Knitting for Holi

Holi is not really a holiday that you hear much about in the United States. It’s a traditionally Hindu holiday that usually falls in March and marks the beginning of spring, as well as reminding people that good triumphs over evil.

The reason this holiday should resonate with knitters is that it is also known as the festival of colors, and one of the traditions of Holi is to throw colored powder (called gulal) or colored water on people. I’m not entirely sure why, but it’s a great reason to break out colorful yarn and fun knitting projects that use a lot of colors.

For instance, the Holi Mitts from Jaya Srikrishnan, which are found in the book Color Style. It’s a super cute slip stitch pattern that actually makes using that many colors pretty easy.

Amanda Jones had a gorgeous cardigan pattern called Holi in The Knitter magazine back in 2011. Even without the pattern to go by, this is a really inspirational project.

Dagmar Reinschmidt has a great set of patterns called Holimoli, which includes a few hat variations, mitts and a cowl. The fingerless gloves are available for free, while the others can be purchased individually or as a set.

Charles Gandy has a pair of colorful socks called Holy Moly that have intentionally made holes in them (but in a really cool way) that I think would also be appropriate for Holi. Or just pull out your brightest sock yarn and make yourself a simple pair of Holi socks.

I also wanted to note that Madeline Tosh makes a colorway called Holi Festival, which is white with colorful flecks, as if it had been hit with gulal. You can check out all the projects that have been made with it on Ravelry for more colorful inspiration. I actually have a skein of this yarn and am now thinking hard about making a Honey Cowl with it because these look so pretty. What would you make with this colorful yarn?

Looking for more knitting patterns for knitted Cardigans? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

Specific to knitters, you can join our Knitting Patterns Only group to get, well, knitting patterns, ask questions and gain inspiration for what to knit next.

Looking for Yarn online? Check out Lionbrand our preferred source for purchasing yarn online.

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It seems like every year there are more rainbow colored (and other flag hued) knitting projects out there to celebrate Pride. Whether you celebrate at a local event or just want to add some more color to your wardrobe, these Pride knitting patterns are a great place to start.

See also these Pride knitting patterns, tiny Pride flags, and more rainbow projects if you need more inspiration.

These Pride socks from Birger Berge are a free pattern on Ravelry. They feature a rainbow flag on the heel and toe, plus stripes on the cuff with the word Pride and a heart worked in.

Or you can Put Some Pride in Your Step with these allover colorful socks from Oriahna WhimsyStitch. Using a self-striping fingering weight yarn, they have a spiral rib on the legs and come in three sizes. The pattern has suggestions for if you don’t have self-striping yarn to use. You can find it on Ravelry.

Amy Snell’s Pride Like the Wind is a triangular shawl that uses slipped stitches to add texture to the multicolored stripes. The pattern was made with a large skein of rainbow colored yarn and mini skeins in rainbow colors, but you can use stash or whatever you can find in theose colors for a different look. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

Pride and Elegance is a pretty pair of rainbow striped arm warmers made by martaschmarta. They call for fingering weight yarn and have sparkly beads incorporated at each end for extra flair. This pattern is also on Ravelry.

Pride in Parallelograms by Treena Evans is a mobius knit cowl worked in a multicolored ombre yarn. It calls for DK weight yarn and is a free pattern on Ravelry.

Stephen G. Krueger has designed a lovely kippah/yarmulke pattern that can be worked in the colors of any Pride flag you like. The pattern is free on Ravelry and uses fingering weight yarn.

And if you want to make a full progress flag in knitting, you’ll need the modular progressive Pride flag pattern from Kim Smith for Alterknit Universe. The pattern comes in two sizes using different weights of yarn to suit your needs, and the modular style of the project makes it seamless. You can purchase this pattern on Ravelry.

If you want to add a touch of Pride to a sweater, wall hanging or other project, the abstract waves chart from Hits Knit Patterns is a great place to start. It uses the colors of the lesbian flag, but you could change it to whatever colors you like (there are six colors used and the chart is 49 stitches by 80 rows).

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