Tam-o'-Shanter in Double Crochet (1918): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Medium (CYC #4) wool yarn — the original was 1 skein of electric-blue knitting-worsted
• A fluffy contrast yarn of similar weight for the edge and cord — the original was 1 ball of gray Angora wool
• Crochet hook
• 1 large, flat button mold
• Tapestry needle
• Hook: Start with 5 mm (US H-8) — approximate; the book only says a hook large enough to carry the yarn easily (no gauge is printed)

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

sk

skip

st

stitch

rep

repeat

rnd

round

inc

increase

lp

loop

Notes before you start

• Source: "Tam-o'-Shanter in Double Crochet", Handbook of Wool Knitting and Crochet, Needlecraft Publishing Company, Augusta, Maine, 1918. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: For the model were used one skein of electric-blue knitting-worsted and a ball of gray Angora wool, with a hook large enough to carry the yarn easily.. Gauge: Not given.
• Modernisation note: Stitches converted by the book's own definitions ("A Lesson in Crochet"), not by name. The book uses the older names it calls "in general use", which are one step taller in name than modern US terms: its single crochet ("insert hook in work, take up the thread and draw it through the work and the stitch on the needle at the same time") = modern US sl st; its double (draw through, "giving you two stitches on the needle; take up thread and draw through the two") = sc; half-treble or short-treble = hdc; treble (thread over, insert, draw through, then through two loops twice) = dc; double-treble (thread over twice) = tr; triple-treble (thread over three times) = dtr. Its slip-stitch (drop the loop, insert the hook where you wish to join, pull the dropped loop through) is a joining stitch and is written as "join" or sl st. So every "double" in the original is written here as sc and every "treble" as dc.
• Modernisation note: Period wording modernised: "miss" written as sk; "widen" as inc; "narrow" as dec; "vein" of a stitch as loop ("back vein" = back loop only, "both veins" = both loops); "take up thread/wool" and "over" as yo; "needle" (the crochet hook) as hook; "wool"/"thread" as yarn; "fasten in" as join yarn; "break and fasten wool" as fasten off; "fasten"/"catch" (to a stitch) as sl st; "armscye" as armhole; "repeat" as rep; numbered rows written as Row/Rnd n.
• 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: The book gives almost no hook sizes (one design names "bone hook size 4"); otherwise it says to use a hook "large enough to carry the yarn", and explains that "no two manufacturers use like numbers for the same sizes". The modern hook given is an approximate starting point for the yarn weight only.
• Modernisation note: No stitch gauge is printed for any crocheted design in the book; work a swatch and match any printed lengths (given in the modern gauge line) before starting.
• Modernisation note: 1918 yarn names have no exact modern equivalent. Approximate modern CYC weights used: fourfold (4-fold) Germantown wool/zephyr/worsted as light (CYC #3); knitting-worsted as medium (CYC #4); Shetland floss (a soft, lofty yarn) as fine (CYC #2); 2-fold Shetland zephyr as fine (CYC #2); Saxony as super fine (CYC #1); eiderdown wool and "very heavy Germantown worsted" as medium (CYC #4); Angora wool is a fluffy trim yarn used with worsted. The book gives skeins, hanks or balls only — never yardage or skein weight — so no yardage is given.
• Modernisation note: The cord paragraph (hand-made, not crocheted) is split into steps; "Rep from the beginning of the last step" stands for the book's "repeating the process from beginning".
• Modernisation note: The book does not say where the button is sewn; by the model it is the center of the crown.
• Modernisation note: Check: Rnd 33 is the first numbered band round; with 1 more sc between incs each round, the 30-sc sections are reached at Rnd 32, which agrees. If you add rounds for a larger crown, renumber from there.
• Modernisation note: Check: the decrease rounds are printed as "7 doubles, miss 1", "6 doubles, miss 1", then "2 doubles, miss 1". Left as printed.
• Modernisation note: Metric conversions added.