Knits for Mardi Gras

I guess Mardi Gras isn’t really a big crafting holiday, but at this point I’ll take just about any excuse for a party. I’ve knit a couple of Mardi Gras-themed projects in the past, including a fun knit bead necklace and a fleur de lis washcloth.

Searching Ravelry for more inspiration brought me another cute I-cord necklace from Craftown, a wee Mardi Gras sock (perfect for a keychain) from Lisa Diesslin, a cute washcloth with a mask pattern from One Crafty Mama and an actual knit mask by Heather Storta. Suzy Crancer also has a fun loopy hat knit in Mardi Gras colors, which of course you could make in any other colors or wear any time of year.

If you’re willing to pay a bit for a pattern, Purlqueen Patterns has some fun, colorful Mardi Gras party bangles ($6); Ray Whiting has a reversible cable, invisible intarsia scarf (which would be fun techniques to learn for a scarf of any color and will run you $8.50); and I love the Mardis Gras Crown washcloth from Emily Jagos that will cost you $1.79.

Do you knit for Mardi Gras? I’d love to hear what you’ve made!

Next Pattern:

Using your yarn stash is important to me throughout the year, but as I start to feel the end of the year coming on I get more excited about using things I already have in the house. Maybe that’s because I don’t want to go to a store in the thick of holiday shopping times, or I like the idea of having a little space in my stash when the new year rolls around.

It’s super satisfying to use up all the little odd balls you’ve made over the year (or years), and I have several stash busting blankets I work on when it’s cold and will maybe finish someday.

If you’d like to start a stash busting project that’s perfect for using up odd balls, check out the Soukish pattern from Neisha Abdulla. This pattern is made for fingering weight/sock yarn, and it’s worked in a tube with allover color work.

This is great for a couple of reasons. You don’t really have to weave in your ends when you can hide them in a tube (this is one time you might even get by just tying a knot when you change colors!) and you can change colors whenever you run out of yarn and it will look good.

Of course the pattern is made with blocks where the designer changed colors, but you can change yours more or less often as you need to make it work for your stash. You can use blank charts to design your own color combinations, or even your own stitch patterns if you like. You can also adjust the length of the scarf as needed or turn it into a cowl based on the amount of yarn you have.

This project looks like a lot of fun and would be a great thing to have on hand to stitch up and then to wear during the cold, gloomy months.

You can get a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Neisha Abdulla]

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