Materials Required—
AMERICAN THREAD COMPANY
“DE LUXE” MERCERIZED CROCHET AND
KNITTING COTTON, ARTICLE 346

3—300 yd. Balls White or Ecru will make 4 mats.

Steel Crochet Hook #6.

Each mat measures about 12 x 16½ inches.

Mats are worked with a double strand of thread.

Ch 95, tr c in 15th st from hook, ch 1, skip 1 st of ch, tr c in next st, ch 1, skip 1 st of ch, tr c in next st, * ch 5, skip 5 sts of ch, tr c in next st, ch 1, skip 1 st of ch, tr c in next st, ch 1, skip 1 st of ch, tr c in next st, repeat from * 6 times, ch 5, tr c in last st of ch.

2nd Row—Ch 8, turn, d c in 1st tr c, * d c in next ch 1 mesh, d c in next tr c, repeat from * once, * ch 5, d c in next tr c, d c in next ch 1 mesh, d c in next tr c, d c in next ch 1 mesh, d c in next tr c, repeat from * 6 times, ch 5, skip 5 sts of ch, d c in next st.

3rd and 4th Rows—Ch 8, turn, 1 d c in each of the next 5 d c, * ch 5, 1 d c in each of the next 5 d c, repeat from * 6 times, ch 5, skip 5 sts of ch, d c in next st.

5th Row—Ch 9, turn, * tr c in next d c, ch 1, skip 1 d c, tr c in next d c, ch 1, skip 1 d c, tr c in next d c, ch 5, repeat from * across row, skip 5 sts of ch, tr c in next st. Repeat the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th rows 4 times, without breaking thread start border, ch 13 and working across short side skip 1 row, d c over end st of next row, * ch 10, skip 3 rows, d c over end st of next row, repeat from * 3 times, ch 10, d c in center st at corner, ch 10, d c in same corner loop, ch 10, skip 1 tr c, d c in next tr c, * ch 10, d c in center tr c of next tr c group, repeat from * 6 times, ch 10, d c in corner loop, ch 10, d c in corner st of same loop, ch 10, skip 1 row, d c over end st of next row, * ch 10, skip 3 rows, d c over end st of next row, repeat from * 3 times, ch 10, d c in center st at corner, ch 10, d c in same corner loop, ch 10, skip 1 tr c, d c in next tr c, * ch 10, d c in center tr c of next group, repeat from * 6 times, ch 10, d c in corner loop, ch 5, d tr c (3 times over needle) in 3rd st of 1st ch 13, this brings thread in position for next row.

There should be 8 loops on each narrow side including corners and 11 loops on each long side including corners (34 loops).

Next Row—Ch 13, d c in next loop, * ch 10, d c in next loop, repeat from * all around ending row same as last row.

Next Row—Same as last row but ending row with ch 10, sl st in 3rd st of ch, break thread.

DIRECTIONS FOR STARCHING MATS

New mats should be washed in mild soap flakes, rinsed and dried.

STARCH: Dissolve ¼ cup of starch in ½ cup of cold water. Cook slowly over a low flame. As it thickens, stir in gradually about 1¼ cups cold water. Cook, stirring constantly until the starch clears, 10 to 12 minutes. This makes a thick pasty mixture. As soon as starch is cool enough to handle, dip mat and squeeze starch through it thoroughly. Wring out extra starch. The mat should be wet with the starch, but there should be none in the spaces. Pin mat in position according to size and leave until thoroughly dry.