Striped Shore Crab – July 2024 Tiger Club

To round up our summer of beach themed colorways, I pulled this brightly colored specimen. Near as I can tell, this guy is a Striped Shore Crab, native to the tidal waters of California. I love the bold bright colors, and a bit of attitude that summer is coming to an end probably sooner than we’d like! I mixed up a deep pink/purple and moody magenta, contrasted them with bold and bright sea breeze blue and highlighter yellow, and bridged the divide with a subtle greige.

Striped Shore Crab Punta Arenas July 2024 TC

The fiber is Punta Arenas, a 23 micron wool sourced from Chile. It’s whiteness let the colors shine through. I made a blended gradient for you, but this could be really fun to pull apart and make little flecks of color to match our crabby friend on blending board or hand cards.

Striped Shore Crab Journey July 2024 TC

The yarn is trusty Journey Sock. I dyed in the round, with the greige dividing both halves, I’ll see what I can do to get a swatch up at reveal….maybe something modular would be fun…shells or entrelac? Remember with these to try a few things until you like how it is patterning.

Here’s a bit of an example, I knitted up this swatch in the round. The top part is 64 stitches, and the bottom part is 72 stitches.

Striped Shore Crab Journey July 2024 TC Swatch

I personally prefer the spiral stacking behavior of the 72 stitches, but that’s going to be a bit too wide for my feet, so I’ll work up from 64 and see how many stitches I need to get the stacking, or try some different stitch patterns that use more yarn, like some ribbing. But I definitely like the idea of a small modular pattern to keep those bright colors distinct. Kirsten Hall Designs has a number of patterns that may show off this yarn well.

There’s a few days left, if you’d like to join in the fun, sign up for Tiger Club through August 15th at https://www.thepaintedtiger.com/Category_48/Yarn-and-Fiber-Clubs.htm

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Beach Umbrella – June 2024 Tiger Club

For the second installment of our Beach themed summer, I absolutely could not pass up this image of a striped beach umbrella. I focused on the umbrella itself and pulled my own colors, trading in the orange for green, and the blue of the sky for the Caribbean blue on the umbrella itself. Knowing the nature of hand dyeing, our rendition has been out in the weather for a while, showing plenty of variation in each shade.

Beach Umbrella Finn Wool Combed Top June 2024 Tiger Fiber Club

For the fiber, I was thrilled to pull out Finn. They are a fascinating sheep, a breed developed possibly 4000 years ago, with examples of the fabric made of the wool from nearly 2000 years ago. Viking sails are made from their wool. The people of Finland have largely resisted ‘improving’ the breed (this is when you cross it with other breeds to bring in more desirable qualities), being satisfied with their multipurpose uses for wool, milk, and meat. They are a hardy breed suited to the cold temperatures, terrain, and short summers of their namesake land. They are also prolific lambers, generally having at least twins, up to septuplets. The wool itself is a sturdy medium wool that still feels soft for most people. It has a nice luster, and takes dye like a champ, making it a great fit for this light and bright colorway.

Of course I had to dye stripes in the sock yarn! I popped over to the Planned Pooling website as it is very handy to help design striping patterns (and even variegated yarns), and started noodling around. A good place to start is my vanilla striping pattern, as so:

Beach Umbrella Pattern a

It’s ok, but not really matching the picture with the uneven nature of the stripes, and the emphasis on the red and coral colors. After a number of variations (and thinking out of the box about how I could wind the yarn), I came up with this pattern:

Beach Umbrella Pattern B

I used Titanium Tiger Twist for the yarn, it’s a nice light yarn suitable for summer socks, or try a scarf or shawl with a modular pattern (or something like 10 Stitch) to stack up the stripes. Here’s how the yarn turned out, I hope you like it as much as I do!

Beach Umbrella Titanium Tiger Twist June 2024 Tiger Sock Club

Thanks for coming to the beach with me in June! I’ve got one more water/beach picture in the theme for July, you can hop right in and be a part of the fun, I’ve opened limited spots in the yarn and fiber clubs, with combos upon request. Stop by the shop to learn more about Tiger Club and sign up!

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Swirl – May 2024 Tiger Club

I was browsing through my collection of inspiration pictures, pulling out those I was particularly inspired to make at this time, and managed to pull out 3 that have connections to the ocean/beach, so we’re having a summer theme! With Swirled, I love the soft tones of these Sea Snail shells, specifically the Neverita Duplicata Shark Eye. I did tweak the colors pulled out a little bit, I leaned the buff sand color more toward peach, and the nebulous mauve color into a more firm violet. I also toned the navy down to match value better with the other colors. I was ruefully amused, apparently I did such a good job with this colorway that USPS decided one of the club packages should go to Hawaii! Fortunately, it was safely delivered back to Minnesota.

Swirl Panda 2 TC May 2024

It was a no-brainer to look for a yarn with some shine for this colorway. Panda 2 fit the bill, a supersoft blend of 80% Superwash Merino and 20% rayon of Bamboo. This blend is great for socks….and anything else you’d like to make. I dyed this in the round, so the colors stay in order, this should lead to some stacking, swirling, and flashing, depending on your stitch count and pattern. If you don’t like how it is working up, try a tweak of needle size or stitch count, or there are patterns with slip stitches or modular bits that will change how the colors work with each other.

Swirl Targhee TC May 2024

For fiber, I was able to get my hands on some lovely American Targhee. A cross of Merino and Lincoln, this breed was created to be hardy in our western states, particularly Idaho. It has a very soft hand, and a bit of a sheen when spun worsted due to that bit of Lincoln. This wool is happy to be spun any way you like. I suggest you also arrange the colors how you like, I went with repeating short color bits as these colors went so nicely together.

Tiger Club is currently on waitlist only, however the list is short! I do have fiber spots available immediately, so just drop me a line through my website after you’ve viewed the club listing here.

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Retiring Radiance – April 2024 Tiger Club

April’s Tiger Club was inspired by a lovely Midwestern style sunset, full of pinks and purples. To stay in keeping with the mixed colors in the photo, I chose methods of dyeing that would also lend a blendy and random arrangement. Both yarn and fiber would be lovely paired with some of the darker tones in the color palette…..or go the other way and pair with the lighter peaches and yellows.

Retiring Radiance April 2024 TC 19m  US Merino

The wool is American grown 19.5 micron Merino wool combed top, marshmallow soft and puffy. I zigged and zagged this top in one of my big steam pans, then striped the 6 colors across, letting the wool be it’s own resist, which added a variety of shades and tones as some colors from mixes struck the wool sooner than others. Merino is a great all around wool, but can really be a handful of fine fibers if you are newer to spinning. Strip the wool down lengthwise to make your own pencil roving sized lengths, and it’ll be a little more controllable to spin the thickness you want, and the colors will stay crisper. Of course, if you want a more blendy look, spin across the top as-is.

Retiring Radiance April 2024 TC MCN 100 WoW

Sock Club got a a nice MCN (merino, cashmere, nylon) blend in a 4 ply yarn. For this one, I crowded 5 skeins into a pan, added acidic water until they just floated, and heated the whole thing up to dye-strike range, then poured on the colors in a diagonal pattern. Again, the yarn acted as a resist, causing new colors and shades of each of the 6 colors I mixed up. To ensure good coverage and another chance at mixing, the skeins where flipped and another layer of dye added.

Want to join the fun? I do have spots available upon request for Fiber Club. There’s a waitlist for Sock Club. Do check out the information about the Tiger Clubs and drop me a line to be added to the list!

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Demoiselle Damselfly – March 2024 Tiger Club

Since I was a child, I’ve been fascinated by insects, and I couldn’t resist dyeing up this male Demoiselle Damselfly (Calopteryx virgo), typically found in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. I picked up the lighter colors of the iridescence, you might enjoy pairing this with a metallic navy for plying or pattern knitting.

Demoiselle Damselfly March 2024 TC Safari


Safari is the yarn, a favorite of mine, a fuzzy and sturdy sock yarn of 75% Superwash Corriedale and 25% Nylon. I dyed this in stripes that will be about 4 rows wide, keeping the colors in order with a short jog to get back from the dark teal to the lime. You could cut that bit out if you prefer, it will still be less joining than if you had a set of 5 mini skeins.

Demoiselle Damselfly March 2024 TC Falkland

Falkland was a must for the fiber, it’s my go to for bright clear colors as it is very white, and the medium blend of Corriedale and Merino is eager to absorb the dye. I made what I call a blended gradient, the colors are allowed to migrate which will blend together nicely when spun. The bonus is this dye method does not require plastic wrap to achieve.

My apologies for the late reveal. Two of the club packages took cross country detours, and by the time they arrived I was in the midst of life and dyeing April’s Club. I really hope you enjoy this one, it was really fun to pull out some of the more neon dyes and get something really bright. I’ve leaned into some intense colors for April’s Club, too….which will be going out Monday (at least, that’s the plan).

Tiger Club is currently open by invitation only, if you’d like to be on the waitlist, please check out the details on our main shop site, then drop me a line.

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Mandarin Duck – February 2024 Tiger Club

For February’s Clubs, this Mandarin Duck just quacked to be splashed out on yarn and fiber. The vibrant blue, navy, and violet, set off by rich orange and gold.

Mandarin Duck - SW Fine Merino Recycled Nylon 90-10 - Feb 2024 TC

I’ve again chosen a new yarn for you to try, this one is 90% 19.5 micron SW Merino and 10% Recycled Nylon. Let me know what you think of it! I dyed this in a down and back variegated style that should mini stripe, depending on your stitch count and pattern. It did a very nice job of taking the dye, I took a light hand and didn’t worry about flipping to allow the yarn itself to act as a resist, leading to various shades of each color, and I wasn’t afraid to let there be light spots, as the duck has numerous such areas.

Mandarin Duck - Radnor Romney Andean - Feb 2024 TC


For fiber, I’ve put together a sample pack of medium wools. The blues and purples are Radnor, the yellow is Kent Romney, and the Orange is Stricken Andean. Use them together, or separately. All of these will be fine being spun woolen or worsted, and are great for items that need to be a bit more durable such as mittens, boot toppers, etc.

I’m getting ready to dye March’s Club next week. New subscriptions are available for all the yarn and fiber clubs, however it is via contact only and I’ll send you a link or put you on the waitlist. Do stop by the website to read about the Clubs and you’ll find the Contact link there. Thank you!

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Sea Nettles – January 2024 Tiger Club

Sea Nettles brings some needed warmth and color to this time of year! This isn’t the first time I’ve dyed a jellyfish themed club offering (see Jelly from February 2018), but there are so many fun pictures of these transparent wonders backlight with amazing gradient colors that I couldn’t resist doing another one. This also gave me the opportunity to incorporate Pantone’s color of the year, Peach Fuzz, within the gradient from rich gold to pinks to scarlet.

The sock yarn is a new one I’m trying out, you’ll have to let me know what you think. It’s similar in content to my popular (and personal favorite) Safari, with 75% Superwash Wool and 25% Nylon…however it’s recycled Nylon, which I appreciate. It’s a 4ply instead of Safari’s 3ply, more tightly spun making a smoother yarn. It’s a little more dense, so while you are still getting 430 yards, it’s 100 grams compared to Safari’s 4 oz.

Sea Nettle SW Merino Bio Nylon Jan 2024 TC



Anyway, I decided to try my hand at a repeating gradient for this yarn. While I did count as I wound the yarn, there’s a lot of organic process in that (and wandering thoughts?) so don’t drive yourself crazy trying to make your socks match perfectly, although they should be nicely fraternal.

Sea Nettle SW Merino Nylon Jan 2024 TC

Superwash Merino and Nylon is also on deck for the fiber this month, perfect for socks or any other project you’d like to be hard wearing, yet soft. I dyed this in a straight up gradient, but do feel free to break it up to do whatever you want. This fiber is equally happy being spun woolen or worsted or anything in between.

Tiger Club is currently wait-list only. If you are interested in subscribing, do check out the listing and then drop me a line via the Contact Envelope in the header. Thank you!

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Abundant Bokeh – December 2023 Tiger Club

December’s Tiger Club started with a lovely fiber I had acquired as a special buy, a blend that contained a good amount of naturally dark brown wool, with ribbons of natural white. It can be a bit of a challenge to decide how to dye it, the brown can take dye, but needs to be quite intense to show, but I preferred to work with it and have bits of color peek out. This picture stood out to me with the colors peeking out in the background bokeh effect. I took the colors from the photograph and added a blue from this second image I had considered to round things out.

The fiber (30% Blue Faced Leicester, 30% Polwarth Wool, 40% UK Alpaca) was wet and layered in my dyepots, with the colors applied randomly to each layer in keeping with the bokeh effect. Here’s how that turned out:

Abundant Bokeh Baked Alaska Dec 2023 TC

You’ll find this a pretty versatile fiber, it will be quite happy to be spun worsted or woolen, or any version of semi that suits your preferred spinning style and/or end project idea. If you want to keep the marl fairly consistent, I would suggest spinning from the fold to keep the slippery fibers together with the grabbier Polwarth. I do have a couple extra braids of this, ask if you are interested.

Abundant Bokeh Champagne 4 ply Dec 2023 TC

Our yarn was a new one, Champagne, a blend of 25% Bio-Nylon, 25% UK Alpaca, 50% SW BFL. While it does have sock yarn specs, it might be lacking a bit in structure to make socks that will spring back after wear. Knit along with a springier wool or perhaps wooly nylon/lycra for more elasticity, or use this for something where more drape is wanted like a cowl, shawlette, etc. The yarn was a nice cream color, so in keeping with the fiber I added a chocolate brown to the color palette, and drizzled them all randomly on the yarn. This resulted in even more colors than I applied through mixing on the yarn itself. This drizzle technique should change up the patterning pretty well, but if you want to be sure to mix things up, you could alternate knitting from both ends of the skein. I do have some extra skeins, do ask!

There are spots open in all clubs currently, and especially if you are interested in Fiber Club I suggest you sign up in January, as I’ll be basing how much I purchase for the next several months of Club from my January subscription levels.

I’m looking at a good foot of snow accumulated on our railing and thinking about getting a round of shoveling done before any wind picks up. Hope you are all safe and warm and have things to look forward to in 2024!

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Classic Fall – November 2023 Tiger Club

As I was dyeing November Club, there was snow rather than morning mist toning the splendor of fall. I’m not quite ready to give it up for the chill of winter, so here’s our last hurrah! Classic Fall works into winter with shades of red both bright and burgundy, timeless black and grey, and a splash of a warm sandy buff.

Classic Fall - Safari Sock - Nov 2023 Tiger Club

Safari Sock (75% SW Wool, 25% Nylon) is always a favorite of mine for stripes, I’ve made nice wide stripes of the reds, a narrower stripe of the grey and black to outline them, and a medium divider of the buff. With the longer stripes, you have some room to add some patterning, use this to weave with, or try an atypical sock pattern such as Skew. Here’s a preview of the striping pattern, start with the burgundy end to be at the beginning of a repeat.

Classic Fall Safari Stripe Plan

Finn carries the colors with richness. This medium fiber (28 micron) is fun to spin and makes sturdy yarn. Dyed in a longer ‘there and back’, spin as is for long stripes, or strip it down to make shorter repeats….or tear it all up and spin up the colors separately the way you want! Want to learn more about Finnish sheep? Check out https://finnsheep.org/

Classic Fall - Finn - Nov 2023 Tiger Club

I’m currently in the midst of the craziness that December is for musicians, and tucking some fabulous fiber and yarn into the dyepot. If Tiger Club interests you, drop me a line, or watch for it to open again on January 1!

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Iridescence – October 2023 Tiger Club

I was browsing through my inspiration photographs, and this one stood out as I realized I had Zebra Sock in the queue to dye. I had also just watched a few dyeing videos (there’s always more to learn) and wanted to try a technique I saw. Iridescence is the result, and I attempted to capture the effect by dyeing the two sides of both the yarn and fiber, one side in the purple gradient, the other in the blue.

Iridescence - Kent Romney - Oct 2023 TC

Kent Romney is the fiber choice for October, I’ve had New Zealand Romney many times and I love how it will take color strongly. I dyed this in a back and forth mini-gradient, each layer has the blues on one side and the purples on the other. It was a bit of a juggling act to push the color through enough but not too much that it takes over the other side, so you’ll also have some lighter colors throughout. This is a great fiber to learn to spin, or to learn a new spinning technique (like long draw, perhaps), and is a nice medium sturdy fiber. If you spin it truly worsted and smooth in those ends you could maybe get away with it against the skin, but I’d suggest going for an outerwear project for this….lined mittens or hat or cowl, or something like boot toppers or a scarf/shawl to be worn over a top. And of course you can combine it with other things for a larger project. Here’s a great history about the Romney breed of sheep.

Iridescence - Zebra Sock - Oct 2023 TC

And here’s that Zebra Sock yarn, a 2 ply made of up SW Merino….one ply is dyed in shades of grey and black, which lends extra layers of tones and shades when overdyed. I dyed these in a hot mid-immersion pour, using a crowded pan to have the yarn itself provide a resist. One side has the three shades of blue, the other the three shades of purple. It’s controlled, yet random all at the same time, and I can’t wait to see how your projects turn out.

Tiger Club is currently open for new subscriptions through November 15, we’d love to have you join us!

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