This unusual travelling bolster is one of the most distinctive household patterns in My Crochet Sampler (1847). The design combines two circular star-patterned ends with a long striped body and offers a fascinating glimpse into Victorian travel comfort.
This pattern preserves the original color order but presents the instructions in a clearer sectioned format. The source leaves some increase placement to the crocheter, so check frequently that each circular end remains flat.
Materials
The original uses black four-thread fleecy, three shades of scarlet, three shades of green, white, and yellow. The finished bolster was stuffed with down or soft wool. A modern maker can use a washable yarn and a suitable cushion filling.
Pattern Instructions
Circular Ends — Make Two
With black, chain 6 and join into a ring. Work the first round around the ring, increasing at each stitch.
- Round 2: repeat 1 dark scarlet, 2 light green.
- Round 3: repeat 3 dark scarlet, 2 light green.
- Round 4: repeat 5 middle scarlet, 2 light green.
- Round 5: repeat 5 middle scarlet, 3 middle green.
- Round 6: repeat 3 light scarlet, 6 middle green.
- Round 7: repeat 1 light scarlet, 8 dark green.
- Round 8: dark green.
Finish each end with 2 plain black rounds. Increase in the green portions and in the black rounds as necessary to keep the circles flat.
Bolster Body
Make a black foundation chain approximately 16 inches long, then work the following rows:
- Black.
- Dark green.
- Middle green.
- Light green.
- White.
- Repeat the first four colors in reverse order.
- Rows 10–11: scarlet.
- Row 12: repeat 6 scarlet, 4 black.
- Row 13: repeat 7 scarlet, 4 yellow, 6 scarlet.
- Row 14: repeat 6 scarlet, 4 black.
- Row 15: repeat 7 scarlet, 4 light green, 6 scarlet.
- Rows 16–17: scarlet.
Return to the first row of the sequence and repeat until the strip is long enough to wrap comfortably around the circular ends.
Assembly
Join the body around the two circular ends and stuff firmly but comfortably. The source suggests a long crochet band at each end and a small worsted tuft as decoration.
Vintage Source
Publication: My Crochet Sampler
Author: Miss Lambert
Publisher: D. M. Peyser, New York
Year: 1847
Original pages: 131–134
Project Gutenberg eBook: #57595
Rights note: Project Gutenberg identifies this work as public domain in the United States. Readers outside the United States should check the copyright law that applies in their location.
About This Crochet Board Edition
This Crochet Board page is an editorially organized presentation of a historical public-domain pattern. The original construction, counts, color sequence, and period terminology have been preserved where they are important to the design, while punctuation and layout have been clarified for easier reading. Historical yarn names, hook conventions, sizing practices, and stitch terms may differ from modern standards.
Explore more: Browse the Vintage Crochet archive or read How to Read Vintage Crochet Patterns before working from nineteenth-century instructions.