1892 Shell Game Strip by Vicki Monthei

1892 Shell Game Strip

Knitting
July 2023
Thread ?
10 stitches and 8 rows = 1 inch
in shell game pattern - blocked
US 2 - 2.75 mm
NA
English
This pattern is available as a free Ravelry download

Love these curves! This sweet old pattern from 1892 Butterick Publishing’s The Art of Knitting, p. 19, #5 takes some attention but the results are worth it. The original pattern had an 8-stitch repeat and 7 rounds. I changed that to a 9-stitch repeat and 8 rows to work it flat on 2 needles. I also changed the first and last row’s yarn overs to make-1s because those yarn overs looked too large compared to the others. Row 1’s make-1s are a little tricky to pick up, so feel free to revert them back to yarn overs, if preferred. I added 4 selvage stitches on each edge. The piece will not knit square (it forms a parallelogram), so blocking it hard is recommended.

Skills needed: long-tail cast on, knit, purl, k2tog, p2tog, make 1 (work the horizontal thread/yarn between the needles making an eyelet), yarn over 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 size and appearance.

26 yards of #10 crochet cotton thread will make about 40 rows (5 inches) of a 44-stitch-wide strip in the stated gauge.