Figure 51 Square Medallion (1910): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Size 30 to 50 crochet cotton — the book leaves the number to the worker; finer thread gives finer lace
• A smooth firm padding cord: the original is a No. 30 linen lace thread, and the book doubles two long strands of it for most sprays. Several strands of the working thread held together are the usual substitute
• A fine steel hook (see below)
• A fine sewing needle for fastening the cord ends behind the stems
• Hook: Start with 1.00 mm (US steel 11); change size until the thread runs easily without splitting and the motif lies flat.

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sl st

slip stitch

sc

single crochet

hdc

half double crochet

dc

double crochet

tr

treble crochet

st

stitch

sts

stitches

sk

skip

rep

repeat

row

row

rnd

round

lp

loop

tr

treble crochet

BLO

back loop only

FLO

front loop only

Notes before you start

• Source: "Square Medallion. Figure 51", Designs and Instructions for Irish Crochet Lace, T. Buettner & Co., Inc., Chicago and New York, 1910. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: Manlove's Irish lace thread — made in sizes 36, 42, 50, 60, 70 and 80; the book leaves the size to the worker, “according to the fineness or coarseness of lace desired”; No. 30 Au Cheval Rouge Linen Lace Thread for the foundation, i.e. the padding cord; Any ordinary well made fine steel crochet needle. Gauge: Not given.
• Modernisation note: Stitch key (British to modern US). The book lists “the ordinary crochet stitches, chain, single, double and treble”, joins its rings and closes its picots with a “single” (“join with a single stitch”; “1 single into the first of the 5 chain to form a picot”), calls the solid fabric worked over the padding cord “double stitch”, and grades its stitches double < half treble < treble < double treble. That is the older British and Irish naming, so: chain = ch; “single” and “single crochet” = slip stitch (sl st); “double”, “double stitch” and “double crochet” = modern US single crochet (sc); “half treble” = modern US half double crochet (hdc); “treble” = modern US double crochet (dc); “double treble” = modern US treble crochet (tr). Every stitch below has been rewritten in the modern US name on that basis.
• Modernisation note: Check: the book prints no stitch definitions and no wrap counts, so the stitch key above is derived from how the names are used in the directions, not from a printed table.
• Modernisation note: The book's other wording is written in modern form: “miss” = sk, “crochet needle” = hook, “repeat from” = rep from, “work 1 double into” = 1 sc in. Ordinal row names (“Second Row.”, “Third row”) are written Row 2, Row 3, and rounds worked continuously round a ring are written Rnd where the book itself calls them rounds. Section headings are the book's own where it prints them (First Petal, Second Leaf, Shamrock).
• Modernisation note: The book prints each design as one or two solid paragraphs; these have been split into one row, round or step per line. Stitch order and counts are unchanged, including counts that do not add up against the previous row — those are the book's own.
• Modernisation note: Almost everything here is worked over a padding cord (“over the cord” = the stitches enclose the cord; “on the cord alone” = a free loop of stitches over the cord with nothing worked into). The book's own warning is kept in the finishing steps: the shape is set by how tightly the cord is drawn, so the worker is expected to add or drop a stitch to keep the spray flat.
• Modernisation note: Thread numbers are the 1910 trade numbering of the two brands the book names (Manlove's Irish lace thread, made in sizes 36, 42, 50, 60, 70 and 80; No. 30 Au Cheval Rouge linen lace thread for the padding cord). Modern sizes given below are approximate equivalents only — the numbering runs the same way, higher number = finer thread, but the diameters are not identical. The scan prints the fifth Manlove's size as “jo”; it is 70.
• Modernisation note: The book gives no hook number at all — “any ordinary well made fine steel crochet needle is suitable for the work”. Every metric hook size below is a starting point chosen for the modern thread, not a conversion of a printed size.
• Modernisation note: Check: no gauge and no finished measurement is printed for this design. Work one motif, measure it, and adjust the hook and the tension of the padding cord before making the rest.
• Modernisation note: The book's two levels of repeat mark (* and **) are kept; the inner one runs inside a single point.
• Modernisation note: Check: the two straight rows that square the medallion off are described only by their stitches, with no counts or spacing.
• Modernisation note: The scan prints the opening chain as “chain ro”; the page reads 10.