Stripes

Yes, I realize it’s June!  I’m catching up on a lot of things, so bear with me!

For April, I wanted to go all denim and leather, useful colors for anyone.

Safari is the perfect yarn to go with the rugged theme, as it’s the toughest yarn I offer….75% Corriedale Wool, and 25% Nylon.  I have yet to wear out a pair.  I like to do stripes on Safari, so I went with wide stripes of denim blue and rich leather brown, with paler shades of the same on each side, and a nice creamy tan in between.  It’s not busy, so you can use a stitch pattern and expect it to show up.  Or try some fair isle!

The wool isn’t rugged, but it’s from Big Sky Country in Montana.  Targhee was bred especially for conditions in the Northwest.  I’m always pleased to offer American grown and processed wool and yarn when they are available.

I’ll get a post about May’s yarn up soon, in the meantime, Tiger Club is open for June, and spots are going fast.  If you want one, go here!

Purple is one of my favorite colors, second only to green.  Due to a commission from PLY Magazine, I had an excuse to purchase some Gotland.  The deep natural gray of this fiber lends itself to amazing overdyes, and I wanted to see what a deep purple would do.  Yum!

I mixed up two different ways to get purple all together, knowing the component colors would strike at different temperatures. I folded the fiber and yarn gently so that it would create it’s own resist, and poured over the color. I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

Oh, and that yarn? It’s a new one to Painted Tiger, a luxuriously soft blend of Superwash Merino, Yak (!!!) and Nylon. It’s spun to smilar specs as our Journey yarn, making it practical as well. I used up all my supply for club, but I’ll be ordering more soon. I want to do gradients on this!

Are you interested in joining the fun? I do have openings in yarn, fiber, and combination clubs at this time!! Click over to The Painted Tiger Yarn and Fiber Clubs.

Late January, and those pesky resolutions are tossed aside – because the grey days of winter call for some serious carbohydrates!  These delicious fudge chocolate cupcakes with bright sugar flower sprinkles on them are just the thing.  I had a lot of fun with this color, painting on the bright colors, then tieing so I could overdye the brown.

The yarn is Tiger Sport, and I’m sad to say this is the last of it.  Ah well, yarn comes and goes, I’m sure I’ll find something else great!  Need to extend the yardage?  This would be a great yarn to do solid heels and toes in any of the colors….or even stripe them!

The fiber is a beautiful soft 19 micron Merino.  This stuff is so cottony….it took the brown more like milk chocolate!  It is always interesting to see how different materials take the exact same colors.

Are you interested in Tiger Club?  Drop me a line through the shop, I’ll double check my spots and see if I can’t find one for you!

You know I like to treat my club members around the Holidays, and this year is no different. Often early winter is fairly warm here in Iowa, but this year we experienced several very cold days, resulting in a few late starts for school. Hence inspiration for Twenty Below (with a little tongue in cheek of the inspiration picture being a dandelion!!)

The soft and sparkle are handled in fiber by a luscious new blend I got my hands on.  60 percent Polwarth and 40 percent tussah silk.  Oh, the shine!!!  You will have the best luck spinning this from the fold (or going all the way and making rolags).  Besides keeping the wool and silk together, this will lend some loft to the finished yarn.
Not to be outdone, I have a new yarn for sock club, too!  This is simply named “Sparkle”, and is a great 4 ply…three of superwash Merino with a hosiery twist, and one ply of silver toned Lurex.  It lends a great regular sparkle to the yarn without being over the top, and it won’t shed out.  I dyed this yarn for a shawl, and the colors are roughly even, so start with whichever end you like.  The technique used is a ‘blended gradient’, meaning that there are not stark separations between the colors, but they will variegate between the two neighboring colors.  Sea Breeze from January 2016 was also dyed this way….it’s really fun, and I plan to make more of these in various colors for the shop this year.

Thank you for a great year of Tiger Club!  I’m holding on new subscriptions for January, it’s inventory and tax time, so consistency is good for this month!  I will have some new openings on February 1!!
 

Inspiration for November’s club came from the bright berries you see against the snow in winter….red, blue, purple, against rich evergreens and a flash of white snowflakes.

The fiber is Cheviot wool, which is a great all around wool.  It resists felting, so would be great for outer-wear….boot socks, mittens, hats.

The yarn is a new one, Super Single Sock…..100% Merino with enough twist to keep it together in a soft single.  It would make a great scarflet, cowl, or perhaps fingerless mitts.

Thanks for being a part of Tiger Club for November!!!