Home Dyes
I came across a swatch in the bottom of my knitting bag that I had almost forgotten about. Over the summer sometime, I had found these eight hundred yard skeins of undyed, unbleached virgin wool on sale for two dollars each. Of course I bought the store's remaining three skeins immediately, even though I had not one clue what I'd do with it.
At some point, I got it into my head that I wanted to try my hand at dyeing my own yarn. After all, this was natural wool I had, so I went for it. I looked up Kool-Aid dyeing techniques on knitty.com and went from there. Or, at least, I went to my cabinet to find I had no Kool-Aid and was far too lazy to drive to the store to get some. I mixed up food coloring instead, since I had plenty of that and no use for it what-so-ever. "Six of one, half dozen of the other" was my thought, and I made my way over to the wool.
Guess what I did to get this result (click for a larger look at all pics in this post)! After washing (with baby shampoo) and soaking (in slightly warmer than room temperature water) my yarn, which I had cut into a twenty yard sample length, I filled the container completely up with water after carefully dropping one or two drops of coloring on the yarn at carefully planned intervals, then popped the whole thing in the microwave. Then I ran the yarn through the microwave in two minute cycles, two minutes on high then two minutes resting, for the next hour. The water wasn't getting clearer... in fact, it looked to be getting blacker the longer I went on and the yarn was still mostly its original color! Then someone suggested adding vinegar to the bath to set the color. Six minutes later I had the yarn you see at the left. Oops. While it's a very pretty mottling of various dark greens when you get really up close to it, it definitely wasn't anywhere near what I was going for, so back to the microwave!
Still not quite, what I had in mind, but much closer to what I was looking to get. Another twenty yard length cut from the skein, another wash, another soak and another round with the food coloring carefully dosed across the yarn. This time I added a water and vinegar mixture to the container; just enough to barely cover the yarn and began the microwave rotation. Another six minutes and this was the result. Slightly muddy and no where near the clarity of variegation that I love so much. Back to the microwave again.
Length number three dyed up beautifully. I mixed the food coloring directly with vinegar, slightly squished some of the water out of my pre-soaked twenty yard length and painted the desired colors on with a paintbrush, leaving just a small gap between so that the colors could run together without muddying each other. I highly recommend clicking for the larger version of this one so that you can see all the little transitions that make it all that it came to be. I want to dye the rest of the skein (seven hundred forty yards) and make something out of it, but what? If I make a hat, I want a scarf and gloves to go with it. The only problem with that is that I have yet to find a glove pattern I like that uses worsted weight. Then there's the question of will just short of eight hundred yards be enough for all three? Maybe a Three-Way Scarf and some mittens.... hmmm....
*sigh* With every success comes more problems it seems. Oh well, if you're going to have a problem, I guess it's better to have a gorgeous yarn with no project than a project with nasty yarn.
(post script: for those who are wondering, yes, I did end up dyeing my hands! LOL. Next time, I'll remember to wear gloves!)
At some point, I got it into my head that I wanted to try my hand at dyeing my own yarn. After all, this was natural wool I had, so I went for it. I looked up Kool-Aid dyeing techniques on knitty.com and went from there. Or, at least, I went to my cabinet to find I had no Kool-Aid and was far too lazy to drive to the store to get some. I mixed up food coloring instead, since I had plenty of that and no use for it what-so-ever. "Six of one, half dozen of the other" was my thought, and I made my way over to the wool.
Guess what I did to get this result (click for a larger look at all pics in this post)! After washing (with baby shampoo) and soaking (in slightly warmer than room temperature water) my yarn, which I had cut into a twenty yard sample length, I filled the container completely up with water after carefully dropping one or two drops of coloring on the yarn at carefully planned intervals, then popped the whole thing in the microwave. Then I ran the yarn through the microwave in two minute cycles, two minutes on high then two minutes resting, for the next hour. The water wasn't getting clearer... in fact, it looked to be getting blacker the longer I went on and the yarn was still mostly its original color! Then someone suggested adding vinegar to the bath to set the color. Six minutes later I had the yarn you see at the left. Oops. While it's a very pretty mottling of various dark greens when you get really up close to it, it definitely wasn't anywhere near what I was going for, so back to the microwave!
Still not quite, what I had in mind, but much closer to what I was looking to get. Another twenty yard length cut from the skein, another wash, another soak and another round with the food coloring carefully dosed across the yarn. This time I added a water and vinegar mixture to the container; just enough to barely cover the yarn and began the microwave rotation. Another six minutes and this was the result. Slightly muddy and no where near the clarity of variegation that I love so much. Back to the microwave again.
Length number three dyed up beautifully. I mixed the food coloring directly with vinegar, slightly squished some of the water out of my pre-soaked twenty yard length and painted the desired colors on with a paintbrush, leaving just a small gap between so that the colors could run together without muddying each other. I highly recommend clicking for the larger version of this one so that you can see all the little transitions that make it all that it came to be. I want to dye the rest of the skein (seven hundred forty yards) and make something out of it, but what? If I make a hat, I want a scarf and gloves to go with it. The only problem with that is that I have yet to find a glove pattern I like that uses worsted weight. Then there's the question of will just short of eight hundred yards be enough for all three? Maybe a Three-Way Scarf and some mittens.... hmmm....
*sigh* With every success comes more problems it seems. Oh well, if you're going to have a problem, I guess it's better to have a gorgeous yarn with no project than a project with nasty yarn.
(post script: for those who are wondering, yes, I did end up dyeing my hands! LOL. Next time, I'll remember to wear gloves!)
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