Friday, December 09, 2016

Pantone Color of the Year for 2017 is GREENERY

Pantone® has named Greenery as the color of the year for 2017 citing it as a refreshing and revitalizing shade symbolic of new beginnings.
❝Greenery bursts forth in 2017 to provide us with the reassurance we yearn for amid a tumultuous social and political environment. Satisfying our growing desire to rejuvenate and revitalize. Greenery symbolizes the reconnection we seek with nature, one another and a larger purpose.❞  Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute 
Greenery is synonymous with nature's growth - foliage, vegetation, plant life, flora, verdure and herbage. It not only sustains us by producing oxygen, purifying the air and giving us medicine, greenery also provides us with natural aesthetic beauty. 



Greenery is characterized as a yellowish-green shade. It pairs well with other shades making it a versatile color to add to many palettes. Pantone has paired it with 10 different palettes that includes neutrals, brights, deeper shades, pastels and metallics. It's a grounding color much like nature where flowers reveal their beauty against what can be considered a neutral background.

I'm always drawn to this shade of green. It makes me think of springtime when the new leaves and fresh new grass first burst to life and there is an excitement to get out and enjoy the outdoors and reconnect with people after a long winter season. I associate greenery with hope and rejuvenation.

Tuesday, December 06, 2016

SEAFOAM STITCH

Stitch of the Month - December 2016
The Seafoam stitch has a unique and interesting texture. It’s a reversible stitch pattern that resembles waves. The stitch pattern is created by making yarn overs and then dropping them on the following row. It an easy way to create a pattern that looks like lace but is worked using only knit stitches and yarn overs.

There are numerous stitch pattern books that have the pattern as *[yo] twice, k1, [yo] 3 times, k1, [yo] 4 times, k1, [yo] 3 times, k1, [yo] twice, k6*. You may want to experiment with it in place of the stitch pattern below in rows 3 and 7 but I found that the elongated yarns from the dropped stitches looked a bit too loose.

The stitch works well for scarves, shawls and summer sweaters. I particularly like the Seafoam pattern when it’s knit with a variegated yarn.



Seafoam Stitch
(Multiples of 10 stitches + 6)
Row 1 (RS) Knit
Row 2  Knit
Row 3  K6, *yo, k1, [yo] twice, k1, [yo] 3 times, k1, [yo] twice, k1, yo, k6; repeat from * to end
Row 4  Knit while dropping all yarn overs from needle
Row 5  Knit
Row 6  Knit
Row 7  K1, *yo, k1, [yo] twice, k1, [yo] 3 times, k1, [yo] twice, k1, yo, k6; repeat from * to last 5 sts, yo, k1, [yo] twice, k1, [yo] 3 times, k1 [yo] twice, k1, yo, k1. 
Row 8  Knit while dropping all yarn overs from needle
These 8 rows form the Seafoam stitch pattern

Abbreviations
RS  right side
yo   yarn over