Mom's Crocheted Shell Edging

The edging above was my Mom's old standby. She used it to put an edging on pillowcases or a handkerchief, even a shawl. I use a variation of it to edge baby blankets made from the Grandma's Dishcloth pattern posted elsewhere on this blog.

If the edging will be on fabric, such as a pillowcase, you will need to lay a foundation row of single crochet around the edge of the fabric. If your crochet hook is too dull to punch through the fabric, use a darning needle to start the opening. Space the stitches evenly. You will want a total number divisible by 5.

Definitions of abbreviations:
sl -- slip stitch
sc -- single crochet
dc -- double crochet
ch -- chain stitch

Openwork foundation:

1st row: * Ch 5. Skip four stitches. Sc in next stitch.* Repeat between ** to end. Adjust stitches at the end to accommodate the pattern. End with sc where first Ch 5 began.
2nd row: Sl 2 *ch5, sc in center of 5-st. chain. ch5* Repeat between ** to end. End with sc at base of first ch5.

Repeat row 2 three to five times, then finish with one of the Shell Rows. The sample used 3 repeats of row 2 and the Ruffled Shell row.

Ruffled shell row: ch3, dc 4 in first sc, ch 1, sc in center of 5-st. chain, *ch1, dc5 in sc, ch1, sc in center of 5-st.chain* Repeat to end.

OR

Flat shell row: ch3, dc 4 in first sc, ch 1, sc in center of 5-st. chain, *ch1, dc5 in center of next 5-st. chain, ch1, sc in center of 5-st.chain* Repeat to end.


If you want a picot in the center of your shell, use this pattern for the shell part:

Picot shell: ch1, dc3, ch 3, sl last chain to loop of last dc (picot is formed), dc3, ch1