Lace Knitted Lampshade

2024.005

Lace Knitted Lampshade

Thompson, Suzann

1985

9 1/8 inches high, 13 1/4 inches across the lower edge at widest point.

The black ceramic lamp and its six-sided lampshade came from an estate sale. Not only was the lamp attractive, the shade was perfect for a knitted cover. From the top, the shade’s frame angled gently to a wider lower edge. The natural stretchiness of the knitting could accommodate the increase, without my having to add stitches.

I knitted the shade in the round with a double strand of vintage Bucilla Blue Label knitting and crochet cotton, also from an estate sale. The hem at top and bottom consisted of one round of purl stitches and a few rounds of plain knitting. The purl round made a natural crease in the knitting, where I folded it to the inside of the top and bottom of the lampshade frame.

After lining the frame, I stretched the knitting over it and stitched it in place.

The pattern is “The Cloisters” from Barbara G. Walker’s A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, 1970, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, pp. 234-235.

My knitted shade was featured in The Lampshade Book by Dawn Cusick (1996, Altamont Press, Asheville, NC, pp. 100-102).

Suzann Thompson