Free preview · full pattern in the Vintage Crochet Edgings & Trims
Border for Bath Towel No. 10 in Blue and White Squares (1915): vintage crochet pattern
A towel border in blue and white: blue single crochet is worked over the hem, then white squares of six rows of single crochet are set between combination trebles and chain bars, a row of double crochet corners follows, and a blue edge of paired single crochet finishes it. The other end is edged with white shells.
By the crochetpatterns.io editorial team · Updated · Editorial policy · pattern testing in progress
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Skill level | Intermediate |
| Yarn weight | Lace (#0) |
| Yardage | the book gives 2 skeins blue and 3 white; skein length is not stated. (as printed; yardage not given) |
| Hook | 1.8 mm |
| Gauge | No gauge or measurement printed. |
| Finished size | Not printed. Each square is 6 rows of single crochet on 7 chain. |
| Time | about 3 hours |
Materials
- Size 5 pearl cotton: 2 skeins blue and 3 skeins white — approximate; the original was Richardson's R. M. C. Perle Cotton No. 5, Art. 15 (skein length not printed)
- Steel crochet hook (original: No. 6 steel hook)
- A bath towel
- Sewing needle and thread
- Hook: Start with 1.8 mm (US steel 6) — approximate
Yarn Kit & Substitution Options
This pattern calls for 350 yards of weight #0 yarn. Select a suggested yarn to see required skeins and estimated cost:
Caron Simply Soft · 100% Acrylic
315 yds per skein · High-yield yardage, silky no-scratch texture
2 skeins required
approx. $$10.98 total
Abbreviations (US terms)
- chain
- slip stitch
- single crochet
- double crochet
- treble crochet
- stitch
- stitches
- skip
- repeat
- row
- space
- shell
Notes before you start
- Source: "Border for Bath Towel No. 10" (No. 10), Richardson's Crochet Book No. 2 (Complete Crochet Book No. 2), Richardson Silk Company, Chicago and New York, 1915. Public domain in the USA.
- As printed — materials: Two Skeins of Richardson's R. M. C. Perle Cotton No. 5, Art. 15 in Blue and Three Skeins of White; A No. 6 Steel Hook. Gauge: Not given.
- Modernisation note: From Richardson's Crochet Book No. 2. That book prints only an abbreviation list (ch = chain stitch, s c = single crochet, d c = double crochet, t c = treble crochet, t t c = triple treble crochet, p = picot, la = lacet, gr = group, sp = space, cl = clover leaf) with no worked descriptions, so the stitches are read by the same key its companion Book No. 1 prints in full: s c = sc, d c = dc, t c = tr, t t c = trtr (triple treble). Book No. 2's heights therefore match modern US usage as well.
- Modernisation note: The book's abbreviations are written in modern US form: ch sts = ch, s c = sc, d c = dc, t c = tr, d t c = dtr, sl st = sl st, p = picot, sp(s) = space(s), gr = group (block), la = lacet, cl = clover leaf; “skip” = sk; “repeat *” = rep from *. Ordinal row names are written Row 1, Row 2, and so on.
- 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 only as Richardson steel hook numbers, with no diameters, so no exact metric size can be read from the books. The metric sizes given are approximate starting points read across to the modern US steel-hook scale (in which a higher number is finer); work a swatch and change size to match 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 threads are 1915 Richardson trade names with no exact modern equivalent, and the books print no yardage except where quoted in the materials. The modern equivalents given are approximations only: R. M. C. Cordonnet and Cordonnet Special (the book says it “matches the D. M. C. thread”, sizes 3 to 150) as mercerized cotton crochet thread of the same size number; R. M. C. Perle Cotton (Art. 15 and 15-B in hanks, Art. 35 in balls, sizes 3, 5, 8 and 12) as modern pearl cotton of the same size; Richardson's Crochet and Knitting Silk (“Perfect”, ½ oz on the ball; “Our Art”, ¼ oz) as a fine silk or silk-blend crochet thread about the weight of size 10–20 cotton; Richardson's Tatting Silk (100 yd on the ball) as a fine hard-twisted silk thread about the weight of size 20–30 cotton; Bed Spread Thread on cones as a heavy cotton crochet thread about size 3–5. Grecian floss (a silk embroidery floss) is used only for embroidery where it is named.
- Modernisation note: Check: the publication year. The book is catalogued as 1915 and is recorded here as 1915, but its own title page carries a 1916 copyright line and the deposit stamp on book page 2 reads April 1916.
- Modernisation note: The book's “combination treble” is a group of trebles drawn off together; it is defined in full in its Border for Bath Towel No. 9 on the same page.
- Modernisation note: Check: the shell for the other end is named but not described (“make a shell with the white in every 5th st”); follow the photograph.
- Modernisation note: Check: the colours are blue and white, as named in the materials.
- Modernisation note: Metric conversions added.
Row progress: 0 of 7 done (0%)
Border
0 of 7 done- Hem the edges of the towel.Mark row complete
- Fasten the blue at the corner and work over the hem with sc and ch 1 between.Mark row complete
- Fasten on the white: ch 11, sk 2 sts, sl st in the next, turn, 7 sc on the ch-7, turn, sc in each sc; work this way until 6 rows are made in the square.Mark row complete
- Sk 1 st and in the next 3 sts make a combination treble, ch 7, sk 2 sts and sl st in the next. Rep across the end with a sl st in the corner.Mark row complete
- Next row: Sl st on each of the first 4 ch, ch 6, dc in the corner of the square, (ch 2, sk 1, dc in the next) twice; in the corner have 4 dc in all with ch 1 between, and in the combination treble make a dc. Rep to the end of the row.Mark row complete
- Next row: Make 2 sc in each space with ch 2 between.Mark row complete
- Edge: with the blue, make 2 sc in each ch-2 with ch 2 between.Mark row complete
Working on:
Hem the edges of the towel.
Continue this pattern
The rest of the Border for Bath Towel No. 10 in Blue and White Squares (1915) pattern is in the Vintage Crochet Edgings & Trims
Still to come in the full pattern:
- Other End
- Finishing
Included with 618 patterns for $9 — $0.01 per pattern.
Errata
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Frequently asked questions
Where is the Border for Bath Towel No. 10 pattern from?
It was published as "Border for Bath Towel No. 10" in Richardson's Crochet Book No. 2 (Complete Crochet Book No. 2) by Richardson Silk Company, Chicago and New York in 1915. 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 Border for Bath Towel No. 10?
Size 5 pearl cotton. Not printed — the book gives 2 skeins blue and 3 white; skein length is not stated.
What hook should I use?
Start with 1.8 mm (US steel 6) — approximate Gauge: No gauge or measurement printed.
