Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Dyeing In the New Year
So I spent New Year's Eve driving my girls around, watching the Bears lose or the Packers win depending on your prospective, and dyeing yarn for the first time. Over the summer I researched Kool-Aid dyeing and I acquired a variety of colors of Kool-Aid and some Knit Picks yarn for dyeing. I stumbled across a blog that talked about dyeing yarn in a crockpot and I thought "that is something I could do tonight." So I jumped in! I did 3 projects which I am detailing here.
Color: The Joy of Pink
Yarn: Knit Picks Bare Peruvian wool (100 grams)
gauge: 4.5 5 stitches on #6-9 needles
Dye: 3 packets Slammin' Strawberry Kiwi Kool-Aid
1 packet Pink Lemonade Kool-Aid
Soaked in warm water 1 hour
Crockpot: The Kool-Aid was mixed with about 4 cups of water then added yarn. I covered it and put it on high, after 30-40 minutes water was clear. So I turned off crock-pot to let everything cool. I hadn't stirred while it was in the crockpot because I thought it would take a few hours. So I figured the yarn would probably have variations in hue.
Color: Lily Pond
Yarn: Knit Picks Bare Peruvian wool (100 grams)
gauge: 4.5 5 stitches on #6-9 needles
Dye: 2 packets Berry Blue Kool-Aid
3 packets lemon lime Kool-Aid
I got this idea from Helen F.'s post on the
Helen suggests using boiling water and letting it sit for 3 hours, I thought I would speed it up and use the microwave. So I microwaved it for 1 minute and let rest for a couple minutes, then micro for 2 more minutes. The yarn looked like it was in the microwave a little too long and was beginning to felt so I took it out and let it cool. 
I then mixed 3 packet lemon lime and 1 cup water and turned the ball over. I switched the microwave timing 2 minutes, rest then one minute. In both cases the color looked strong at the bottom. 
After it cooled I rinsed it in tepid water with a little shampoo and conditioner and then clear water. I gently squeezed out as much water as I could and then wound the yarn with my swift into a hank. Next time I will try the suggested method of just soaking it in boiling water. I have to say it came out much better than I thought it would and looks very pretty as it is drying. I am calling this color Lily Pond. Lily suggested green and blue.
Color: Inferno
Yarn: Knit Picks Bare Peruvian wool (100 grams)
gauge: 4.5 5 stitches on #6-9 needles
Dye: 4 packets Blastin' Berry Cherry Kool-Aid
3 packets Orange Kool-Aid
For my third I decide to go back to the crockpot and try the sprinkle the Kool-Aid on the yarn that is covered with water method. I then used a wood spoon to mix in the crystals by gently pushing down on the Kool-Aid covered yarn careful not to mix the dyes too much. My original plan was to use Virginia Tech colors maroon and orange. I thought I had Black Cherry Kool-Aid but it was Blastin' Berry Cherry. I used 3 packages of orange in the middle and 2 packets each of Blastin'’ Berry Cherry on each side. I used a lot more dye than the first time and it took just over an hour for the yarn to absorb the dye on high.
The color ended up being red (instead of maroon) and orange with a predominance of red, thus the name Inferno.
Here is what they looked like hanging to dry (I actually hung them in the basement but an outdoor picture is much nicer):
This Christmas gift has sure come in handy.
Here are some of the sites I used for my dyeing research:
Gaea Creations
Wool Festival.com
Knitty.com
Koolaid Dyeing at the Lunatic Cafe
There are lots more just do a google search.
This is very addicting. I have to go check on my latest dyeing experiment!
Color: The Joy of Pink
Yarn: Knit Picks Bare Peruvian wool (100 grams)
gauge: 4.5 5 stitches on #6-9 needles
Dye: 3 packets Slammin' Strawberry Kiwi Kool-Aid
1 packet Pink Lemonade Kool-Aid
Soaked in warm water 1 hour
Crockpot: The Kool-Aid was mixed with about 4 cups of water then added yarn. I covered it and put it on high, after 30-40 minutes water was clear. So I turned off crock-pot to let everything cool. I hadn't stirred while it was in the crockpot because I thought it would take a few hours. So I figured the yarn would probably have variations in hue.
Color: Lily Pond
Yarn: Knit Picks Bare Peruvian wool (100 grams)
gauge: 4.5 5 stitches on #6-9 needles
Dye: 2 packets Berry Blue Kool-Aid
3 packets lemon lime Kool-Aid
I got this idea from Helen F.'s post on the
Helen suggests using boiling water and letting it sit for 3 hours, I thought I would speed it up and use the microwave. So I microwaved it for 1 minute and let rest for a couple minutes, then micro for 2 more minutes. The yarn looked like it was in the microwave a little too long and was beginning to felt so I took it out and let it cool. I then mixed 3 packet lemon lime and 1 cup water and turned the ball over. I switched the microwave timing 2 minutes, rest then one minute. In both cases the color looked strong at the bottom. After it cooled I rinsed it in tepid water with a little shampoo and conditioner and then clear water. I gently squeezed out as much water as I could and then wound the yarn with my swift into a hank. Next time I will try the suggested method of just soaking it in boiling water. I have to say it came out much better than I thought it would and looks very pretty as it is drying. I am calling this color Lily Pond. Lily suggested green and blue.Color: Inferno
Yarn: Knit Picks Bare Peruvian wool (100 grams)
gauge: 4.5 5 stitches on #6-9 needles
Dye: 4 packets Blastin' Berry Cherry Kool-Aid
3 packets Orange Kool-Aid
For my third I decide to go back to the crockpot and try the sprinkle the Kool-Aid on the yarn that is covered with water method. I then used a wood spoon to mix in the crystals by gently pushing down on the Kool-Aid covered yarn careful not to mix the dyes too much. My original plan was to use Virginia Tech colors maroon and orange. I thought I had Black Cherry Kool-Aid but it was Blastin' Berry Cherry. I used 3 packages of orange in the middle and 2 packets each of Blastin'’ Berry Cherry on each side. I used a lot more dye than the first time and it took just over an hour for the yarn to absorb the dye on high.
The color ended up being red (instead of maroon) and orange with a predominance of red, thus the name Inferno.
Here is what they looked like hanging to dry (I actually hung them in the basement but an outdoor picture is much nicer):
This Christmas gift has sure come in handy.
Here are some of the sites I used for my dyeing research:
Gaea Creations
Wool Festival.com
Knitty.com
Koolaid Dyeing at the Lunatic Cafe
There are lots more just do a google search.
This is very addicting. I have to go check on my latest dyeing experiment!
