La Catrina · Day of the Dead Sweater
This Day of the Dead sweater is La Catrina, the grande dame of Dia de los Muertos, knitted in bone-white with marigold-orange blooms crowning her wide hat and the same marigold around the eyes of her sugar skull, with the KNITFERATU wordmark across the upper back. An elegant memento mori worked stitch by stitch into heavyweight black acrylic or wool blend. Death has never dressed better.
In 80% wool, the colours are confirmed by email before we knit.
A finer yarn, on request (priced separately)| S | M | L | XL | 2XL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chest (flat) | 52 | 55 | 58 | 61 | 64 |
| Length | 66 | 69 | 72 | 74 | 76 |
| Sleeve | 60 | 62 | 64 | 65 | 66 |
Measured on the finished garment: chest laid flat under the arms (double it for the full round), length from the back of the neck, sleeve from the shoulder seam.
Without your own measurements, we knit this standard size. Want it to your measurements? Write them in the commission form.
- TechniqueKnitted jacquard, never printed
- ColoursBlack, bone, marigold orange
- Yarn100% acrylic, or 80% wool and 20% polyamide
- FitRelaxed unisex, S to 2XL
- MadeItalian atelier, 40 years of flat-bed knitwear
- Lead timeKnitted to order, 2 to 3 weeks
- CareInstructions for your yarn ship with the piece
Knitted, not printed
The motif is jacquard: bone-white and coloured yarns carried through the black acrylic or wool blend row by row on an industrial flat-bed machine. There is no ink, no transfer and no embroidery on top. Pattern and garment are the same object, so nothing can crack or peel.
Fabric and fit
Two yarns, two prices: 100% acrylic, or 80% wool and 20% polyamide, the warmer of the two; in 80% wool, the colours are confirmed by email before we knit. A finer yarn is possible on request, priced separately. Relaxed unisex fit, true to size, S to 2XL: the standard measurements are in the table next to the sizes. Between sizes, take the bigger one.
Made to order
Your piece is knitted after you order it: the chart goes on the machine, the yarn is mounted, then it is linked, hand-finished and steamed. Two to three weeks, plus shipping. No dead stock, no warehouse.
Shipping and returns
Free tracked shipping worldwide. EU 2 to 5 working days after dispatch, UK, US and the rest of the world 5 to 10. Fourteen days to change your mind, and the size exchange is free.
La Catrina, the grande dame of the Day of the Dead, knitted in bone-white with marigold-orange blooms crowning the brim of her wide hat and the same marigold around the eyes of her sugar skull. An elegant memento mori. Death has never dressed better, and never in anything this heavy.
The flowers are what make this piece difficult. Marigold against bone against black is three colours in a single row, and the blooms had to keep their petals legible at a scale where each one is only a handful of stitches wide. Her face is charted as a sugar skull, which means the decorative detail around the eyes has to stay symmetrical or the whole portrait tilts.
Heavyweight relaxed unisex crew-neck, ribbed collar, cuffs and hem, S to 2XL, true to size. The hat brim runs wide across the chest, so the motif is at its best with nothing layered over it, and the KNITFERATU wordmark sits across the upper back. The model is 174 cm and wears M.
Knitted to order in the atelier, two to three weeks, then free tracked shipping worldwide. Orange is the first colour a radiator or a sunny windowsill takes out of any garment: keep it away from both and the marigolds stay bright for years.
The photos on this page are AI renders made from the knitting file, so the pattern you see is the one the machine knits.
Is the portrait really knitted?
Yes, and it is the hardest thing we ask of the machines. A face has to work in the chart before the yarn moves, because there is no retouching a knitted expression. Every feature is jacquard worked into the fabric, never printed.
Will the colours fade?
The colours are knitted in, not printed, so there is nothing on the surface to wash off. Direct sun fades any garment, so keep it off the windowsill; the care instructions for your yarn ship with the piece.
Is the KNITFERATU lettering on the back knitted too?
Yes. It is part of the same jacquard, knitted across the upper back in the bone-white yarn. It is not a patch and not a print.
Which size should I take?
Relaxed unisex fit, true to size, S to 2XL. The portrait fills the chest, so most people wear their usual size and leave jackets open. The standard measurements in centimetres are in the table next to the sizes, and size exchanges are free.
Is it part of a set?
Le Dame is a capsule of four: Medusa, La Strega, La Catrina and La Sposa. They share the same body, the same yarn and the same construction, so they are made to be collected without looking like a uniform.
From the same crypt
Knitted, never printed
Every motif is jacquard worked into the fabric on flat-bed machines. Nothing to crack, nothing to peel.
Made to order in Italy
Your piece does not exist until you order it: collection pieces are knitted, hand-finished and steamed in 2 to 3 weeks, commissions in 2 to 4.
Free worldwide shipping
Tracked and free everywhere. Collection pieces come with free size exchanges and 14-day returns.