🍳 Air Fryer · Easy Chicken · High Protein — 5 new kitchen-tested recipes every day
Vintage pattern · Priscilla · 1915

Spiral Mesh Doily

Free vintage crochet doily: a 4-arm spiral center, an open mesh and a knot-stitch edge

Spiral Mesh Doily — original 1915 photograph of the spiral crochet doily
Original photograph, The Priscilla Crochet Book — Centrepieces and Doilies (1915), Fig. 39, pp. 20-21.
Finished size
not given in the 1915 text
Hook
US Steel #9 (1.25–1.40 mm)
Thread
Size 30 crochet cotton (quantity not given in the 1915 text)
Level
intermediate (estimate)
Rounds
30
From
The Priscilla Crochet Book — Centrepieces and Doilies (1915)

✓ Stitch counts checked row by row — all 30 rounds were replayed by our stitch simulator and every count below comes from it. This pattern has not been crochet-tested: tension and final size are up to your hands.

Materials

Original (1915): Crochet cotton No. 30, crochet needle No. 9.

Modern hook: US Steel #9 (1.25–1.40 mm, Craft Yarn Council range).

Notes

  • The doily is worked in a continuous spiral: rounds are never joined. Rounds 15 to 21 each begin with 3 sl sts to the center of the next loop.
  • Rounds 1 to 13 form 4 spiral arms: each round adds 3 sc to every group.
  • Knot st (Solomon's knot), as the 1915 book explains it: draw up the loop on the hook to about 1/4 inch, yarn over and draw through, insert the hook in front of the long loop and under the strand just drawn through, and work 1 sc.
  • US terms. The 1915 text used d = sc, t = dc.

Doily

Rnd 1 to Rnd 30 — tick each round as you go.

  1. Ch 5, sl st in first ch to form a ring. *Ch 6, sc in ring; rep from * 3 more times. Do not join: the doily is worked in a continuous spiral (move a stitch marker up to the first ch of each round). 4 sc, 4 ch-6 loops
  2. *Ch 6, 5 sc in next ch-6 loop, skip next sc (it stays under the new ch-6); rep from * 3 more times. 20 sc, 4 ch-6 loops
  3. *Ch 6, 5 sc in next ch-6 loop, sc in each of next 3 sc, skip last 2 sc of the group; rep from * 3 more times (8 sc in each group). 32 sc, 4 ch-6 loops
  4. *Ch 6, 5 sc in next ch-6 loop, sc in each of next 6 sc, skip last 2 sc of the group; rep from * 3 more times (11 sc in each group). 44 sc, 4 ch-6 loops
  5. *Ch 6, 5 sc in next ch-6 loop, sc in each of next 9 sc, skip last 2 sc of the group; rep from * 3 more times (14 sc in each group). 56 sc, 4 ch-6 loops
  6. *Ch 6, 5 sc in next ch-6 loop, sc in each of next 12 sc, skip last 2 sc of the group; rep from * 3 more times (17 sc in each group). 68 sc, 4 ch-6 loops
  7. *Ch 6, 5 sc in next ch-6 loop, sc in each of next 15 sc, skip last 2 sc of the group; rep from * 3 more times (20 sc in each group). 80 sc, 4 ch-6 loops
  8. *Ch 6, 5 sc in next ch-6 loop, sc in each of next 18 sc, skip last 2 sc of the group; rep from * 3 more times (23 sc in each group). 92 sc, 4 ch-6 loops
  9. *Ch 6, 5 sc in next ch-6 loop, sc in each of next 21 sc, skip last 2 sc of the group; rep from * 3 more times (26 sc in each group). 104 sc, 4 ch-6 loops
  10. *Ch 6, 5 sc in next ch-6 loop, sc in each of next 24 sc, skip last 2 sc of the group; rep from * 3 more times (29 sc in each group). 116 sc, 4 ch-6 loops
  11. *Ch 6, 5 sc in next ch-6 loop, sc in each of next 27 sc, skip last 2 sc of the group; rep from * 3 more times (32 sc in each group). 128 sc, 4 ch-6 loops
  12. *Ch 6, 5 sc in next ch-6 loop, sc in each of next 30 sc, skip last 2 sc of the group; rep from * 3 more times (35 sc in each group). 140 sc, 4 ch-6 loops
  13. *Ch 6, 5 sc in next ch-6 loop, sc in each of next 33 sc, skip last 2 sc of the group; rep from * 3 more times (38 sc in each group). This is the 38 sc a group the 1915 text asks for. 152 sc, 4 ch-6 loops
  14. *Ch 5, skip next ch-6 loop and next sc, sc in next sc, [ch 5, skip next 2 sc, sc in next sc] 12 times; rep from * 3 more times. The last sc goes into the last sc of the round below. 52 sc, 52 ch-5 loops
  15. Sl st in each of next 3 ch (to the center of the next ch-5 loop), *ch 5, sc in next ch-5 loop; rep from * around, 52 times in all: the last sc goes into the loop that holds the sl sts. 52 sc, 52 ch-5 loops
  16. Sl st in each of next 3 ch (to the center of the next ch-5 loop), *ch 5, sc in next ch-5 loop; rep from * around, 52 times in all: the last sc goes into the loop that holds the sl sts. 52 sc, 52 ch-5 loops
  17. Sl st in each of next 3 ch (to the center of the next ch-5 loop), *ch 5, sc in next ch-5 loop; rep from * around, 52 times in all: the last sc goes into the loop that holds the sl sts. 52 sc, 52 ch-5 loops
  18. Sl st in each of next 3 ch (to the center of the next ch-5 loop), *ch 5, sc in next ch-5 loop; rep from * around, 52 times in all: the last sc goes into the loop that holds the sl sts. 52 sc, 52 ch-5 loops
  19. Sl st in each of next 3 ch (to the center of the next ch-5 loop), *ch 5, sc in next ch-5 loop; rep from * around, 52 times in all: the last sc goes into the loop that holds the sl sts. 52 sc, 52 ch-5 loops
  20. Sl st in each of next 3 ch (to the center of the next ch-5 loop), *ch 5, sc in next ch-5 loop; rep from * around, 52 times in all: the last sc goes into the loop that holds the sl sts. 52 sc, 52 ch-5 loops
  21. Sl st in each of next 3 ch (to the center of the next ch-5 loop), *ch 5, sc in next ch-5 loop; rep from * around, 52 times in all: the last sc goes into the loop that holds the sl sts. 52 sc, 52 ch-5 loops
  22. *Skip first ch of next ch-5 loop, sc in next ch, 2 dc in next ch, sc in next ch, skip last ch of the loop, skip next sc, ch 5; rep from * around, 52 times in all. 104 sc, 104 dc, 52 ch-5 loops
  23. *Skip next 4 sts (sc, 2 dc, sc), skip first ch of next ch-5 loop, sc in next ch, 2 dc in next ch, sc in next ch, skip last ch of the loop, ch 5; rep from * around, 52 times in all. 104 sc, 104 dc, 52 ch-5 loops
  24. *Skip next 4 sts (sc, 2 dc, sc), skip first ch of next ch-5 loop, sc in next ch, 2 dc in next ch, sc in next ch, skip last ch of the loop, ch 5; rep from * around, 52 times in all. 104 sc, 104 dc, 52 ch-5 loops
  25. *Skip next 4 sts (sc, 2 dc, sc), skip first ch of next ch-5 loop, sc in next ch, 2 dc in next ch, sc in next ch, skip last ch of the loop, ch 5; rep from * around, 52 times in all. 104 sc, 104 dc, 52 ch-5 loops
  26. *Skip next 4 sts (sc, 2 dc, sc), skip first ch of next ch-5 loop, sc in next ch, 2 dc in next ch, sc in next ch, skip last ch of the loop, ch 5; rep from * around, 52 times in all. 104 sc, 104 dc, 52 ch-5 loops
  27. *Skip next 4 sts (sc, 2 dc, sc), skip first ch of next ch-5 loop, sc in next ch, 2 dc in next ch, sc in next ch, skip last ch of the loop, ch 5; rep from * around, 52 times in all. 104 sc, 104 dc, 52 ch-5 loops
  28. *Skip next 4 sts (sc, 2 dc, sc), skip first ch of next ch-5 loop, sc in next ch, 2 dc in next ch, sc in next ch, skip last ch of the loop, ch 5; rep from * around, 52 times in all. 104 sc, 104 dc, 52 ch-5 loops
  29. *Skip next 4 sts (sc, 2 dc, sc), skip first ch of next ch-5 loop, sc in next ch, 2 dc in next ch, sc in next ch, skip last ch of the loop, ch 5; rep from * around, 52 times in all. 104 sc, 104 dc, 52 ch-5 loops
  30. *Make 2 knot sts, skip next 4 sts (sc, 2 dc, sc), sc in next ch-5 loop; rep from * around, 52 times in all. Fasten off. 104 knot sts, 52 sc

Finishing

Weave in the ends. Block flat: wet the doily, pin it out round on a towel and let it dry (starch if you like) — our advice, not in the 1915 text.

What we changed from the 1915 text

The original wording is kept wherever it works. These are the only changes, each one checked by the stitch simulator:

  • Rnd 1 — « make from * 4 times » = 4 loops in all: the 1915 photograph shows 4 spiral arms of holes, and 4 groups of 38 sc in round 13 is what the text announces
  • 2d-13th rounds — worked in a continuous spiral, never joined (the 1915 text gives no join). « Except last 2 » = the last 2 sc of each group are skipped and lie under the new ch-6
  • Rnd 14 — « miss 2 sts »: we count the ch-6 loop as one st, so each of the 4 sections takes exactly 13 loops (52 in all). Counting every chain as a st does not come out even (58 loops and 2 sts left over). The 1915 photograph shows about 50 loops a round
  • 15th-21st rounds — « Sl to middle of first 5 ch » written as 3 sl sts; « six rounds more like 15th » written out round by round, each checked by the simulator
  • 22d-29th rounds — « Make 8 rounds altogether like 22d round » written out; from round 23 the sc-2 dc-sc group below is skipped to reach the next ch-5 loop
  • Rnd 30 — « Knot-stitch all around » = 2 knot sts, then sc in the next ch-5 loop, as the book's own Explanation of Stitches says (« two ks are usually made for a mesh, then joined to the work with a d »)
  • finishing — « Block flat » is our advice, not in the 1915 text: the solid center adds 12 sc a round where a plain flat sc circle adds about 6, so it needs blocking to lie flat as in the 1915 photograph
  • all — 1915 terms → US: d = sc, t = dc, k st = knot st (Solomon's knot)

Source and copyright

The Priscilla Crochet Book — Centrepieces and Doilies, The Priscilla Publishing Company, Boston, 1915, Fig. 39, pp. 20-21. Scan: https://archive.org/details/priscillacrochet01robi. Published 1915 — public domain in the US (published before 1931).