“Mother” Towel with Filet Crochet Insertions (1914): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Linen or cotton huckaback towelling, 15 in (38 cm) wide, cut to length plus hems
• Cotton crochet thread, about size 10 — the original was Cordonnet (size not printed for the towel)
• Sewing needle and thread for hems and overcasting
• Hook: Start with 1.5 mm (US steel 7) — approximate; the book suggests a steel No. 8 or No. 10. Adjust so the insertion length matches the towel width

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

st

stitch

sk

skip

row

row

rep

repeat

ch-sp

chain space

Notes before you start

• Source: "Towel" (No. 504), Priscilla Juniors' Crochet Book (Belle Robinson), The Priscilla Publishing Co., Boston, 1914. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: huckaback toweling, 15 inches wide; tightly twisted crochet cotton called Cordonnet (insertions); No. 8 or No. 10 steel crochet-hook (the book's general advice). Gauge: Not given.
• Modernisation note: Stitches converted by the book's own definitions (pages 3–6), not by name: chain stitch (“ch”) = ch; slip stitch (“sl” — “made with the needle in the loop, a loop pulled through the work and through the loop on the needle”) = sl st; double crochet (“d” — “made with the needle in the loop, a loop drawn through the work and another loop drawn through both”) = modern US single crochet (sc); treble crochet (“t” — “another loop over the needle, a loop drawn through the work (making three loops on the needle), then a loop is drawn through two on the needle, leaving two loops on the needle; another loop drawn through these two finishes the treble”) = modern US double crochet (dc); double treble crochet (“d t” — “two loops over the needle, one loop drawn through the work, when there will be four loops on the needle”, then worked off two at a time three times) = modern US treble crochet (tr). The 1914 names are one step taller than modern US names (they match modern UK usage), so every printed “d” is written sc, every “t” dc and every “d t” tr.
• Modernisation note: The book's words and letters are written as modern US abbreviations: ch = ch, sl = sl st, d = sc, t = dc, d t = tr; “needle”, “crochet-needle” or “hook” = hook; “thread over needle (hook)” = yo; “draw thread through (the work)” = draw up a lp; “miss” = sk; “over ch” or “over each chain” = in the ch-sp; “fasten the thread” = fasten off; ordinal names (“1st row”, “2d round”) = Row 1, Rnd 2. Repeats between stars are written “*… ; rep from *” as printed; the book's own rule: “When you see the little stars before and after any directions, whether long or short, the work directed is to be repeated once, or more times.”
• Modernisation note: Filet crochet as the book defines it: open mesh = ch 2, 1 dc in the next dc (the book: “make 2 ch, 1 t … (always skip 2 ch)”); solid mesh = 3 dc, “2 t over the chain and 1 t over the t below”; “5 ch to turn” = ch 5, counting as the first dc and ch 2 of the first mesh. The book adds: “It is better to catch under both threads at the top of the treble than under a single thread.”
• Modernisation note: The book's running paragraphs are split into one row, round or step per line; stitch order and counts unchanged. Section headings added for navigation. Cross-references to other pages of the book are replaced by the stitch lesson itself, copied at the start of the design.
• Modernisation note: Hooks are printed as 1914 steel crochet-needle numbers (the book: “from No. 1 (a very large hook, almost as large as a medium-size bone hook) to No. 14, which is very fine”) or as bone, rubber and amber hooks of “small” or “medium” size, with no diameters. The modern hook given is an approximate starting point only, chosen for the thread or yarn and tied to any printed measurement.
• Modernisation note: No stitch gauge is printed anywhere in the book; work a swatch and match any printed finished measurement.
• Modernisation note: Period threads are 1914 trade descriptions with no exact modern equivalent; modern choices are approximate. Pearl cotton Nos. 3, 5 and 8 are the same numbering as modern perle cotton; Cordonnet Nos. 2, 30 and 50 are given as the nearest modern crochet-thread sizes; carpet warp is modern cotton rug warp; soft knitting cotton has no printed thickness and is suggested by the hook the book pairs with it.
• Modernisation note: Yardage is never printed; the book gives balls, skeins, spools or hanks only (or nothing), so no yardage is estimated.
• Modernisation note: “Filet Crochet Insertion” rows are called rows in the book; the insertion is worked back and forth, so the rows run across the short width of the insertion and the chart letters are read one column at a time (“up and down”).
• Modernisation note: Snowflake rows are numbered Snowflake Row 1–5 for clarity; the book numbers them “the first of these five rows”, “2d row” … “5th row”.
• Modernisation note: Check: the book does not state that the narrow insertion gets the row of dc and row of sc across each end; that finish is printed only after the wide insertion.
• Modernisation note: Check: the book says the letter charts are “seven meshes high” or “nine meshes high”, but the name figures are labelled 9 or 11 “meshes high”; these labels appear to give the insertion width including the open margins.
• Modernisation note: The two little border charts (Figs. 37 and 38, 5 meshes wide) are printed as charts only, with no written directions; they are not transcribed.
• Modernisation note: Towel measurements: 15 × 27 in = 38 × 68.5 cm; hem 3 in = 7.5 cm.
• Modernisation note: Metric conversions added.