A Jabot - 1971

I bought "The Family Crochet Book", published in 1971, from ThriftBooks and found a few options for things that go around your neck. There was a short jabot, a long jabot or the collars. 

I attempted the scalloped collar on the left above but something was missing in the directions so I gave up. I could have figured it out from the photo but it just didn't seem worth it. I didn't love the flower collar so I decided on the long jabot. But what is a jabot and how do you wear it? Various sources on the internet tell me it's generally a decorative lace panel that's pinned at the neck or attached to a collar. It's still worn in courts of law in various places and it's a part of formal Scottish evening wear. 

The pattern asks for a size 4 hook and 2 ounces of Fontein Crepe which as far as I could tell was a 100% wool, fingering weight yarn. I had some smaller balls of fingering weight wool that was gifted to me so I pulled out one of those. They have a chart for hook sizes and that said a size 4 was the same as an H hook. 

The pattern does give a "tension" or what we would call a gauge and it tells you what the finished size should be.  I was fine on the gauge with the hook size so I started. 

This was a lot like making a doily but with only four rounds it went pretty fast. I ended up aggressively blocking it and ended up with something that was 8 by 17 inches instead of 5 by 12 inches they said the finished project should be. 

The next trick was trying to figure out how to wear it. There were no photos in the book of anyone wearing one and there was no collar that would go around your neck. I thought about trying a pin but most of mine were pretty thick and I didn't want to put big holes in my shirt. I ended up going with one of the polymer clay shawl magnets I made but even that was a challenge to get in the right spot. It's kind of cute but I'm not sure I'd wear it on a regular basis.
​

Rating:
Is the pattern easy to understand? Yes 1.0
If there is a gauge, could I match it? Yes 1.0
Does it look like the photo? Sort of. I over blocked it but even before that it didn't have the ripple. .5
Would someone wear this? Maybe? .5
Did I enjoy making it? I did! It was fast and something I hadn't tried before. 1.0

That gives it a 4.0 out of 5.0.