Color Of The Year By Lionbrand

Lion Brand Yarn Company announced today that it is entering 2022 with a goal of inspiring joy and optimism in the crafting community by naming “Golden Sunshine” as its latest Color of the Year. It will serve as the color inspiration for a year-long collection of new products for the company. In the wake of nearly two years of uncertainty, this bright, warm and vibrant color marks a trendsetting initiative for the company as well as a guiding light of positivity heading into the new year.

“We hope that Golden Sunshine drives our makers forward, imbuing their projects, garments, and lives with joy,” said Jessica Hendrickson, Design Director of Lion Brand Yarn Company.

Lion Brand will donate a portion of the proceeds from all product sales in the Golden Sunshine product collection to Mental Health America (MHA), the nation’s leading community-based nonprofit dedicated to those living with mental illness and promoting mental health. The partnership has been an integral part of Lion Brand’s commitment to focus on the mental health benefits of knitting and crocheting activities, which have spiked in popularity as people seek out healthy ways to cope with challenging times.

“MHA is the perfect partner for this new mood-enhancing color palette,” Hendrickson said. “Color has been proven to have a direct correlation to our mental well-being, and we’re excited to support MHA’s incredible work.”

“The colors we choose to wear and surround ourselves with can play an integral role in our mental health,” said Schroeder Stribling, MHA, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Golden Sunshine is the ideal palette to spread some much-needed post-pandemic happiness.”

The Golden Sunshine collection will include curated color palettes featuring Lion Brand’s 24/7 Cotton®, Feels Like Butta®, Pound of Love® and Wool-Ease Thick & Quick® yarns. Eleven new patterns and four seasonal palettes will be released on a rolling basis throughout 2021, helping make Golden Sunshine a significant color trend throughout the year.

A few years ago I wrote a post that was full of patterns for knit mushrooms, but I don’t think I ever did a post that was knitting patterns with mushrooms on them, so today’s the day.

I love the Fungi Beanie from Jacki Bean, which calls for worsted weight yarn and uses duplicate stitch to add the mushrooms and other details. I think the colors she used for the design are tonal/multicolor so it doesn’t use as many colors as it looks like, but you can use whatever red, green, brown and white yarn you have in your stash for those details.

How about some mushroom socks? The Magic Toadstool sock form Stone Knits includes a ring of mushrooms around the leg, contrasting heel and toe and a little more colorwork at the toe for extra cuteness. As shown it uses four colors and comes in three sizes.

Or there’s the Fairy Ring Socks from Katie Green, which have mushrooms of two sizes on the legs, plus a bit of wavy grass. They have a contrasting cuff, heel and toe and some colorwork flecks in the body of the sock as well. This one is available in eight sizes to fit everyone from a baby to an XL adult.

This trippy cowl from Hunt Hand Knits looks like a lot of fun to knit. The Fungus Among Us Cowl is shown using four colors of DK weight yarn, though you can do it with as few as two if you’d rather.

Stitch some mushroom mittens with this cute pattern from Holly C Watson. This design uses three colors, and it’s shown with a self-striping yarn on the mushroom caps, which makes the colors change without you having to do any work. The pattern is charted but it’s a pretty easy repeat. The mittens are one size.

If you don’t feel like knitting mushrooms but still want to give your project a touch of the forest, the Toadstools Cardigan from Julie Taylor may be what you’re looking for. It’s stitched as a plain cardigan worked in DK weight yarn and sized for newborns up to 4 years old. The mushrooms are added with embroidery and the pattern includes the design, which you can trace onto water soluble stabilizer to stitch the mushrooms onto your sweater. Or anything else you want. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

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