Need. More. Kool-Aid!
All of you dye-it-yourself virgins out there, let me assure you. Dyeing your own yarn is nothing like giving yourself a Brazilian. I thought it would be messy and difficult and the result would be scary. But no! It was so much fun. Thank you all for the helpful tips and suggestions. Anyway, I meticulously documented my process. Hold onto your seats! Click the pictures for bigger!
Here is the yarn soaking before its dye bath. I used the now-sold-out, but hopefully-more-to-come-soon Knit Picks Color Your Own fingering merino. I used cool water and a glug or two of vinegar. The yarn really felt like a big bowl of angel hair pasta. Nice. I soaked the yarn for about an hour and a half, I'd say. Then I squeezed the water out, wrapped the yarn in a towel and stomped on it.
I mixed 12 packets of black cherry and 2 packets of regular cherry Kool-Aid in some water and got this deep, dark, luscious shade of red. (Have I mentioned that I am obsessed with red lately?) I wanted a semi-solid yarn. Jennifer helpfully suggested kind of crowding the yarn into the pot (or in my case, microwaveable bowl) and pouring the dye bath on the yarn rather than setting the yarn into the bath. So that's what I did. I added water to not-quite-cover the yarn. I did not add more vinegar at this point.
Here is the yarn nuking away. Jessalu said I should put it in for two minute intervals until the water was clearish. She did not mention how many intervals that would be.
Here is the yarn soaking before its dye bath. I used the now-sold-out, but hopefully-more-to-come-soon Knit Picks Color Your Own fingering merino. I used cool water and a glug or two of vinegar. The yarn really felt like a big bowl of angel hair pasta. Nice. I soaked the yarn for about an hour and a half, I'd say. Then I squeezed the water out, wrapped the yarn in a towel and stomped on it.
I mixed 12 packets of black cherry and 2 packets of regular cherry Kool-Aid in some water and got this deep, dark, luscious shade of red. (Have I mentioned that I am obsessed with red lately?) I wanted a semi-solid yarn. Jennifer helpfully suggested kind of crowding the yarn into the pot (or in my case, microwaveable bowl) and pouring the dye bath on the yarn rather than setting the yarn into the bath. So that's what I did. I added water to not-quite-cover the yarn. I did not add more vinegar at this point.
Here is the yarn nuking away. Jessalu said I should put it in for two minute intervals until the water was clearish. She did not mention how many intervals that would be.
posted by Laura at 3:50 PM
5 Comments:
I love the rich color of that red! bravo laura... lookin' good ;)
Wow this looks like such fun. I'm so scared of dyeing things myself but I'm working up the courage to just TRY it one day.
Perhaps it´s time to dye some yarn? It looks easy!
That's a luscious color of red! I've always been nervous about dyeing, mainly because I have this vision of a dyeing mishap where suddenly the carpets, the towels, the dog, the cat, etc. are all some shade of red.
I'm a little sloppy sometimes.
But now I'm thinking it might be a controllable process.
Anyway, you did a great job!
It's gorgeous, I love the rich red color. I'm a huge red fan too.
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