36. Wheat-Ear Lace

"Wheat-Ear Lace" is a relatively narrow garter stitch edging, blocking to 7/8" when knit in fingering weight yarn on 2.25mm needles. It features pairs of eyelets tipped diagonally to create the motif. The lower edge is scalloped and rimmed with eyelets formed by beginning each wrong side row with a yarn over. The stitch count rises from five to eight over the first five rows, and the added stitches are worked off with the diabolical P5tog in the final row of the 8-row repeat.

You can download the full-size chart, verbal instructions and notes here.

Next time: Vine Tidy

35. Normandy Lace

"Normandy Lace" is from a newspaper clipping accompanied by this note:

Sisters of the Home: Here are directions for knitting Normandy lace. I know you will like it. Be sure to knit it loosely. It comes in points and wheels. The points are solid, but the wheels are open. - Julie Beers.

The garter stitch edging is a "true" knitted lace with every row a pattern row. The stitch count rises steadily in the first half of the pattern, but the added stitches are worked off in a less orderly fashion in the second half of the 12-row repeat.

You can download the full-size chart, verbal instructions and notes here.

Next time: Wheat-Ear Lace

34. French Lace

"French Lace" is a garter stitch edging featuring a spot design of eyelet clusters formed by short segments of faggoting. A single large eyelet adorns each "sawtooth" of the lower edge. The stitch count jumps by four in the second row and thereafter remains constant until the added stitches are bound off in the last row of the 8-row repeat.

You can download the full-size chart, verbal instructions and notes here.

Next week: Normandy Lace

33. Second Pattern

Simple and sweet, "Second Pattern" (from a newspaper clipping, the name implies there having been another design published at the same time) is a narrow saw-tooth trim with diagonal rows of eyelets. The stitch count rises steadily from four to seven before the added stitches are bound off in the final row of the 6-row repeat.

You can download the full-size chart, verbal instructions and notes here.

Next week: French Lace

32. Knitted Lace Insertion

D.P.A. of Cassopolis MI submitted "Knitted Lace Insertion" to the newspaper to match a previously published edging. A trio of eyelets zigzags across the panel and back again. The yarn over/decrease pairs shift one stitch over each right side row. Here the change in direction is achieved solely by the position of the yarn over relative to its corresponding decrease, i.e., before or after the decrease, while a modern designer would most likely employ a different decrease as well. The garter stitch panel of 15 stitches has a 26-row repeat.

You can download the full-size chart, verbal instructions and notes here.

Next up: Second Pattern

31. Aunt Mary's Lace

"Aunt Mary's Lace" features a plain garter stitch upper edge, a lozenge-shaped motif and eyelets outlining the scalloped lower edge. The stitch count varies a great deal from row to row due to the placement of the yarn overs in relation to their corresponding decreases.

You can download the full-size chart, verbal instructions and notes here.

This is another pattern from a newspaper clipping, the design sent in by subscriber Mrs. J. L. I. She wrote:

My sister and I have knitted many pretty designs given and would now like to make some return to the fair knitters. I send herewith a specimen and directions for edge unlike anything I have yet seen. It is my sister's design and we call it 'Aunt Mary's Lace.'

Next up: Knitted Lace Insertion

30. Knife Pleated Edging

After an August hiatus (while I settled into a new job and tended to other matters), our parade of Victorian designs returns with the only non-lace pattern in the sample book. "Knife Pleated Edging" features a knit-and-purl texture and uses short rows to create the pleats.

Like 5. Knitted Trimming the sample had a tendency to curve as it was knit. Since the pleats had more rows than the upper edge, the lower area wanted to fan out before blocking.

However, unlike the earlier pattern, where blocking straight would have obscured the lace pattern, bringing the upper edge of this design in line enhanced the pleated effect. I blocked the same sample two ways. First, without stretching the fabric in either direction, I pinned the upper edge in a straight line and pinned the pleats in place directly below. This maximized the depth of the folds.

Then I reblocked the edging, gently stretching the width and height. This version highlighted the knit/purl surface design.

While most modern short row instructions call for "wrap and turn"--- i.e., at the end of the short row: 1) bring yarn forward, 2) slip the next stitch, 3) yarn back, 4) return slipped stitch to left needle before turning the work--- to prevent a gap in the knitting, the sample book makes no mention of the technique. I knit my swatch of the pattern as written, simply turning the work with three stitches unworked and proceeding to the next row. The resulting holes are fairly small and are noticeable only when the sample was blocked stretched out. In this case, they can serve as a design feature, offsetting the lower pleats from the narrow band along the upper edge.

You can download the full-size chart, verbal instructions and notes here.

Next week: Aunt Mary's Lace