Cactuar Cactus Knitting Pattern

I’m going to admit at the top here that I had no idea what a cactuar was when I first picked this pattern to write about. I just thought it was cute and would fit well into my continuing series of whimsical knitting patterns.

If you know what it is you can skip this paragraph. This little guy is an anthropomorphic cactus in a running pose that has been featured in the Final Fantasy video games and is considered a mascot of the game. It has been both an enemy and a summon and is known for being elusive and for its dangerous 1000 Needles attack (thanks, wiki fandom!).

This design from Fibrously uses worsted weight yarn in green and a little bit of black for the features. It’s worked in the round in pieces, with the body worked in one piece and the legs, eyes and mouth are worked separately and sewn on after stuffing.

Of course you could work it in a different weight of yarn if you want to make a bigger or smaller cactuar. You can check out the different versions that have been made over the years on the pattern’s Ravelry page. They look like they are of various sizes, and one person noted working with yarn held double to make a bigger version. You could also try working it with blanket yarn to make a really huge version that’s super huggable despite being a cactus creature.

You can find the pattern at Fibously.

If you want to check out some more whimsy-filled knitting patterns, you can knit a hot air balloon, some nesting cats, a super cute pigeon, some silly goose socks, or a family of hats that look like mushrooms. If you’ve knit something fun like these patterns I’d love to hear about it and have you share a pattern if there is one!

[Photo: Fibously]

There’s a lot to like about the Eloise Bandana from Katryn Seeburger. This cute little colorwork triangle can be worked as a bandana or kerchief size or a bigger shawlette.

It’s worked in two colors of fingering weight yarn so you can use whatever yarn you have in your stash and just make it as big as you can (since it is worked from the bottom up).

You can see the two sizes from the photo, and also two colorwork options: strawberries and lily of the valley.

But that’s not all the choices you have. In fact, there are 34 different charts you can choose from to knit onto your project. Some of the options include happy faces, a lobster, a pumpkin, a snail and a butterfly. There are cherries, peaches, tomatoes and radishes.

There’s even a blank square you can use to draw your own little design if you want to use something else. Or keep it blank and make it a plain checkerboard design.

And while both of these shawls use the same icons throughout, you could also use different designs throughout if you want. Say a fall version with a bat, pumpkin, leaf and acorn, or a summer beach theme with sailboat, fish, lobster and a bird? I keep suggesting four different icons because the larger size has four rows of squares, but the smaller has three, so you could do stripes of the same icon or alternate a couple of different ones, whatever you like.

Look through the finished projects on the Ravelry project page to see lots of different options, from rows to individual icons. There are also some projects that are smaller than the suggested size to make a smaller bandana. You could also keep going a make a bigger shawl working increases in the same way as you have been going.

Check out all the details and grab a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Katryn Seeburger]

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