Center Piece of Thirteen Braid Circles (1915): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Size 60 mercerized cotton crochet thread — approximate; the original was Richardson's No. 60 R. M. C. Crochet Cotton
• Steel crochet hook (original: No. 10 hook)
• Picot-edged insertion braid with medallions, enough for 13 circles of 12 medallions — approximate; the original was Novelty Braid
• Linen centre and sewing thread
• Hook: Start with 1.3 mm (US steel 10) — approximate

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

tr

treble crochet

st

stitch

sk

skip

rep

repeat

rnd

round

sh

shell

Notes before you start

• Source: "Center Piece", Richardson's Crochet Book No. 1 (Complete Instruction Book for Crocheting, Tatting and Smocking), Richardson Silk Company, Chicago and New York, 1915. Public domain in the USA.
• As printed — materials: Richardson's No. 60 R. M. C. Crochet Cotton; A No. 10 Hook; Novelty Braid. Gauge: Not given.
• Modernisation note: From Richardson's Crochet Book No. 1. Stitches converted by that book's own stitch key (“Crocheting Stitches — Terms Used”), not by name: chain stitch (ch) = ch; slip stitch (sl st), taking a stitch through a chain stitch and through the loop on the needle at the same time = sl st; single crochet (s c), insert, draw the thread through, thread over and draw through the 2 loops = sc; double crochet (d c), insert and draw a stitch through, then draw through 2 and through the 2 remaining loops — two work-offs of 2 = dc; treble crochet (t c), thread over twice, then draw through 2 loops three times = tr; “long treble” (thread over 3, 4 or more times, worked off 2 at a time) = dtr and longer trebles. So this 1915 book already uses modern US heights — its treble is the modern treble, not the modern double crochet.
• Modernisation note: Picot (p) is the book's own: chain 3 or 4 stitches, then work back into the first of those chains, drawing through the chain stitch and the loop on the hook at the same time. It is written picot throughout, with the book's chain count where printed.
• Modernisation note: The book's abbreviations are written in modern US form: ch = ch, sl st = sl st, s c = sc, d c = dc, t c = tr, p = picot, st(s) = st(s); “thread over” / “over” / “over twice” = yo / yo twice; “miss” and “skip” = sk; “needle” (the book's word for the crochet hook) = hook; “repeat from *” = rep from *. Ordinal row names (“First Row”, “Second Row”) are written Row 1, Row 2; where the book calls a circuit of a circular piece a “row”, that reading is given in the heading and the change is noted.
• Modernisation note: The design is worked onto a manufactured lace braid (named in the materials). These braids are no longer sold under the 1915 trade names; substitute a modern insertion braid with the same number of picots, loops or medallions per length, or the stitch counts that fasten into the braid will not come out.
• 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: The book calls each circuit a “Row”; because the piece is worked in circles these are written Round 1, Round 2, and so on.
• Modernisation note: Check: the shell counts in the lower edge are printed as “(111 shells in all)”, “(9 shells)” and again “(9 shells)” on consecutive rounds, which cannot all be right if each round loses a shell. They are transcribed as read from the page — the first is most likely “11 shells” and the second “10 shells”. Count the shells on your own work and lose one each round.
• Modernisation note: Check: the opening of a circle (“Chain 8, join, 6 ch, 4 ch for picot …”) does not name the stitch worked into the braid's first loop; follow the photograph for the placing of the first spoke.
• Modernisation note: Check: the linen centre is not described; the finishing line is ours.
• Modernisation note: Check: the colour is not printed; the piece photographs as white.
• Modernisation note: Metric conversions added.