Living Coral: Color of the Year

Every year, the color experts at Pantone designate a color of the year. For 2019, they've chosen Living Coral (16-1546), a color that hovers somewhere between apricot/pink and peach.

Trend-watching isn't my thing, especially in knitting. I prefer to make what I want in colors and fibers that appeal to me, regardless of whether or not they're on trend. In fact, one reason we choose to knit, crochet, sew and weave is to create specific items that reflect our personal tastes and preferred color palette. 

That said, I always find it interesting to peruse projects past and present to see how often (if at all) a hot-right-now color appears.

Initially, the only project that came to mind was this version of Herlacyn, which features a soft coral worked as part of a diagonal gradient that shifts from banana and butter yellow to warm pink, fuchsia and red.

Then I remembered this project, where soft coral also appears in something every knitter needs, a quick pair of spring-weight mitts worked in gradient shades that match the new afghan.

A deeper dive turned up this rainbow Valere, which has a coral banner positioned top and center.

Its sibling incorporates the exact same coral in the same location (top center), but it's taken on a pinkish hue due to different lighting conditions and the other colors surrounding it.

In Twegen Harvest, the third and fourth strips pair coral/peach speckled yarns with light and medium clay for very different effects.

That's not a lot of projects, but I was surprised to see hints of coral and apricot have been been surfacing in my knits for awhile. I would never knit a specific color just because it's fashion forward, but Living Coral is attractive and versatile. This might be one time where the color of the year deserves to be highlighted in a project of its own.

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