Auto Priscilla Hood in Star Stitch with Turnover (1912): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Fine (CYC #2) wool yarn in 2 colors — approximate; the book gives about 2 oz (57 g) of the crown color and nearly 2 oz (57 g) of the trimming color for the front, but does not name the yarn
• 3 yd (2.7 m) satin ribbon 3½ in (9 cm) wide
• Colored thread or yarn for markers
• Tapestry needle
• Hook: Start with 3.5 mm (US E-4) — approximate; the printed hook is “about No. 12 or 13” in an unstated numbering system. Change size so each star is nearly or quite ½ in (13 mm) square, as printed

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sl st

slip stitch

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

st

stitch

sts

stitches

sk

skip

rep

repeat

row

row

tog

together

Notes before you start

• Source: "Auto Priscilla Hood", Priscilla Wool Crochet Book (ed. Lola Burks Hettich), The Priscilla Publishing Company, Boston, 1912. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: About 2 full ounces by weight of solid color and nearly 2 ounces of trimming color for front; 3 yards of 3½-inch ribbon (satin is prettiest) for strings; Black and cream, brown and cream, brown and pink, or any preferred combination, can be used; Rather a fine hook, about No. 12 or 13, to make each shell nearly or quite ½ inch square. Gauge: Each shell (star) nearly or quite ½ inch square..
• Modernisation note: Stitches converted by the book's own “Explanation of Stitches”, not by name: chain stitch (ch st, “make a series of loops, drawing each loop through the preceding one”) = ch; slip stitch (sl st, “insert the hook into the stitch, draw the wool through that stitch and through the wool on hook at the same time”) = sl st; single crochet (s c, “insert the hook, draw wool through, pass wool around hook (wool over), and draw it through both loops on the hook”) = sc; double crochet (d c, wool around the hook, insert, draw through, then through 2 loops twice) = dc; half double crochet (h d c, wool around the hook, insert, draw through, then “through all 3 loops at once”) = hdc; treble crochet (t c or tr c, wool around the hook twice, insert, draw through, then through 2 loops three times) = tr. For these stitches the 1912 American names already match modern US usage, so no stitch changes height. The book's long crochet (l c: wool around the hook, insert, draw through, then through 1 loop, then through 2 loops twice) is the modern extended double crochet; where used it is written “long crochet” with that definition.
• Modernisation note: The book's abbreviations are written in modern US form: ch st = ch, s c = sc, d c = dc, h d c = hdc, t c / tr c = tr, st(s) = st(s), “wool over” / “thread over” / “pass the wool around the hook” = yo; “miss” = sk; loop = lp; “repeat” = rep; “beginning” = beg. “Widen” is written as increase and “narrow” as decrease, as defined in each design. Ordinal row names (“1st row”, “2d row”) are written Row 1, Row 2; where the book calls a circuit of a round piece a “row” the book's word is kept. “Plain” (a row or round with no increases or decreases) is kept as printed.
• Modernisation note: Star stitch is the book's own stitch, defined on its “Star Stitch” page (quoted as the first steps of each design that uses it): loops are drawn up in the chain or in the long and short strands of the star below, all taken off together with 1 yo and closed with 1 ch. It has no single modern abbreviation, so it is written “star”. The book's widening terms are kept and explained: “wi 1” (one extra star in the same stitch), “wi 2” (two extra stars in that stitch) and “wi by 2 over 1” (two stars over one star of the row below).
• Modernisation note: Long printed paragraphs are split into one row, round or step per line; stitch order and counts unchanged. Section headings added for navigation.
• Modernisation note: Hooks are printed as bone hooks described only as fine, medium-sized or coarse, or by an unstated numbering system, with no diameters, so no exact metric size can be read from the book. The suggested modern hook is an approximate starting point chosen for the yarn weight and tied to any printed measurement.
• Modernisation note: The yarn is not named (“solid color” and “trimming color” by weight); fine (CYC #2) is an approximation chosen to give a star about ½ in (13 mm) square.
• Modernisation note: The book calls the stars “shells” in the materials list; they are the star stitch of the directions.
• Modernisation note: “Put a measure” (a marker) is written “put a marker”. “Miss” is written sk; “take 3 together” is kept in words.
• Modernisation note: Decrease row, short row and shaping row labels are the book's (“1st row decrease”, “1st shaping row”), renumbered in modern form.
• Modernisation note: Check: the crown's star-stitch increases (“widening 3 stars at end … then 5 across the end”) are described only in outline; the crown is an oval worked around both sides of the starting chain. Use the book's star-stitch widening and follow the photograph.
• Modernisation note: Check: “Now work 5 rows in s c” and the later sc/dc rows are worked around the crown; the book calls these rows rather than rounds.
• Modernisation note: Check: Front shaping rows 3–7 are worked on each side in turn (“work the other side the same way”) where stated; rows 5 and 7 are worked right across. Kept as printed.
• Modernisation note: Check: the 3½ in (9 cm) ribbon width is read from “3½-inch ribbon”.
• Modernisation note: Metric conversions added.