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.

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long.

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders.

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well.

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn.

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions.

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table.

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter.

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.

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