Knits Inspired by a Book Series

I hadn’t heard of Laura Sebastian’s fantasy series Castles in Their Bones until I stumbled upon Mary P. Hunt’s knitting patterns inspired by the series, but if you’re already a fan (of this series in particular or fantasy in general) you’re sure to enjoy these designs.

The book series, in case you’re curious, follows triplet princesses who each marry a prince on their 16th birthday as part of their mother’s master plan to take over the whole continent of Vesteria. (Thanks, GoodReads!)

I don’t know how I found the (all these links ahead are to Ravelry, FYI) Star-Touched Hat knitting pattern, but it was the first one I saw. There’s also a coordinating cowl and mittens if you want to complete the full set.

All of them prominently feature stars and have a sort of Art Deco feel. They call for DK weight yarn in two colors, so you could make them all to match or use different colors for each.

The hat comes in five sizes, ranging in circumference from 18.5 to 22.3 inches (or 47 to 57 cm). It can be worked with a short brim or a folded brim.

The mittens come in small and large adult sizes, with extended sizes for both (more length is included in the extended sizes). These feature a cool Latvian braid at the top of the cuff, which is a fun skill to learn.

And the cowl is one size, on the smaller side as cowls go, measuring about 13.5 inches/34.5 cm tall and 26 inches/66 cm around.

The designer suggests you can hold a bit of metallic thread along with your yarn to give it more of a sparkly, regal, celestial feel, but that’s totally up to you!

As mentioned above you can get all of these patterns on Ravelry. As of this writing there doesn’t seem to be a discount from buying all three, but maybe that will change.

[Photo: Mary P. Hunt]

Next Pattern:

Many times when I write these posts I will say something like “you can use any yarn you want” or “this would be a great stash-busting project.” That’s just how my mind works. And my stash, too, since I probably have sweater quantity of two or three yarns at most, but tons of singles and odd balls and leftovers.

Blankets are generally a really good way to use up those bits, but in this case, I think you’re going to want to plan it out a bit better.

Looking at photos of the Color Study Blanket from Purl Soho, it looks like it’s made with two yarns held together, and that block in the center is worked with one of each color from the adjoining sides to make a mixed up color.

But that’s not actually how it’s done. This is three separate colors (four, really, with the neutrals in the corners) chosen form a yarn with an expansive palette so they play off each other. The project calls for a worsted weight superwash wool, which is a great choice for a blanket that’s both warm and washable.

This pattern was originally designed by Laura Ferguson and was updated by Hiromi Glover. It is worked in one piece in garter stitch intarsia, which is a great way to learn the intarsia technique if you don’t already know it. It comes in crib or throw sizes.

Despite the introduction to this post, I am going to go ahead and say that, yes, of course you could do this blanket with scraps or odd balls or even just choose five colors that don’t blend together so easily. But I really do love the look of the color play, and I think it would be worth your time to find colors that play well together to get a similar effect.

This pattern is available for free from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?