1840 Gauffre Stitch by Vicki Monthei

1840 Gauffre Stitch

Knitting
August 2024
Thread ?
10 stitches and 18 rows = 1 inch
in Gauffre stitch - blocked
US 2 - 2.75 mm
NA
English
This pattern is available as a free Ravelry download

This deeply textured but so-easy pattern is from 1840 The Ladies’ Knitting and Netting Book, Second Series, p.62. It has a 6-stitch, 16-row repeat. For 5 rows, stockinette stitch is worked on 4 stitches and 2 stitches are slipped purl-wise. Then, after 3 rows of reverse stockinette stitch across the entire swatch, the same 6-stitch pattern is shifted sideways by 3 stitches. Another nicety with this pattern is the yarn stays on the same side of the work for an entire row (minus selvage stitches): no throwing the yarn back and forth for the slipped stitches! Thicker yarns will make an even deeper texture.
The swatch is 41 stitches/4 inches across: 6 6-stitch repeats + 4 selvage stitches.

Skills needed: cast on, slip (see notes), knit, purl and bind off in knit stitch.

Gauge is not important in this pattern. Any block-able yarn/thread will work. Make a swatch to check gauge and appearance.

72 yards of #10 crochet thread will make about 10 inches of a 41-stitch-wide strip in the stated gauge.