Past Club Colorways

Each month, I make a new colorway inspired by a famous painting for my club members. These are available on several yarn bases and also as art batts for spinners and felters. The colorway itself is always a surprise until club members have received them, and the colorways are also exclusive to club members for at least 6 months after I create them and usually for longer. You can find out more about each club and join them here.

You can see the past colorways and the paintings that inspired them here going from newest to oldest. Each month, it’s a wonderful challenge to try to figure out how to create colorways that are as close the painting as I can and how to place them in a way that reflects the painting.

January 2024 – The Great Black Bull from the Lascaux Cave Paintings

It’s a new year and a new beginning. I started over as far back in art history as I could with the goal of gradually moving forward in time once again but with different paintings. How far back? Well, I chose a stupendous work from our distance ancestors who lived about 20,000 years ago. The bull is 17 feet wide!

Here is the yarn in the pan right after I dyed it:

Here is the yarn along with Annunciation Blue after it was finished:

I decided to use the new year and new start in art history to begin a mitered-square blanket, making squares from each club colorway for the year. Here’s the first (unblocked) mitered square:

December 2023 – Adoration of the Shepherds by Champaigne

I stepped outside the chronological progressions of art periods to choose a Nativity painting for December. I actually asked all my newsletter subscribers for their favorite of four paintings, and this one got the most votes by far:

Here is the yarn, including the semi-solid for those who order them:

…and here are the art batts:

November 2023 – Flowering Apple Tree by Mondrian

This painting by Mondrian is from the Abstract period. I once got to see an exhibit of his work moving from realism to Abstract art, and it was fascinating to watch the progression of a tree throughout that movement. Here is Flowering Apple Tree, painted in 1912:

Here is the yarn:

…and here are the art batts:

October 2023 – Dynamism of a Human Body by Umberto Boccioni

This painting comes from the Futurist movement, which was mostly an Italian art movement in the early 20th century. The idea was to show multiple moments in time in the same canvas. Here is the painting:

Here is the yarn:

Here are the art batts:

September 2023 – Le Bal Bullier by Sonia Delaunay

I chose this intriguing painting by Sonia Delaunay for the Cubist period.

Here is the yarn along with the Eggplant semi-solid:

…and here are the art batts:

August 2023 – Lady with a Fan by Klimt

I chose this painting by Klimt as a representative of the Expressionist period. It was on his easel when he died in 1918, and he had started it the year before. Here is the painting:

Here is the yarn:

…and here are the art batts:

July 2023- Vase with Red Poppies and Daisies by Van Gogh

Here we move from Naturalism to Post-Impressionism. I chose a lesser-known Van Gogh this month.

Here is the painting:

Here is the yarn:

I used Cherries Jubilee as the matching semi-solid this time. Here are the art batts:

June 2023 – Red Water Lily of Southern India by Marianne North

This painting was by Naturalist Marianne North, who traveled all around the world making faithful representations of plants. She painted this in 1878. At this point in our time travels through art history, there’s some overlap of time periods.

Here is the yarn in the dye pan just before I cooked it:

Here is the yarn all dyed up along with the matching semi-solid, Fandango:

…and here are the art batts:

May 2023 – White Water Lilies by Claude Monet, 1899

As you know, I have been going in order by art period for the last many months, and we have now arrived once more at my personal favorite—Impressionism.  This month I chose a painting by Claude Monet known as White Water Lilies. He painted it in 1899, and it is one of over 250 paintings of water lilies drawn from his own beautiful garden. I sometimes wonder if Monet would have become the absolute master of Impressionism if he had not had his garden.

Here is the painting:

I carded the art batts in multiple layers with a focus on imitating the colors as closely as possible. Here they are:

I dyed the yarn it in three sections. The left section that has greens and a little bit of blue is the back left portion of the painting. The right section with greens and lilacs and browns represents the back right section of the painting. All the space in the middle is the forefront of the painting with the water lilies themselves. Here it is while I was dyeing it:

…and here it is all dyed up on the different yarn bases:

I paired it with Lilac for those who opt for a matching semi-solid colorway.

April 2023 – Penelope and Her Suitors by John William Waterhouse, 1912

Waterhouse was a late member of the Pre-Raphaelite society which focused on classical themes. I chose this painting for its colors and also because I love the story of Penelope waiting for the return of Odysseus. At this point, Odysseus has been gone for 20 years–10 years of the Trojan war and 10 years after that. Everyone (except Penelope) assumes he is dead and wants Penelope to marry again. Because of the customs of Greek hospitality, she is quite literally being eaten out of house and home by the suitors who demand that she choose one of them to marry while her son, Telemachus, does not have the courage or power to act. Penelope finally tells the suitors that she will choose one to marry when she has fulfilled her final duty as the wife of Odysseus by weaving a burial cloth for her father-in-law. However, she and her maids weave the cloth by day and unravel it each night, so it is never done. The story ends well. Here is the painting:

Here is the yarn:

I chose The Winedark Sea (another Homer-themed colorway) as the matching semi-solid.

Here are the art batts:

March 2023 – Young Woman Arranging Flowers by Gustave Courbet, 1862

For March, we moved into the Realist era that took place most especially in France. This painting by Courbet is known by two names–The Trellis and Young Woman Arranging Flowers. Here is the painting:

Here is the yarn shown on So Silky Sock:

February 2023 – The Ninth Wave by Ivan Ayvazovsky

For February, we are moving onto the Romantic era, which truly is the pendulum swinging from the Neoclassical era that preceded it.

Here is the yarn:

January 2023 – The Oath of the Horatii by David

For January, we moved onto the Neoclassical era with a great example of the period by Jacques-Louis David. Here is the painting:

Here is the yarn:

…and here are the art batts:

December 2022 – The Adoration of the Kings by Van der Goes

For December, I usually do a Christmas-themed painting. This year I chose The Adoration of the Kings by Van der Goes. This was the centerpiece of an altar painted in 1470. Aren’t the colors stupendous?

Here are the art batts:

Here is the yarn, including The Winedark Sea which I chose as the matching semi-solid colorway for club members who choose that option.

November 2022 – The Swing by Fragonard

Here is the painting, a well-known example from the Rococco period:

Here are the art batts:

Here is the yarn in the process of being dyed:

…and here is the finished yarn. I chose Chocolate as the matching semi-solid for this one.

October 2022 – The Concert by Van Honthorst

Here is the yarn:

I chose Lilac as the semi-solid to go with the yarn.

Here are the art batts:

September 2022 – Leda and the Swan by Ridolfo Ghirlandaio

Here is the yarn:

I chose Rosy-Fingered Dawn as the matching semi-solid colorway.

Unfortunately it appears that I forgot to photograph the art batts before mailing them off.

August 2022 – Mediterranean Landscape by Pablo Picasso

This is the first time I have chosen a Picasso. Here is the painting:

Here is the yarn:

I chose Sunset Orange as the coordinating semi-solid.

Here is the art batt colorway:

July 2022 – Children Playing on the Beach by Mary Cassatt

Here is the yarn:

Here are the art batts:

June 2022 – Blue and Green Music by Georgia O’Keeffe

Here is the yarn:

I paired this with Freedom Blue, shown here. Here are the art batts:

May 2022 – The Shell by Odilon Redon

Here is the yarn in the pan while I’m dyeing it:

Here is the yarn on all the different yarn bases all finished:

Unfortunately it appears that I forgot to photograph the art batts. I apologize!

April 2022 – Lydia Crocheting in the Garden by Mary Cassatt

Here is the yarn:

Here is one of the art batts:

March 2022 – Hong-Kong a la Nuit by Lois Jones

Here is the yarn while I’m dyeing it:

Here it is all dyed up:

Here are the art batts:

February 2022 – Monet’s Houses in the Snow

Unfortunately it appears that I forgot to take a photo of the yarn for February, but here is a beautiful sweater that one of my wonderful customers, Pat, made from “Houses in the Snow:”

January 2022 – Dancers in Blue by Degas

Here is a little video of the making of the yarn:

Here is the yarn itself:

and here are the art batts:

December 2021 – Fra Angelico’s Annunciation

Fra Angelico painted many versions of the Annunciation. This one was restored in 2019 at the Prado Museum in Spain.

Here is the yarn in the dye pan while I’m dyeing it:

Here it is dyed with Annunciation Blue as the semi-solid:

Here are the art batts:

November 2021 – Afremov’s Freshness of Cold in the Evening

Here’s the yarn. I used Cerise as the semi-solid and a rather unique technique to dye the Afremov yarn.

October 2021 – Thomas Moran’s The Golden Hour

Here is the yarn:

I used Chocolate as the semi-solid for those who ordered one.

Here are the art batts:

September 2021 – Georgia O’Keeffe’s Maple and Cedar

Here’s the yarn along with the matching semi-solid in Cinnamon:

Here are the art batts:

This is one time when the difference of interpretation between the yarn and the art batts was considerable.

August 2021 – Berthe Morisot’s Summer Day

Here is the yarn:

Here are the art batts:

July 2021 – Renoir’s Spring Bouquet

Here is the yarn:

I forgot to take a photo of the art batts unfortunately.

June 2021 – Van Gogh’s Still Life with Two Sunflowers

Here is the painting:

Here is the yarn along with the matching semi-solids:

Here are the art batts:

May 2021 – Monet’s London Houses of Parliament (The Sun Shining Through the Fog)

Like so many of Monet’s works, this is one of a series of paintings that he started in London and finished at Giverny. He painted this particular one in 1904. I chose this one first and foremost because it is so beautiful. I’m also excited about the challenge of creating the yarn and fiber colorway using the lilacs, mauves, lavenders, orange, peach, yellow, fuchsia, and green that are all somehow vibrant and muted at the same time.

Here’s the painting:

Here is the yarn:

Here are the art batts:

April 2021 – Munch’s The Scream

Now, it may seem a little odd to choose this painting now instead of pretty much anytime in the last year, so I’ll tell you why. Every month for the last year of COVID-19, I have considered selecting this painting, but I decided to choose something more hopeful instead because I figured we all needed hope and bright happy colors, so (with a few exceptions) that has been my focus.

Nonetheless, I think this painting represents the ethos of the last year. Now that there is light at the end of the tunnel as the numbers of new cases decline, I realized that I had better choose it now or it won’t make sense. Also, I am fascinated by the colors and the challenge of “re-creating” it as yarn and art batts.

Here is the painting:

Here are the art batts and the yarn:

March 2021 – Lois Mailou Jones’ Les Vendeuses de Tissue

When I first found Lois Mailou Jones last year, I had trouble deciding between two paintings. Last August, I used her painting, “Fishermen at Port Au Prince” as the inspiration for my club colorways. This time around, I’m choosing “Les Vendeuses de Tissue.”

Here’s the painting:

Here is the yarn I made:

Here are the art batts:

February 2021 – Rembrandt’s The Storm on the Sea of Galilee

There’s one painter whose work I really love, yet I have not yet used one of his paintings as inspiration. That’s Rembrandt. I chose his painting, “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee” for February. Here it is:

Here are the art batts:

Here is the yarn:

January 2021 – Degas’ Waiting

For this month’s club colorway, I chose “Waiting” by Degas. I have been wanting to use a painting by Degas as my colorway inspiration for awhile now, and this one seems especially appropriate right now.

Here’s the painting:

Here’s the yarn:

December 2020 – Elisabetta Sirani’s Virgin and Child

I have made it a tradition to choose a Nativity painting for December. This year I chose a beautiful painting by a rare successful female artist from the Italian Baroque era, and I love the way this painting shows the affection between Mary and Jesus!

Elisabetta Sirani, Virgin and Child, 1663; Oil on canvas, 34 x 27 1/2 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Conservation funds generously provided by the Southern California State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts; Photo by Lee Stalsworth

Here’s the yarn:

It looks I forgot to take a photo of the art batts.

November 2020 – Leonid Afremov’s Farewell to Anger

I have been focused a lot on modern art these days, but this is probably the most modern. I keep coming across the paintings of Leonid Afremov and being really intrigued by his unique palette-knife paintings with the brilliant, close colors.

I chose a painting filled with fall colors called “Farewell to Anger.” Here it is:

Here’s the yarn:

…and here are the art batts:

October 2020 – Georgia O’Keeffe’s Red Cana

For October, I decided to go bold with this beautiful painting by Georgia O’Keeffe. I love the subtle shading within the brilliant colors.

Here is the painting:

Here is the yarn I made, and right below that you can see the art batts.

September 2020 – Raphael’s Madonna of the Chair

For September, I chose Raphael’s “Madonna of the Chair.” The legend has it that Raphael was traveling and stopped at an inn to stay the night. When it came time to pay, he realized he had no money and offered to pay by painting something for the innkeeper. The only thing they had available was the lid of a barrel, so he painted this beautiful Madonna and Child on that. If the legend is true, I think the innkeeper was well compensated, don’t you?

Here are the art batts inspired by the painting:

…and here is the yarn.

There was one new dye color I had to create for this. It’s the cinnamon color at the top, and I’m planning on making it as a semi-solid.

August 2020 – Jones’ Fishermen at Port-Au-Prince

This month I chose a painting by Lois Mailou Jones. This amazing artist painted from the time she was a child until she was in her 90s, and her work is incredibly varied. Her paintings include landscapes, still lifes, portraits, African masks, and (my favorite) men and women working in all different scenes. I had a great deal of difficulty choosing one painting from her diverse opus.

Because she was African American and female, she had trouble getting her work to be taken seriously in America in the 1930s, so like so many artists and musicians, she moved to Paris. Later she married a Haitian artist and spent many years living in Haiti and painting scenes of everyday life there. It is from this era that I chose the painting to use as inspiration for my club colorway. It’s called “Fishermen at Port-Au-Prince.”

Fishermen at Port-Au-Prince by Lois Mailou Jones

Here is the yarn inspired by the painting:

…and here are the art batts:

July 2020 – Thomas Cole’s Voyage of Life: Childhood

Thomas Cole was born in England in 1801. He moved to The United States and focused his artistic career on traveling through and painting scenes of nature, especially in the Catskill Mountains. He is considered to be the founder of the Hudson River School of painting. He has some really unique paintings insofar as he combines nature with spiritual elements like the guardian angel seen in this painting, which is the first of a series entitled, “Voyage of Life.”

Thomas Cole’s “Voyage of Life: Childhood”

June 2020 – Jackson Pollock’s Mural

Jackson Pollock painted “Mural” on commission for a lady who wanted it for her Manhattan townhouse. He painted it in his studio and then had a lot of trouble getting it into her townhouse. I love the bright, cheerful colors and thought it was just the ticket this month. Here’s the painting:

Here are the art batts:

Here is the yarn on all the different yarn bases:

…and here is a little swatch I made:

May 2020 – George Watts’ Hope

Still in the midst of the “plague,” I chose Hope by George Watts. It’s actually a really difficult painting to ponder because hope is tattered and threadbare and strumming on a harp with only one string left. I was seeking to reflect the mood of the world this month. Hope doesn’t give up, but it is certainly not an optimistic portrayal. George Watts painted this first version and sold it to a collector. After that he painted a second version for the British public. It is at the Tate Museum. I chose to use the first version painted in 1885 as inspiration for the club colorway simply because I thought the colors would work better as yarn and art batts.

Here it is as art batts:

And here you can see the yarn I created using “Hope” as inspiration. On the far left and right are the Turquoise and Contentment I used as the matching semi-solid, so from left to right are Turquoise on Sparkly Merino Sock, Hope on Sparkly Merino Sock, Hope on Sock Perfection, Hope on So Silky Sock, Hope on Cashmere Sock, Hope on Buttery Soft DK, and Contentment on Buttery Soft DK.

April 2020 – Vincent Van Gogh’s Almond Blossoms

When I made this, the world was in the midst of COVID-19 with all of its uncertainty, suffering, and loneliness. In light of that, I chose a gentle colorway to express hope. The almond blossom is by tradition the first sign of spring, and spring is the season of hope. The Oriental style of the painting was very intentional. He painted it as a gift for his brother and wife on the birth of his nephew. In a letter to Vincent who was in an asylum at the time, his brother said that he named the baby Vincent and hoped his son would have the courage his brother had. Here is the painting:

Almond Blossom by Van Gogh

Here are the art batts:

Van Gogh's Almond Blossom April 2020 Club Colorway (9)

I completely forgot to photograph the yarn before sending it, but I reached out to my club members, and Janice kindly sent me a photo of her caked yarn. Here it is on Sock Perfection along with a matching mini skein in Mithril:

Almond Blossom on SP with Mithril for Club
Van Gogh’s “Almond Blossom”

March 2020 – Franz Marc’s The Large Blue Horses

For March, I chose a much brighter painting than I ordinarily do, and it was so much fun to make. Franz Marc was an early 20th century German Expressionist. Here is the painting:

the-large-blue-horses by Franz Marc 1911

Here is the yarn:

The Large Blue Horses March 2020 Club (2)

Here’s the sample I made:

The Large Blue Horses Small (2)

Here’s are the art batts inspired by this delightful painting:

The Large Blue Horses by Franz Marc March 2020 Club Colorway (2)

February 2020 – Monet’s The Artist’s Garden at Giverny

I chose this painting for the one-year anniversary of my art-inspired clubs. When I first started my business and my focus was on handspun yarn, I named it Monet’s Garden Art Yarns. Eventually I decided the name was too long and also a bit too limiting, but Monet is still my favorite artist, and this painting is certainly near the top of the list of favorites.

Here’s the painting:

Garden at Giverny

Here is the yarn on all the different yarn bases:

Monet's Garden Club Feb 2020 (3)

Here is a little swatch I made using So Silky Sock from the Luxury Sock-Weight Yarn Club:

The Artist's Garden at Giverny Sample on SSS (5)

And last but not least, here are the art batts:

Monet's Garden Art Batts Feb 2020 Club (6) smaller

January 2020 – Mondrian’s The Red Tree

I find Mondrian especially interesting because he went from being a post-impressionist all the way to cubism. This was one of his earlier paintings, and later he would go on to make trees using, well, cubes.

“The Red Tree” by Mondrian

Here is the yarn I dyed that was inspired by his painting. The blue definitely came out brighter, but I think the blue provides a nice counterpoint to all the other dark and wintery shades. The yarn is resting on the art batt I made, and then from left to right there’s Sock Perfection, So Silky Sock (the luxury club), Cashmere Sock, and Buttery Soft DK. I created a new beige to go with these as the coordinating colorway.

December 2019 – Van Honthorst’s Adoration of the Shepherds

“Adoration of the Shepherds” by Gerrit Van Honthorst

Here is Adoration of the Shepherds. The yarn is resting on the art batt. From left to right there’s the semi-solid colorway, Blush of Dawn, dyed on Buttery Soft DK. Next to that is the club colorway on Buttery Soft DK followed by the club colorway on Cashmere and the colorway on Sparkly Merino Sock.

Here is a small sample that I knit using the Sparkly Merino Sock yarn base:

Adoration of the Shepherds Knit Sample

November 2019 – Botticelli’s Birth of Venus

Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”

Here it is on Sock Perfection, Cashmere Sock, and Buttery Soft DK. I made Persimmon mini-skeins to go with them:


October 2019 – Renoir’s Vase of Roses

Renoir’s “Vase of Roses”

Here is Renoir’s “Vase of Roses” as art batts.

Here’s “Vase of Roses” on yarn. From left to right there’s Sock Perfection, Sparkly Merino Sock, Cashmere Sock, and Buttery Soft DK.

Here’s a little sample I made using Sock Perfection:


September 2019 – Johannes Vermeer‘s Girl with a Pearl Earring

“Girl with a Pearl Earring” by Johannes Vermeer

Here is “Girl with a Pearl Earring” on Sock Perfection. This one is one of my favorites.

Here’s a sample I made using So Silky Sock:


August 2019 – Mary Cassatt’s Young Mother Sewing

“Young Mother Sewing” by Mary Cassatt

Here is “Young Mother Sewing” on Sock Perfection, Sparkly Merino Sock, Cashmere Sock, and Buttery Soft DK.


July 2019 – Renoir’s Two Young Girls at the Piano

“Two Young Girls at the Piano” by Renoir

Here is the yarn inspired by “Two Young Girls at the Piano” on Buttery Soft DK, which tends to take the dye in a softer manner than most of my other yarn bases.

Here’s a sample I knit of Renoir’s “Two Young Girls at the Piano”:


June 2019 – Raphael’s School of Athens

“School of Athens” by Raphael

Here is School of Athens as an art batt as well as on Sock Perfection, So Silky Sock, and Buttery Soft DK:

Here’s a sample I knit of Raphael’s “School of Athens” on So Silky Sock:


May 2019 – Maximilien Luce’s Notre-Dame de Paris

“Notre-Dame de Paris” by Maximilien Luce
“Notre-Dame de Paris” by Maximilien Luce

Here’s a sample I knit of the Sparkly Merino Sock yarn base:


April 2019 – Georgia O’Keeffe’s Flower of Life II

“Flower of LIfe II” by Georgia O’Keeffe

This is another favorite of mine. From left to right you can see it on So Silky Sock, Buttery Soft DK, and Sock Perfection. On the right you can see it as an art batt inside its organza bag.

Here’s a sample I knit using Sock Perfection:


March 2019 – Van Gogh’s Starry Night

“Starry Night” by Van Gogh

Here is Starry Night on Sock Perfection, Sparkly Merino Sock, and Buttery Soft DK. I have made it a few times as a preorder since then.

Here’s a sample I knit of “Starry Night” on Sparkly Merino Sock:


February 2019 – Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

“A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by Seurat

Here it is on Sock Perfection:

Here’s a little sample I knit of the Seurat colorway on Sock Perfection: