I started with three 9-stitch repeats of Mrs. Beeton’s very popular 1870 pattern plus 4 edge stitches but wanted taller peacock tails. After some trial and error, I settled on an 8-row pattern keeping the 9-stitch repeat. I changed the repeats’ left-side decreases to SSK to keep attention on the graceful arches and not the borders between repeats. The original peacock’s tail pattern is also in 1892 Butterick’s The Art of Knitting, p.15, #22. The swatch is 4 inches wide at gauge.

Skills needed: cast on, slip, knit, purl, YO, M1L, M1R, k2tog, SSK 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.

60 yards of Aunt Lydia’s Classic 10 thread will make 10 inches of a 31-stitch-wide strip at gauge.