Pattern for historic counterpane, comprised of motifs, insertion and edging. Appears on pages 136-137 in the original 1989 edition. No finished size, gauge or yardage specified. Sample knit with two strands of Knit-Cro-Sheen.

“This simple yet compelling pattern is drawn from the collection of Historic Cherry Hill in Albany, New York. I have never seen another example of a counterpane worked in this pattern, nor have I ever found any written instructions for it. It consists only of reverse stockinette ribbing bordered on each side by a band of faggoting. The insert pattern is a cable on a seed-stitch ground; the border is a garter-stitch edging rhythmically broken by curving columns of faggoting.”
~~ Description by the author/copyright 1989 Mary Walker Phillips

Instructions are given for a rectangular motif (four of these motifs make up the basic square unit), a “half pattern” for a triangle, a cable insertion, and a sawtooth edging. Photographs of all individual elements are provided and a schematic illustrates how these elements fit together.

The central area of this coverlet is comprised of squares set on the diagonal, forming a diamond grid. Because the ribbed fabric of each individual motif pulls inward at its center when set together, each “square” has undulating concave or convex edges. As a result, the diamond grid closely resembles an entrelac fabric (though it is not knit using that technique). This is the “interlocking” feature of the pattern.

Triangular motifs are inserted to fill in the empty spaces between the outer diamonds, resulting in a central rectangle with straight edges. This rectangle is bordered on all four sides by a cabled insertion, followed by an edging with sawtooth points.

Edging and insertion can be worked separately for other projects.