“Snowflake” Filet Crochet Insertion (1914): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Cotton crochet thread, about size 10 (not printed)
• Sewing needle and thread to attach
• Hook: Start with 1.5 mm (US steel 7) — approximate; no thread or hook is printed for this insertion

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

dc

double crochet

st

stitch

row

row

rep

repeat

Notes before you start

• Source: "Filet Crochet Insertion “Snowflake”" (Fig. 12), Priscilla Juniors' Crochet Book (Belle Robinson), The Priscilla Publishing Co., Boston, 1914. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: Not given for this insertion. 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: Yardage is never printed; the book gives balls, skeins, spools or hanks only (or nothing), so no yardage is estimated.
• Modernisation note: Rows 2–6 are not printed row by row; they are the towel's five snowflake rows (5 open, 1 solid, 1 open, 1 solid, 5 open / 4 open, 2 solid, 1 open, 2 solid, 4 open / 6 open, 1 solid, 6 open / as row 2 / as row 1) with 3 open meshes removed from each side, as the book directs (“a margin of but one open mesh each side instead of four”). Each row totals 7 meshes.
• Modernisation note: Check: the book does not say how many open rows to work between snowflakes; in the photograph (Fig. 12) the snowflakes appear separated by open rows. Follow the photograph and repeat for the length needed.
• Modernisation note: Materials are not printed; the modern thread and hook are suggestions. The finishing step is ours, following the towel directions.