Openwork was common amongst shawls and many other knit articles of the 1860s. While putting together the CDV sontag collection, I was delighted to see a few ladies wearing sontags in what appears to be the diamond stitch. I eventually located a pattern for this in Peterson’s Magazine, in 1865. The pattern was for a moss-stitch bosom wrap but included the following detail: “An open stitch can be used instead of the moss stitch, if preferred.”

The stitch used for this pattern, is the diamond stitch, from Godey’s 1860.

The border is crochet. However, the pattern book does have multiple knit border options that can be utilized instead.