London.crafts wiki

From Beeton's Book of Needlework (which is now in the public domain, and is available from Project Gutenberg).

Cast on a number of stitches divisible by nine, as it takes nine stitches for each pattern, and two for each border; the border, which is in plain knitting, will not be mentioned after the first row.

• 1st Row.--2 plain for border; 2 plain *, make 1, 1 plain, repeat this four times from *, make 1, 2 plain; repeat from the beginning--then 2 plain for border.
• 2nd Row.--2 purl, 11 plain, 2 purl; repeat.
• 3rd Row.--Take 2 together, 11 plain, take 2 together; repeat.
• 4th Row.--Purl 2 together, purl 9, purl 2 together; repeat.
• 5th Row.--Take 2 together, 7 plain, take 2 together.

Begin from the 1st row.

Thirteen stitches are large enough for a stripe for a sofa-cover. These stripes should be sewn together after all are finished.

Translation:

• "plain" means "knit".
• "make 1" probably means what's described in section 292 of the same book as: "To Increase. [293] Increasing or making a stitch is done by throwing the thread once round the needle and in the next row knitting it as an ordinary stitch." — see diagram below.