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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Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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