Colourful, Playful Stitches: Grapefruit

I might be close to melting in the summer heat, might just be a breath away from disintegrating in the sweltering sun, might very well be an evaporating puddle on the steaming pavement …

Too dramatic?

Haha! Probably, but I’ll be the first to admit that summer isn’t my favourite season. It’s only saving grace is the lush colour that fills the view – blooming mimosa, full trees, waving black-eyed susans and wisteria. The vision is nearly overwhelmed with hues that are somehow both light and rich, like the way a citrus peel looks when the light hits it just right so that the depth of gradient suddenly becomes vivid.

Our Grapefruit colourway is like that. At first glance, it is so delicate, so soft, and then suddenly, there’s a intensity that pops up and catches you off guard, especially when paired with the amazing sheen of our new Spun Silk Lace. Captivating and textural, yet so delectably lightweight, its like bottling up summer in a bottle. Or in this case, spinning summer into a yarn! Literally, this is a yarn that I can knit with throughout the remainder of the season and not feel as I’m melting.

Actually, there’s something … magical about bombyx silk, did you know? It doesn’t ever really get “hot.” Even if its been sitting in the sun for a while, it offers a sensation of coolness when you first hold it to your neck.

Magic.

Imagine a light little tank in this gorgeous colour now, especially in an airy lace? This particular pattern I played with requires a little bit of effort, but the results are totally worth it. You’ll need to know a few abbreviations:

• p2tog tbl – purl 2 sts together through the back loop
• sk2p – slip 1 st as if to purl, knit 2 together, pass the slipped st over.
• sp2p – slip 1 st as if to purl, purl 2 together, pass the slipped st over.

Care to swatch a little to test it out? I used US Size 3 needles for a lovely drape …

Summer Openwork (mult of 8 sts + 11)

Set-Up Row (WS): K1, purl to last st, k1.
Row 1 (RS): K1, *k1, yo, ssk, k3, k2tog, yo; rep from * to last 10 sts, k1, yo, ssk, k3, k2tog, yo, k2.
Row 2 (WS): K1, p2, yo, p2tog, p1, p2tog tbl, yo, p2, *p1, yo, p2tog, p1, p2tog tbl, yo, p2; rep from * to last 1 st, k1.
Row 3: K1, *k3, yo, sl1, k2tog, psso, yo, k2; rep from * to last 10 sts, k3, yo, sk2p, yo, k4.
Row 4: K1, p2, p2tog tbl, yo, p1, *yo, p2tog, p3, p2tog tbl, yo, p; rep from * to last 5 sts, yo, p2tog, p2, k1.
Row 5: K2, k2tog, yo, k1, *k2, yo, ssk, k1, k2tog, yo, k; rep from * to last 6 sts, k2, yo, ssk, k2.
Row 6: K1, p2tog tbl, yo, p3, *p2, yo, sp2p, yo, p3; rep from * to last 5 sts, p2, yo, p2tog, k1.
Repeat Rows 1 – 6 for pattern.

What do you think? Decadent, playful, utterly summer? If you test out this stitch, share it with us on Instagram with the hashtags #sweetgeorgiayarns and #colourfulplayfulstitches