Stripes

Inspiration this month came from my backyard….we have a rather steep hillside that is not fun to mow, so a number of years ago I over seeded it with wildflower mix. Over the years many of the species have been crowded out, and now it is mostly Purple Coneflower and Goldenrod….with an occasional Black-eyed Susan. It’s very pretty and bright at it’s peak, but as fall comes on the colors dull a bit, and the Goldfinches descend to eat all the seeds. The colors this month reflect that ‘Fading Summer’ of the pink, purple, green, blue, gold, and neutral greys and browns of this landscape.

The yarn this month is Safari, and while I wanted to do a gradient so each color could shine, I also wanted it to be appropriate for socks. So I made you two matching 50 gram skeins. I used my own ‘kink free sock blank’ method, and came up with this:

Here are the finished skeins….one wound each direction.

The wool for August is Cheviot. This Scottish breed is characterized by its helical (spiral) crimp structure to the wool. This keeps the wool top open and easy to spin, and your finished yarn will puff up in the finishing wash. It is a little coarser than the fine wools, at 27-33 microns. The staple is generally 3-5 inches.

I’m thinking cozy, yet sturdy, mittens….I’d strip this down lengthwise into 4 parts and spin two matching skeins of 2 ply in the sport weight range.  Want to mix up the colors?  You can do that, too….pull it apart and draw bits out of a bag, or make faux-lags….or use hand cards or a blending board for true rolags.  These colors are all of similar value and will look good however you combine them!

Want in on the fun?  Tiger Club is still open for September subscriptions through today!

For June, I wanted to use Superwash BFL and a high twist SW BFL sock yarn, both of which I know take great deep colors and have a bit of luster to them.  I wanted something a little out of my comfort zone, and I love this combination of red, black, steel blue grey, searing green, and beige.

As mentioned, the fiber is Superwash BFL.  It has a little longer staple, and a great sheen.  It’s perfect for about any clothing use.  The mottled look will blend together in spinning.  Strip it down narrow to keep the colors more pure and shorter, spin across the full top for longer and more blendy colors, or take it apart entirely and do what you want.  Take a look at the article “Challenge Accepted” by Maggie Casey in the Summer 2017 edition of Spin Off…you’ll see a somewhat similar top, and six ways it turned out!!

The yarn is Bengal Tiger Twist….same great construction of fan favorite Tiger Twist, but using superwash BFL wool instead of Merino.  It’ll make the yarn sturdier, and the colors just shine!  The dyeing method is controlled chaos, so it will likely pool some, but then change up.  Each skein had to be dyed individually, so you truly have a one-of-a-kind.

Want to join the fun?  Tiger Club is open for new subscriptions through Saturday, July 15th.

Coming up to summer, I like to have a summery shawl project for you.  This picture is fabulous, and I found a great new yarn to try.

Sumatran Tiger Sock yarn takes its name from the smallest species of Tiger…..and this yarn is right on that thinness border between heavy lace and really light fingering weight yarn.  It’s 490 yards per 100 grams, made of 100% silky soft superfine superwash Merino (yup, that’s a lot of ssssss’s!!).  I dyed this in a single long repeat through the colors, each color about equal, each color block overlapping its neighbor somewhat.

The fiber this month is Shetland, just because I usually offer it in the fall….and by no means should this great fiber be restricted to fall colors only!  I dyed the fiber as ‘there and back’, so divide in the middle for an easy two ply, or spin the whole thing as is and live daringly by plying from a center pull ball.  Be sure to join us for Tour de Fleece….info is on our Ravelry group.

We’re taking a little vacation this next week, then I’ll be in the thick of dyeing for June’s club!  Want in?  I’m taking new subscriptions through the 15th (or when spots fill up, whichever comes first).

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.