Further Adventures with Kool-Aid

Madrugada (mah-drew-GAH-duh): Portuguese and Spanish feminine noun meaning early morning, daybreak; in French known as l'heure bleue or in English, the blue hour.

I have embraced the challenge of dyeing yarn with Kool-Aid and achieving colors that do not recall a box of Lucky Charms. My goal was a deep, dark blue. While this skein turned out a little bit purpler than I intended, it's lovely and I'm a happy dyer. It really does look like the very early morning sky. This skein of natural Cascade 220 worsted weight Peruvian highland wool was dyed on the stove, with 9 packets of ice blue raspberry lemonade, 5 packets of berry blue, and 4 packets of grape. The picture is a little dark, here's a picture of both skeins which is truer.

Here's my first effort. This skein, also Cascade 220 worsted weight, was dyed in the microwave. I used the same method I did for the red and purple yarns I dyed, pouring the dye bath directly on the yarn. The result was much more variegated than those skeins. But I still likey.

I used 4 packets of ice blue raspberry lemonade, 4 berry blue, 2 changin' cherry, and 3 grape. I'm calling this one "Blue Bell Knoll" after one of my very favorite albums, recorded by the Cocteau Twins. Here's a video of the best song on the album, "Carolyn's Fingers."