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.
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.
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!
