Color of the Year: We heard ya! & Watch This

We love your feedback!

We were blown away by your thoughts and ideas about our Color of the Year post earlier this month. Thank you so much for reading, weighing in, and creating wonderful discussion. Keep reading for some thoughts on the most common questions & comments! And watch this – we’re ready to share a beautiful video featuring a taste of each month’s color, featuring images from our photo shoot and yarn color suggestions. Hopefully, you’ll see richer descriptions through this medium, that might satisfy the curiosity of those who read our post.

Think of it as a mood board on film, complete with details that invoke smells, tastes, and feels.

Watch This:

And now, to your thoughtful responses!

How did these colors get their names?

When you go shopping for something like a lipstick, or a color of paint, that comes in an endless array of colors, sometimes the name makes all the difference. While you choose based on many factors, the right – or wrong – name, might sway your choice in the end. And we get sentimental about a color, and return to it again and again… I’m thinking of OPI nail polish ‘Lincoln Park After Dark’, of which I have at least three bottles floating around somewhere. A strong color name can also help to name & define the cultural moment we’re currently inhabiting (see: Millennial Pink).

Many of these are based in nature, giving a grounded element from which can spring flights of the imagination!

Why don’t these names match the yarn names?

We think of the color names for each month as umbrellas, or main themes, on which variation is possible! It’s helpful to think of each color as a broad idea, and there’s room within that spectrum to find the color that’s right for you. We’ll offer a blog post each month, with more details for that month’s color, and many yarn suggestions to get you dreaming. Ultimately, it would get pretty confusing if we had dozens of yarns all named ‘Antique’!

Why did you use high-fashion photography / models?

If you’ve seen ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, you’ll remember the great Meryl Streep monologue where she describes the process of style trickling down from the runway to the ‘ready-to-wear’ market. While we don’t see style as a hierarchy in this way, seasonal fashion shows are always a good place to find the latest trends in colors. Some designers will even do a whole runway show in just one hue! That said, the fashions can be extreme (and aren’t what anybody would hope to wear in their daily life!), and the body type represented is very limited.

Since we chose these special 12 colors, the Lion Brand team put together a lovely fashion shoot, featuring a few of our favorite models, wearing many Lion Brand patterned pieces. Our models celebrate diversity in more ways than we typically see on the runway (sadly). We look forward to sharing those images proudly!

What if I can’t find a color for me?

While there’s a range of variety, we were definitely inspired toward warm, rich tones this year. Several commenters described the year as ‘Autumn’ (warm jewel tones), and they aren’t wrong! Hopefully, as we continue to elaborate more yarn suggestions for each color, everyone will find a tone that works for them. It’s also a fun opportunity to try something completely new, or rock a color you’ve never considered! And if you work up something lovely and it just doesn’t click…

it could always make an excellent gift.

Truly great style has always been about marching to the beat of your own drum, and knowing when to break the rules!

Where do I get that pattern?

There was enormous interest in a couple images in particular, that featured some lovely knits! I’ve passed on this interest to our design team, and while we can’t make any promises, we’ll definitely search for Lion Brand patterns that might be a great knit-alike. Stay tuned for our monthly posts for pattern suggestions, in addition to yarn options!

Stay tuned for more!

It’s been such a pleasure to engage with you about this color adventure, it’s hard to believe it’s just the beginning! Keep the comments, questions and suggestions coming, and we’ll keep striving to provide new ideas for patterns, styling and colors, and the yarns to keep your projects fresh, no matter what’s ‘in season’.