24 Free Lace Weight Yarn Knitting Patterns

Shawls are easily the most common projects for lace weight yarn you can find. For many knitters, completing an intricate shawl is the ultimate test of the progression of their knitting skills over the years. Taking the form of either a long rectangle (wrap), a triangular, circular, or semicircular flat garment, shawls are meant to be draped over the shoulders and are most often worn in formal settings. Occasionally, some wearers choose to gather them around their necks to wear as a scarf. If you're feeling up to the challenge, this knitterly challenge is a rewarding one.

If you don't necessarily have the patience for a lace shawl, or you don't see yourself ever wearing one and therefore don't feel the need to put forth the effort, I hear you! I'm not a shawl gal, either (though I can appreciate how lovely they look). For a more utilitarian use of your lace weight yarn, you might consider knitting a featherlight scarf to keep the breeze off your neck in the springtime, or a densely-knit hat for a cozy winter warmer. While these accessories will still take longer to knit up with lace yarn than with, say, worsted weight yarn, you'll find the dainty, delicate look of your finished accessory worth the time invested.

For the ultimate test of knitting patience, or a project you can keep working on for months while you dabble in other endeavors, a sweater or poncho made of laceweight yarn is a fantastic option. You'll find the end result is something that could have been displayed in a store window, with its delicate detailing and smooth-to-the-touch texture. These sorts of projects for lace weiht yarn are the ones that you'll truly have to convince your friends that, yes, you actually knit it by hand. Bear in mind that these patterns are truly commitments, so think long and hard before you dedicate yourself to one of the beauties below.