My Sunshine

You Are My Sunshine

You are my sunshine, 
my only sunshine, 
you make me happy, 
when skies are grey.

You’ll never know dear,
how much I love you,
please don’t take
my sunshine
away.

~ 1930s Georgia, USA, authorship disputed

At Christmas last year, I was missing my family in Canada hard, and my urge to knit my love for them was greater than ever. So I decided to design a special new sweater pattern and knit it up for my nephews. This was a huge change for me. Unlike Alexa, I’ve never been much of a gift knitter. I thought it was ‘impractical’. (Hahaha that’s me – skipping right through life and almost always missing the point!)

Following my love of knitting

When developing this design, I got swallowed up by the creative urge. I went all in and enjoyed myself, letting the joy of knitting consume my energies for a few weeks. This year’s theme at Tin Can Knits is ‘For the Love of Knitting’, and I think that as I age and gain more experience as a designer, I become more comfortable chasing my ‘love’ – knitting the things that bring me the most joy, and hoping other knitters feel the same way.

Before I shipped the Sunshine sweater off to my nephew Sawyer, I photographed it on Max in a frosty winter wood. Now, I know this is how parenthood works, but Max is just so beautiful to me! Even in a crisp and cloudy wintery setting, seeing him in something I knit warmed my heart. When he was a baby, the lullaby I sang most often to him was ‘You Are My Sunshine’, and that’s part of why I named this design Sunshine – for the loved ones who make me happy when skies are grey.

But there are TOO MANY COLOURS! Be reasonable!

For my Sunshine sweater, I used the delicious Rainbow Heirloom Sweater in Evergreen as the main colour. For the yoke, I mined my stash of scraps and oddballs, and pulled out seven vibrant contrast colours. Seven colours, you say?! Yes…I know this will seem unreasonable to many knitters.

If you’re doubtful, give me a chance to convince you! Next week I’ll guide you in putting together a palette for this design, and you can make decisions step-by-step, rather than figuring it all out in advance. Cast on. Trust me. This sweater will add a little extra joy and sunshine to your knitting basket – I promise!

~ Emily