Ear of Corn Teapot Holder (1912): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Super fine (CYC #1) wool yarn — approximate; the original was 1 skein of Saxony yarn (color not printed)
• ½ yd (46 cm) pale green ribbon 1 in (25 mm) wide
• A small piece of white wool fabric (cashmere) and white wadding (batting) for the lining
• Crochet hook (original: small bone hook)
• Sewing needle and thread
• Hook: Start with 2.75 mm (US C-2) — approximate; no measurement is printed

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

st

stitch

sts

stitches

sk

skip

lp

loop

pc

popcorn

rep

repeat

row

row

rnd

round

Notes before you start

• Source: "Ear of Corn Teapot Holder", Priscilla Wool Crochet Book (ed. Lola Burks Hettich), The Priscilla Publishing Company, Boston, 1912. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: One skein of Saxony yarn; ½ yard of inch ribbon, pale green; A small piece of white cashmere; A small bone 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: 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's “kernel” (a group worked in one st, the hook removed, inserted to the right of the group and the lp drawn through tight) is closely related to the modern popcorn (pc); the book's name and method are kept.
• Modernisation note: This design is marked “Not illustrated” in the book and is not listed in its contents; there is no photograph. The page image reference points to the page where it is printed.
• Modernisation note: The book uses both “round” and “row” for the same rows; “round” is kept in the labels as printed.
• Modernisation note: Check: Round 1 says “Make 2 single crochet” for the first kernels, but the book later says “The first three kernels of every round consist of 3 s c”; 3 sc is probably meant.
• Modernisation note: Check: the rows do not appear to be joined into rounds (the yarn is broken at the end of each); the finished piece is a flat strip sewn into a tube over the lining.
• Modernisation note: Metric conversions added.