3. Narrow Edging

This week's pattern is "Narrow Edging," a garter stitch border with a close row of eyelets above and a spaced row of larger eyelets below formed by working two stitches into the double yarn overs. The stitch count increases by one in the first pattern row and returns to the original number in the fourth, creating a barely perceptible notch in the lower edge.

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

Although many knitters today associate lace knitting with cobweb shawls of wool, the surge in the popularity of knitted lace in 1880s America was part of a larger trend in "whitework" for the home. Most of the designs we will see were primarily used to trim curtains, table linens, counterpanes and the like. One can easily imagine Narrow Edging, worked in fine cotton or linen thread, embellishing a bread cloth or a lady's dainty handkerchief.

Next week: Torchon Insertion