I brought my edging pattern in today because I'm going to work on my sweater at lunch. The edging is from "A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns" by Barbara Walker. Incidentally, that book is popping up a lot in my work for two reasons.

1) It is one of the "desert island" books I didn't put into storage with everything else until I can move into my new house.

2) It is completely wonderful in every way.

On page 372, I found the edging I'm using for my sweater. It's called Cockleshell Edging and I don't know if I liked the edging more when I first saw it or fell in love after I read the story of the stitch.

Barbara Walker writes:

"Uncluttered and easy to work, this broad edging is in the grand Victorian tradition of lace knitting. Characteristic of its period are the garter-stitch basis and the single plain decrease (k2 tog) used throughout. A hundred years ago, knitters liked to put edgings like this on knitted cotton petticoats, tablecloths, and curtains."

Just fabulous. A great story. Easy to work. Venerable without being fussy, reversible, and wide enough to give the edge some dramatic flair.