Butterfly Doily (1950): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• White cotton crochet thread plus one shaded colour — size 30 where the original names a size (size 20 is the nearest widely stocked weight); size 5 pearl cotton for that line
• Ball counts as printed above for the thread you choose
• Tapestry needle; rustproof pins and starch for blocking
• Hook: The book prints a steel hook number beside each thread: No. 7 (about 1.65 mm), No. 10 (about 1.3 mm), No. 12 (about 1.0 mm), No. 13 (about 0.85 mm). Start with the modern US steel hook of the number printed for the thread you buy and change size until the piece reaches the size printed for that thread.

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sl st

slip stitch

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

tr

treble crochet

dtr

double treble crochet

st

stitch

sts

stitches

sp

space

sk

skip

lp

loop

rnd

round

row

row

cl

cluster

sh

shell

Notes before you start

• Source: "Butterfly Doily", Doily Bouquet (Star Book No. 71), American Thread Company, 1950. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: "GEM" Crochet Cotton Article 35 — 1 Ball White, 1 Ball any Shaded colour shown — approx. 9½ inches — Steel 12; "PURITAN" Crochet Cotton Article 40 — 1 Ball White, 1 Ball any Shaded Colour shown — approx. 11½ inches — Steel 7; "DE LUXE" Crochet Cotton Article 346 — 1 Ball White, 1 Ball any Shaded Colour shown — approx. 11½ inches — Steel 7; "STAR" Tatting Cotton Article 25 — 2 Balls White, 2 Balls any Shaded Colour shown — approx. 7½ inches — Steel 13; "STAR" Crochet Cotton Article 20, Size 30 — 1 Ball White, 1 Ball any Shaded Colour shown — approx. 9½ inches — Steel 12; "STAR" Crochet Cotton Article 30, Size 30 — 1 Ball White, 2 Balls any Shaded Colour shown — approx. 9½ inches — Steel 12; "STAR" Pearl Cotton Article 90, Size 5 — 2 Balls White, 3 Balls any Shaded Colour shown — approx. 11½ inches — Steel 7; "SILLATEEN SANSIL" Article 102 — 1 Ball White, 2 Balls any Shaded Colour shown — approx. 10½ inches — Steel 10. Gauge: Not given.
• Modernisation note: The book prints no abbreviation list. It defines each stitch inline instead, in brackets where it is first used, and by those definitions its terms are already modern US terms: s c = sc, d c = dc, s d c = half double crochet (hdc), tr c = tr, d tr c (3 times over needle) = dtr, tr tr c (4 times over needle) = a triple treble worked with 4 yarn-overs. No stitch has been converted; only the spacing of the letters changes, and "thread over" is written "yo".
• Modernisation note: The original calls every round a "Row" ("2nd Row—"). Pieces worked round and round are labelled "Rnd" here and pieces worked back and forth keep "Row". Run-on paragraphs were split so there is one round, row or step per line. No stitch was added, removed or reordered.
• Modernisation note: The two "Basic Centers" are printed once at the front of the book and shared by four of its doilies, with a note that all four borders fit either one. Both are reprinted in full here so this pattern can be worked from one page.
• Modernisation note: Three centres are printed for this design and they are alternatives, not a sequence: the Small Center (3½ inches) with 7 butterflies, Basic Center No. 1 with 12, or Basic Center No. 2 with 10. The butterfly itself is worked the same way for all three. The book's own wording — "Work 6 more butterflies in same manner" — belongs to the small-centre version; the other two options restate their own counts.
• Modernisation note: The joining motif worked between butterflies is printed once, with the small centre, and referred back to from the Basic Center No. 2 version; it is left where the book prints it.
• Modernisation note: In the 5th row of the large right wing the original writes "repeat from * twice" although no asterisk has been set earlier in that row. The wording is left exactly as printed rather than guessed at.
• Modernisation note: The original heads the last option "BASIC DOILY No. 2"; it refers to Basic Center No. 2 and the printed wording is kept.
• Modernisation note: The wing and centre directions are printed on later pages under "continued" lines; they are placed in sequence here.
• Modernisation note: Several joinings are given as "as illustrated" — the original relies on its photograph for the exact placement rather than counting it out. Those phrases are kept as printed; work from the photograph included with this pattern.
• Modernisation note: No gauge is printed anywhere in the book. The printed finished size for the thread you choose is the only check on tension.
• Modernisation note: Thread is printed in balls only — no yardage is given for any article number, so none has been supplied. Buy the printed number of balls of a comparable modern thread and check your ball band.
• Modernisation note: "Gem" (Article 35), "Puritan" (Article 40), "De Luxe" (Article 346), "Star" (Articles 20 and 30), "Star" Tatting Cotton (Article 25), "Star" Pearl Cotton (Article 90) and "Sillateen Sansil" (Article 102) are all discontinued. Where a thread size is printed it is repeated above; where it is not, match the printed finished size instead of guessing a size.
• Modernisation note: Metric conversions and the modern thread and hook suggestions were added; they are not in the original.