Wide Economy Lace (1891): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Crochet cotton or linen thread — the book prints no size; its own section title names cotton and linen
• Steel crochet hook to suit the thread
• Tapestry needle for the ends
• Hook: Check: the book prints no hook number for any design in this section, so no modern hook can be read across from a printed size. Match the hook to whatever thread you choose, and change size until the lace lies flat.

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

tr

treble crochet

st

stitch

sts

stitches

sk

skip

rep

repeat

sp

space

lp

loop

row

row

Notes before you start

• Source: "Wide Economy Lace" (No. 58), Home Work: a choice collection of useful designs for the crochet and knitting needle, Rose Publishing Co. (Ltd.), Toronto, 1891. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: Not printed — the book names no thread, thread number, hook number or brand for the designs in this section; its printed section title is “Designs for Crocheting in Cotton and Linen”.. Gauge: Not given.
• Modernisation note: Stitches are converted by this book's own printed key, not by the look of the abbreviation. The key is headed “Terms used in Crochet” and stands at the head of PART ONE, SECTION I.—Terms and Stitches, BOOK PAGE 9 (image p-010.jpg), running onto book page 10 (image p-011.jpg). It prints ten entries: “Ch—Chain, a straight series of loops, each drawn with the hook through the preceding one.” “St—Stitch or Stitches.” “Sl st—Slip Stitch; put the hook through the work, thread over the hook, draw it through the stitch on the hook.” “S c—Single Crochet; having a stitch on the hook, put the hook through the work, thread over the hook, draw it through the work, thread over, draw it through the two stitches on the hook.” “D c—Double Crochet; having a stitch on the hook, put thread over the hook, then hook through the work, thread over, draw it through two stitches, thread over, draw it through the two remaining.” “Tr—Treble Crochet; like double, except that the thread is thrown twice round the hook before inserting the hook through the work. The stitches are worked off two at a time as in double crochet.” “H tr—Half Treble, sometimes called Short Treble crochet; like double crochet, except that when the three stitches are on the needle, instead of drawing thread through two stitches twice, it is drawn through all three at once.” “L tr—Long Treble; throw thread over needle three times before inserting hook in the work, work off two stitches at a time as in double crochet.” “P—Picot; make three, four, five, or as many chain stitches as you wish to have in the picot, and form them into a loop by making a single crochet or slip stitch on the first of them.” “Sh—Shell; this is usually made by putting two doubles, two chains, and two doubles in one stitch; or by putting three or more doubles in one stitch without chain stitches between.” “*—Star; this is used where certain stitches are to be repeated.” The heights are therefore MODERN US: the S c works off two loops (US single, not the British double); the D c works off three loops two at a time (US double); the Tr throws the thread twice (US treble); the L tr throws it three times (US double treble, written dtr here). The H tr is the decisive entry — it is defined as HALF OF THE DOUBLE, not of the treble, so despite its British-sounding name it is the modern US half double crochet, and its wording confirms that this book's D c really is the modern double. This book is therefore a hybrid: US heights under two British-flavoured names.
• Modernisation note: The book's wording is written in modern US form: “make a chain of N stitches” = ch N; “miss” and “pass over” = sk; “catch” and “fasten” = sl st or join, according to what the row is doing; “throw the thread over” = yo; “needle” and “hook” both mean the hook and are written hook; “under” a chain = into the chain space; “the 4th st. of ch.” = the 4th chain; “repeat from *” = rep from *. The book's numbered paragraphs (“1.”, “2.”, “3.”) are its rows and are written Row 1, Row 2, Row 3. The book's spelling “scallop” is kept.
• Modernisation note: The printed directions are already numbered row by row in this section, and are transcribed one row per line in the book's own order. The book's own sub-headings (Heading, For the edge, On the upper edge and so on) are kept as section headings. Stitch order and counts are unchanged and nothing is added; where the book stops without a stitch count, so does this transcription.
• Modernisation note: This is a microform scan and the optical reading of it carries the usual slips; every figure below was read back against the page image at 220 dpi. Recurring slips in this book's scanned text are “d. o” and “d. ¢” for d. c., “s. o” and “a. c.” for s. c., “at.” and “ata.” for st. and sts., “Ist” for 1st, “lst” for 1st, “1” and “l” for the figure 1, and “Bhell” for Shell. The rows below follow what the printed page actually shows, and any place where the scan and the page disagree is listed as a Check note.
• Modernisation note: No materials are printed for this design. This section of the book prints no thread brand, no thread number and no hook number for any of its designs — the only material guidance is the section's own printed title, “Designs for Crocheting in Cotton and Linen” (book page 23), which is recorded here as the book's own range rather than as this design's specification. Nothing is invented to fill the gap.
• Modernisation note: No gauge is printed for this design; the book prints no gauge, tension or mesh count anywhere in this section. Work a sample and change hook size until the lace lies flat.
• Modernisation note: No finished measurement is printed for this design. It is worked to the length of the piece it trims, so its length is set by that piece. The book's own word for its width is the one in the design's printed name — the designs called “Narrow” are narrow edgings.
• Modernisation note: Check: no colour is printed for this design. The engravings photograph as a plain light thread. The section's printed title names cotton and linen as its materials but names no colour; white and écru are recorded here as the ordinary choices for such thread, not as this design's printed colour.
• Modernisation note: No yardage is printed for this design, and none is estimated here — the book gives no thread size to estimate from.
• Modernisation note: This design runs across a page turn (book page 62 to book page 63, images p-057.jpg and p-058.jpg); both leaves are present and were read. The name, the foundation and Rows 1 to the middle of Row 14 are on page 62, and the close of Row 14 with Rows 15 to 21 are on page 63.
• Modernisation note: Book page 62 sets the lower part of its text in two columns round the engraving and the optical reading interleaves them badly, dropping strings of nonsense letters between the rows. Every row below follows the printed reading order of the page image.
• Modernisation note: Check: the scan ends Row 1 “ch. 3,1 d. c, in last 3 at.”; the page image reads “ch. 3, 1 d. c. in last 2 st.” It was read back at several times the filmed size and the figure is 2.
• Modernisation note: Check: the scan reads the figure that carries Row 14 over the page turn as “2 d.c. in 18th”; the page image, at the head of book page 63, reads “2 d. c. in 15th”. The row's own run of positions — 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, 15th — agrees with the page.
• Modernisation note: Check: the scan reads Row 12 as “ch. 8, turn work, and s. . in top of last.d. c. of 10th row, ch. 2, 1 8. ¢. in of last d. o. of 9th row”; the page image reads “ch. 8, turn work, and s. c. in top of last d. c. of 10th row, ch. 2, 1 s. c. in top of last d. c. of 9th row”.
• Modernisation note: Check: the scan reads Row 17 as “1 d.c. ee 4d.c.”; the page image reads “1 d. c. in each of next 4 d. c.”
• Modernisation note: Check: the scan reads Row 19 as “2 tr. ander cb. 3” and closes it “2 d. ¢., roceed ag in 17th row”; the page image reads “2 tr. under ch. 3” and “2 d. c., proceed as in 17th row.”
• Modernisation note: Check: the scan reads Row 20 as “1 8. ©, under ch. 4” and “a. ¢. in last loop of ch. 4”; the page image reads “1 s. c. under ch. 4” and “s. c. in last loop of ch. 4”.
• Modernisation note: Check: Row 18 twice calls for “2 d. c.” without saying where they go, and Row 20 opens “Chain 3, 1 d. c.” in the same way. Both are printed that way and nothing is supplied.
• Modernisation note: The engraving printed with this design has blocked up to solid black in this microform and nothing is read from it.