Free preview · full pattern in the Vintage Crochet Stoles & Shawls
Circular Shawl with Cabled Clusters and Knot Stitch (1912): vintage crochet pattern
A circular cream-white Shetland floss shawl worked outward from a small ring in two-double-crochet clusters alternating with knot stitches, widened in eight lines so the clusters radiate with a twisted, cable look, finished with a shell border, scallops and a looped edge.
By the crochetpatterns.io editorial team · Updated · Editorial policy · pattern testing in progress
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Skill level | Intermediate |
| Yarn weight | Fine (#2) |
| Yardage | the book gives 1 lb (454 g) or more of Shetland floss, according to size. (as printed; yardage not given) |
| Hook | 4 mm |
| Gauge | No stitch gauge printed. Printed check: each knot stitch is drawn out about ⅓ in (8 mm). |
| Finished size | Made to the size desired; no measurements printed. The book allows 1 lb (454 g) or more of yarn, according to size. |
| Time | about 5 hours |
Materials
- Fine (CYC #2) soft, lofty wool yarn — approximate; the original was 1 lb (454 g) or more of cream-white Shetland floss
- Crochet hook (original: medium-sized bone hook)
- Tapestry needle
- Hook: Start with 4 mm (US G-6) — approximate; the knot stitches are drawn out about ⅓ in (8 mm), as printed
Yarn Kit & Substitution Options
This pattern calls for 350 yards of weight #2 yarn. Select a suggested yarn to see required skeins and estimated cost:
Lion Brand Coboo · 50% Cotton, 50% Bamboo
232 yds per skein · Silky breathable drape, lovely stitch shine
2 skeins required
approx. $$12.98 total
Abbreviations (US terms)
- chain
- single crochet
- double crochet
- stitch
- stitches
- skip
- yarn over
- loop
- cluster
- shell
- repeat
- row
Notes before you start
- Source: "Circular Shawl", Priscilla Wool Crochet Book (ed. Lola Burks Hettich), The Priscilla Publishing Company, Boston, 1912. Public domain in the USA.
- As printed — materials: One pound or more, according to size desired, of cream-white Shetland floss; A medium-sized bone crochet-hook. Gauge: Not given.
- 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: 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: No stitch gauge is printed for this design; work a swatch and match any printed measurement (given in the modern gauge line) before starting.
- Modernisation note: The yarns are 1912 trade descriptions with no exact modern equivalent, and the book prints no yardage or skein/ball weights except where quoted in the materials. The CYC weights given are approximations only: Saxony (a fine, firm yarn) and 2-ply (single) zephyr as super fine (CYC #1); ice wool (a very fine, lustrous yarn) as super fine (CYC #1); Shetland floss (a soft, lofty yarn) and eiderdown wool as fine (CYC #2) — lofty yarns and to be matched by gauge or measurement rather than by weight; 4-ply (split) zephyr, 4-fold Germantown and Spanish yarn as light (CYC #3); 8-fold Germantown and knitting worsted as medium (CYC #4).
- Modernisation note: The book defines its knot stitch and its cluster of 2 dc inside Row 1; the definitions are placed first. The knot stitch here is a short Solomon's knot (about ⅓ in) closed with a sc worked in front of the long lp; the cluster of 2 dc is a modern dc2tog worked into one place (abbreviated cl in the list, written out in full).
- Modernisation note: The book calls the rounds “rows”; its word is kept. “Miss” is written sk.
- Modernisation note: Check: in Row 1 the book writes “Work a cluster of 2 d c in circle … * 1 k st, cluster of 2 d c made as before. * Repeat until there are 8 k sts”; the first knot st is made before the first cluster, as printed.
- Modernisation note: Check: the border's first row alternates shells and single dc into the clusters of the last row; the book does not say what is worked into its knot stitches.
- Modernisation note: Finishing line (weaving in ends) added. Metric conversions added.
Row progress: 0 of 3 done (0%)
Stitches (the book's definitions)
0 of 3 done- Knot st (this design): Draw out the lp on the hook about ⅓ in (8 mm) in length. Yo and draw through. Then work a sc rather closely in front of the long st and under the thread drawn through it. This completes a knot st.Mark row complete
- Cluster of 2 dc: Yo and insert the hook in the place, yo and draw through, making 3 lps on the hook. Yo and draw through 2 lps. Now, leaving 2 lps on the hook, yo and again insert the hook in the same place, yo and draw through, making 4 lps on the hook; yo and draw through 2 lps, yo and draw through the 3 remaining lps. This completes a cluster of 2 dc, which, alternately with a knot st, is used throughout the work.Mark row complete
- Working into a cluster: When inserting the hook in the top of a cluster, put it not only under the 2 threads of the st directly on top, but also under the back thread of the st lying directly below, which is twisted or flattened. This makes 3 threads above the hook, and the hook is passed through the flat st. Be careful to do this throughout the work, as it gives the rows of dc radiating from the center to the border of the shawl a twisted, or cable, appearance.Mark row complete
Working on:
Knot st (this design): Draw out the lp on the hook about ⅓ in (8 mm) in length. Yo and draw through. Then work a sc rather closely in front of the long st and under the thread drawn through it. This completes a knot st.
Continue this pattern
The rest of the Circular Shawl with Cabled Clusters and Knot Stitch (1912) pattern is in the Vintage Crochet Stoles & Shawls
Still to come in the full pattern:
- Body
- Border
- Finishing
Included with 31 patterns for $12 — $0.39 per pattern.
Errata
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Frequently asked questions
Where is the Circular Shawl pattern from?
It was published as "Circular Shawl" in Priscilla Wool Crochet Book (ed. Lola Burks Hettich) by The Priscilla Publishing Company, Boston in 1912. The publication is in the public domain in the United States; this version is transcribed and modernised by crochetpatterns.io.
What yarn or thread do I need for the Circular Shawl?
fine (#2) yarn. Not printed — the book gives 1 lb (454 g) or more of Shetland floss, according to size.
What hook should I use?
Start with 4 mm (US G-6) — approximate; the knot stitches are drawn out about ⅓ in (8 mm), as printed Gauge: No stitch gauge printed. Printed check: each knot stitch is drawn out about ⅓ in (8 mm).
