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!

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Santa and Saint Nicholas generally get all the good press, but Central European kids know you don’t want to just be good so you get presents from St. Nicholas; you also want to avoid the ire of Krampus. (He’s depicted as a human-like figure with horns and usually hairy or furry who gives birch rods instead of gifts to kids who are bad.)

If you’re the type to embrace the naughty side (or you just want to scare the children into good behavior over the holidays), maybe you’ll want to knit a Krampus sweater.

This one, from Sofie Amalie Laulund, is a top down circular yoke sweater with Krampus faces at the top and cavorting Krampuses further down the body, with some traditional Scandinavian snowflakes thrown in for fun.

Because of the large motifs there’s not a lot of room for adjusting the fit, but it is available in five sizes (the Ravelry page doesn’t say what the sizing is, and it says its worked with no ease but the photo looks like the sweater has a bit of positive ease, so if you decide to make this one just check the measurements and your own comfort level for ease when picking a size).

It also uses five colors, but there’s very little red and brown so you can probably use scrap yarn for those parts. It calls for DK weight yarn. You’ll want a background color that helps the creatures stand out. You could also work the snowflake bands in different colors if you want to mix it up.

The pattern is available in both English and Danish, and you can find it on Ravelry. This is the designer’s first pattern, which kudos to them because it’s such an ambitious (and fun!) project I’m happy to add to my collection of whimsy-filled knits.

[Photo: Sofie Amalie Laulund]

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