The Christmas cat and new woolen items

The Christmas Cat in Reykjavík

In the past, people in Iceland could not enjoy the Christmas spirit completely carefree, because at this time of year the Christmas cat (Jólakötturinn) also caused mischief in people's homes.

The Yule Cat is a huge, black monster with fiery, saucer-sized eyes. It usually lives with the troll couple Grýla and Leppalúði, the parents of the 13 Icelandic Yule Journeymen, in the mountains of Dimmuborgir, but during the Christmas season, the cat also comes down to the humans. It lurks secretly in the dark in snowfields and then pounces on poor travelers or hikers to kill them, eat them—or bring them to Grýla for her human-flesh soup.

The only thing that can protect you from this horrible Christmas cat is to wear a new piece of clothing on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Personally, I suspect that this was how some people on the farms used to be motivated to work diligently in the autumn with wool processing and to knit a new piece of clothing with their share...

This year, I also made an effort to protect loved ones from the evil Christmas cat, and I've been busy knitting – a sweater (lopapeysa) with a hat for my sister, and two more winter hats. To keep you warm in the cold and to protect you from being eaten by the Christmas cat!

[Translated from here.]