sc, hdc, dc, tr; book page 59 works the classic Irish rose petal as “1 d c, 1 tr, 6 l tr, 1 tr, 1 d c”. The book's “s c”, the old British single crochet, is the flat catching-back and joining stitch and is written sl st. So here: d c = sc, htr = hdc, tr = dc, l tr = tr, s c = sl st, miss = sk.
• Modernisation note: Where the book numbers its rows it does so as “1st Row.”, “2nd Row.” and so on, often with the directions running as a solid paragraph across two columns. They are split here into one row or step per line and the ordinals are written Row 1, Row 2, Row 3. Where a heading introduces a fresh numbered sequence inside the same design, that sequence is kept under its own section heading exactly as the book groups it. Stitch order and counts are unchanged.
• Modernisation note: The scan of this book carries the usual optical-reading slips and every figure below was read back against the page image: the scan's “lst” and “Ist” are 1st, its “8rd” is 3rd, its “2Qnd” is 2nd, its “38rd” is 3rd, its “llth” is 11th, its “de” and “doe” and “dec” for a stitch are d c, its “ltr” is l tr, its “Ghtr” is 6 htr, its “ir” is tr, its “tims” and “turh” and “tiuith” are turn, its “Sanie” is Same, its “wotk” is work, its “miss3 ch” is miss 3 ch, and in the filet counts its “0” is the letter O and its “5” and “8” are frequently the letter S. These are scanning artefacts, not printed errors, and they are corrected silently in the rows; genuine PRINTED slips are a different matter and are always flagged with a “Check:” note instead of being quietly mended.
• Modernisation note: Hooks are printed only as period British maker's numbers (“a No. 44 Hook”) or not at all, with no diameters, and those numbers do not map onto the modern scale. Any metric size given in the modern materials is ours and is a starting point only.
• Modernisation note: No gauge, tension or stitch-per-inch figure is printed for this design, or for any design in this book. Work a sample and change hook size to suit the thread.
• Modernisation note: No yardage is estimated. The book never prints a ball length, a reel length or a quantity for any design — it names a thread and sometimes a hook and nothing more — so there is no printed basis for a yardage figure and none is invented here.
• Modernisation note: No finished measurement is printed for this design. Like most of the trimmings in this book it is worked to the length or size required, and its depth is set by the stitch counts printed, not by any measurement the book gives.
• Modernisation note: This design is a trimming for household linen and the book assumes a linen article to work it on or sew it to. Where the book prints a linen measurement it is given above; where it does not, none is supplied here.
• Modernisation note: No thread and no hook are printed for this design — the book names only the cloth it trims. The modern thread and hook given above are ours and are a starting point only.
• Modernisation note: Row 6 runs as one long printed paragraph and is split here into one step per line under its own heading. The asterisk is the book's own and stands where the book prints it, immediately after “Into 1st loop work”.
• Modernisation note: Check: the book itself offers the alternative “close workers can get in 9 d c” in Row 2. That is printed latitude, not an error, and is kept.