Knit a Wall Hanging that Befits Your Castle

March 31, 2024 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

I will admit from the beginning here that this is the sort of knitting pattern only a few people are probably actually going to want to knit. But we can still admire the coolness of other people’s projects, the work and craftspersonship that went into them, without wanting to make them ourselves, so here we go.

I just happened to be looking for patterns on Ravelry around the same time that this pattern was published, otherwise I never would have see it. And that would have been a shame, because it kind of blew my mind.

Sword of Damocles is a double knit wall hanging that looks like a medieval crest you should find hanging in a castle. I mean, maybe you do live in a castle and you need to remind all visitors that their fate is hanging by a thread and you are holding the sword. No judgement.

In any case, this stunning project uses two colors of worsted weight yarn. The designer, Grace Lindley, used black and white, but any two colors with high contrast could also be used.

The wall hanging measures about 19.5 by 41.3 inches, or 50 by 105 cm, including the fringe. If you wanted a smaller one you could use a lighter weight yarn.

The most amazing part of it all is, this is Grace’s first pattern ever. They’re offering it for free in the hope that knitters will provide constructive feedback that will help them write better patterns in the future.

I for one can’t wait to see what comes next.

You can get the free pattern on Ravelry.

Apparently I have double knitting on the brain (or Ravelry has some kind of magic algorithm I don’t know about) because I just recently shared more double knitting patterns if this is a technique you’d like to explore.

[Photo: Grace Lindley]

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Celebrate Color with the Minas Sweater

One of the hardest things about winter for me is the lack of color. It’s like the whole world ran out of toner, and often our clothes reflect the muted landscape outside, which just makes everything more drab.

This year I’m trying to use and wear all the fun colors of yarn I have in my stash, and I think the Minas Sweater from Cecilia Lalanne & Gabriella Calderini for Manos del Uruguay would be a great way to use a lot of colorful yarn on a sweet sweater.

This cropped sweater uses 1×1 stranded colorwork where the colors change as you work the pattern, which makes it look more complex than it is. The project calls for five colors of worsted weight yarn, but you could probably even use more (or use a multicolored yarn as one or some of your options) to bring even more color to the party.

It’s a simple drop shoulder crewneck with straight sleeves, so pretty much all you have to focus on is changing your colors when you need to.

There are seven size options in the pattern, ranging from a bust circumference (on the sweater, not the wearer) from 42.75 to 69.25 inches, or 108.5 to 176 cm. It’s intended to be worn with around 8 inches or 20 cm of positive ease for a casual, oversized look.

You can go bold with the color choices like the sample shown here, or pick a couple of more neutral colors to combine with some brighter shades if that’s more your style. Either way this project should be as easy to knit as it is fun to wear. And of course those bright colors make me think a teenager in your life might love it, but of course there’s no rule that says you have to stop wearing fun colors at a certain age. Thank goodness.

The pattern is free to download from Ravelry and is available in both English and Spanish.

[Photo: Cecilia Lalanne & Gabriella Calderini]

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