Filet Pin Cushion Cover of Squirrels (1915): vintage crochet pattern

Materials

• Size 50 mercerized cotton crochet thread — approximate; the original was one spool of R. M. C. Cordonnet No. 50 (spool length not printed)
• An 8 in (20 cm) cushion form
• Steel crochet hook (no hook size is printed for this design)
• Tapestry needle
• Hook: No hook size is printed for this design. Start with 1.5 mm (US steel 8) and change size so the cover fits the 8 in (20 cm) form

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch

chain

sl st

slip stitch

sc

single crochet

dc

double crochet

st

stitch

sts

stitches

sk

skip

rep

repeat

row

row

sp

space

Notes before you start

• Source: "Filet Pin Cushion Cover of Squirrels", 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: One Spool of Richardson's R. M. C. Cordonnet No. 50; 1 8-inch Cushion Form. 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 “gr” is written group; in filet it is a block of solid double crochet filling one square.
• Modernisation note: No hook size is printed for this design, so the suggested hook is ours and is approximate.
• Modernisation note: Check: “gr” is not defined on this page. Elsewhere in the same book (the bed-spread and luncheon-cloth directions) a group is 6 dc, with 7 dc where it adjoins a space or lacet, while ordinary filet uses 4 dc per block. Work a few rows and compare with the photograph before going on.
• Modernisation note: Check: the cover is closed on 3 sides only, so the fourth side stays open for the form; the book does not say how it is closed afterwards.
• Modernisation note: Check: the colour is not printed; the cover photographs as white.
• Modernisation note: Metric conversions added.