Editor’s Note: The current featured photo has been modified from the original. It follows the pattern up to row 14; the edging is adapted from the Vandyke Edging in the same book.

From Crochet Doilies and Edgings by Cornelia Mee, 1846. This appears to be an extract of a longer work, Crochet Explained and Illustrated (Second Series), published in 1845.

Instructions on pages 13-14 of the original, pages 30-31 of the pdf document.

Errata: Seventh round should read miss 3 loops, not miss 2 loops.

Thread called for is “Boar’s-head cotton, No. 8 or 10”, and a “No. 16” crochet hook. No finished size is given, and there is no illustration.

A note on terminology: patterns of the era used the same basic stitches we use today, but slightly different terms. Mrs. Mee’s “double crochet” is the British double crochet, or the American single crochet. The “long stitch” is the American double crochet, and the British treble crochet.

“Work into the loop” means to work into the stitch, whether double, long, or chain; “work into the chain stitches” means to work into the chain loop or chain space—the “hole” formed by the chain stitches.

Stitches were to be made into the back loop. This was a standard of the times, and the modern crocheter may choose to follow it or not, depending on the desired effect.