Kanazawa Castle in Kanazawa, Japan, is a beautiful structure that was designed and built to last through the ages. Its walls are a grid of thick bamboo that is reinforced with layers of straw, clay, and stone, and finished with white mortar and inset tiles. A display inside the castle explains the complex structure of the walls by showing each layer overlapping the next on a diagonal.

Our Castle Wall, a rectangular scarf knit on the bias from corner to corner, is inspired by this structure. Its construction is intuitive and easy to execute, but it turns a series of simple knit-and‐purl textures (and one mosaic pattern) into a sophisticated diagonal mural. The design is unisex, fully written out, and, although not identical on both sides, balanced and equally attractive from all angles.

Worked in four colors of Why Knot Fibers’ Siren or Sweet Vixen (the mini-skein of Siren), Castle Wall is a beautiful and functional piece that will protect and delight you through the seasons.

Yarn: Castle Wall is designed to be worked in four skeins of Why Knot Fibers’ Sweet Vixen, the mini-skeins of their Siren. This yarn is a brilliant cashmere‐blend fingering yarn available in a plenitude of stunning shades. As written, the pattern calls for 108 yards (one Sweet Vixen skein) each of Shoreline, Ripple, Peacock, and Blue Jean Baby.

Modifications: Castle Wall can be easily modified length- and width-wise. The pattern can accommodate more or fewer colors, and the textured body sections can be rearranged in infinite combinations. The instructions include hints on how to turn 850 or more yards of Siren into a Castle Wall stole.

Instructions: The pattern includes both charted and fully written-out instructions.

Skills Needed: Knitting, purling, basic increases and decreases, and weaving in ends. The colorwork section is a mosaic pattern, so only one color is worked per row; the apparent color changes are accomplished with slipped stitches.

Errata: The first .pdf and print version of Castle Wall included errors in the written instructions for the mosaic pattern. The .pdf has been updated. The corrected rows read as follows:

Body Mosaic

Row 5 (Blue Jean Baby): K1, p1 2 times, k1, p2tog, sl1 wyib, k6, +k1, sl1 wyib, k6; repeat from + to last 6 sts, p1, k1 3 times.

Row 6 (Blue Jean Baby): K1, p1 2 times, kfb, +k7, sl1 wyif; repeat from + to last 6 sts, p1, k1 3 times.

Row 7 (Peacock): K1, p1 2 times, k1, p2tog, k4, sl1 wyib, k2, +k5, sl1 wyib, k2; repeat from + to last 6 sts, p1, k1 3 times.

Row 8 (Peacock): K1, p1 2 times, kfb, +k3, sl1 wyif, k4; repeat from + to last 6 sts, p1, k1 3 times.

Row 9 (Blue Jean Baby): K1, p1 2 times, k1, p2tog, k1, k1, sl1 wyib 3 times, +k2, k1, sl1 wyib 3 times; repeat from + to last 6 sts, p1, k1 3 times.

Row 10 (Blue Jean Baby): K1, p1 2 times, kfb, k1, sl1 wyif 3 times, k2; repeat from + to last 6 sts, p1, k1 3 times.