Cowl of Star Stitches and Lovers Knots

My newest cowl design is Lovelace. I have wanted to crochet two fancy, historic stitches together in one pattern for a long time! I wonder if it has ever been done before.

Historic Stitch Combo

I think of Lovelace as uniting north and south. This is based on all the research I did into the history of these stitches. 

Starwirbel is star stitches
crocheted in very fine wool,
just like in old Norway!

Both originated in the mid-1800's. I can trace star stitches back to Norway, where warm wool yarns were used. Even though some of the earliest star stitches were lacy, they were crocheted with wool, not a cotton or silk crochet thread.

Electra is 100% lover's knot
in fine, fancy yarns. 

Meanwhile, the lover's knot (a.k.a. Solomon's knot, or simply knot stitch) was always crocheted with crochet thread, and the finer the better! So delicate and lacy—so summery—that from a distance the strands appear to dissolve in the sunlight.

My Lotus yarn held together
with a strand of glittery mohair.

Love knots are perfectly happy to be crocheted of yarn too, even wool. For Lovelace I used a medium (worsted weight) merino wool yarn, and swatched many others, which all worked beautifully.

Lovelace swatched in handspun angora!

Crocheting these two together is a fun and exciting Intermediate skill-level experience. It makes a truly special gift. Make it as long or wide as you like; I included information for customizing the size in the pattern.