Shawl in Staple Crochet and Knot Stitch (1912): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Fine (CYC #2) soft, lofty wool yarn — approximate; the original was 4 skeins of Shetland floss (skein weight and length not printed)
• Hairpin lace loom (staple) set to 1¾ in (4.5 cm) wide, at least 7 in (18 cm) long
• Crochet hook (size not printed)
• Tapestry needle
• Hook: Start with 3.5 mm (US E-4) — approximate; no hook size or measurement is printed apart from the 1¾ in (4.5 cm) staple width

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

tr

treble crochet

st

stitch

rep

repeat

row

row

lp

loop

Notes before you start

• Source: "Shawl in Staple Crochet and Knot Stitch", Priscilla Wool Crochet Book (ed. Lola Burks Hettich), The Priscilla Publishing Company, Boston, 1912. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: Four skeins Shetland floss; Wire staple 7 inches long, 1¾ inches wide, which can be made from the bail of a lard pail; 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: Staple work (“also called hairpin work and Maltese crochet”) is modern hairpin lace, worked on a U-shaped wire staple (a hairpin lace loom or fork). The book's width is the distance between the prongs. Its method is quoted as the first steps of each design that uses it.
• Modernisation note: Knot stitch is the book's own name for the long-loop single crochet mesh known today as Solomon's knot or love knot; its definition is quoted as the first step of each design that uses it. As the book says, “some crocheters refer to it as knot stitch, and others to knot stitch as just half the group”; the book's word “group” (2 knots) is kept.
• 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's abbreviation “k s” is written “knot stitch”; “single k s” is one knot (half a group).
• Modernisation note: The staple “which can be made from the bail of a lard pail” is replaced in the modern materials by a hairpin lace loom set to the printed width.
• Modernisation note: Check: the book does not say which colour or whether any part is worked in a contrast; it photographs as white.
• Modernisation note: Check: Border Rows 5–6 are read as joining the first border lace strip (Row 5) and then the second lace strip (Row 6); the book calls both “lace” and “border”. Follow the photograph of the corner.
• Modernisation note: Check: “7 long tr” is not defined further; ordinary tr, made loosely, are assumed. “fastened in tr st to form a picot” is read as each ch 3 closed back into the top of the tr just made.
• Modernisation note: Finishing line (weaving in ends) added. Metric conversions added.