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 garlands down each side. An elegant memento mori worked stitch by stitch into heavyweight black wool. Death has never dressed better.
- TechniqueKnitted jacquard, never printed
- Yarn50% wool, 50% acrylic
- Weight450 to 650 g depending on size
- FitRelaxed unisex, S to 2XL
- MadeItalian atelier, 40 years of flat-bed knitwear
- Lead timeKnitted to order, 2 to 3 weeks
- CareWool cycle 30 degrees, dry flat
Knitted, not printed
The motif is jacquard: bone-white and coloured yarns carried through the black wool 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, peel or fade.
Fabric and fit
Heavyweight knit in 50% wool and 50% acrylic: warm and substantial like pure wool, harder-wearing and easier to live with. A finished sweater weighs 450 to 650 g depending on size. Relaxed unisex fit, true to size, S to 2XL. 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 3 working days after dispatch, UK and US 3 to 6, rest of the world up 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 garlands running down each side. 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 almost shoulder to shoulder, so the motif is at its best with nothing layered over the chest. The model is 174 cm and wears M.
Knitted to order in the atelier, two to three weeks, then free tracked shipping worldwide. Wool cycle at 30 degrees inside out, dry flat, away from direct sun: orange is the first colour a radiator or a windowsill will take out of any garment. Treated properly the marigolds stay bright for years.
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?
Not if you keep it out of hot water and direct sun. The coloured yarns are the first thing a 60 degree wash or a sunny windowsill would attack. Cold wool cycle, inside out, dry flat, and the colour stays where it was knitted.
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. Flat measurements in centimetres are on the size guide, and size exchanges are free.
Is it part of a set?
Le Dame is a capsule of four: Medusa, La Strega, La Catrina and the Sposa Cadavere. 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: knitted, hand-finished and steamed in 2 to 3 weeks.
Free worldwide shipping
Tracked and free everywhere, with free size exchanges and 14 day returns.