avid dyer

The first time I dyed yarn I found it and such a lengthy process I didn't think I'd be back for more.  But this time I wanted a specific colour, had some white yarn, so why the heck not. 

I'm not particularly scientific when it comes to dying.  I've watched a bunch of youtube videos and read a bunch of tutorials, so my technique is a bit of this and that.  I personally found a bunch of the ChemKnits tutorials very helpful.

I've not graduated beyond food colouring yet.  I found these ones by Americolor in a local lollystore, and was happy to give colours outside those available at woolies (being red, blue, yellow and green) a go.

My technique in this instance was influenced by the quantity of yarn I wanted to dye.  I didn't have a micorwave safe dish that would both hold my desired quantity of yarn and actually fit in my microwave.   So I tried the stove-top method, becuase I had a big pot.

The yarn:  180g of Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 4ply. 

The colour:  orange 113

The technique:

Use your swift (or the back of a chair, whatevs) to unwind your ball of yarn into a skein.  Use some cotton to tie it in multiple places so it doesn't tangle (see how she ties it here).  Soak your yarn in some water with a generous splash of white vinegar.  I soaked mine overnight.

Put some water in the largest pot you have.  Add a generous splash of white vinegar.  Add a full bottle (25g) of Americolor (or whatever dye you're using at whatever ratio you fancy) to the pot and stir so the dye dissolves into the water (I used my Nigella whisk).  Bring to a light boil. 

Remove your yarn from the soak and get rid of most of the water.  Plop it into the pot.  QUICKLY get a spoon and submerge it.  Every time I've dyed I found the yarn sucks up majority of the dye super quick, so you need to make sure it all gets submerged to get full coverage asap so the entire skein has an equal chance of absorbing the dye.  I don't know if this is scientific, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Boil until the yarn has absorbed all the dye and the water is clear.  Mine took about 20 mins.  Turn off the heat and leave the yarn in the pot to cool enough so you can handle it.

Rince the yarn in lukewarm water with a bit of dish soap until the water runs clear.  This took FOREVER for me so I resorted to a short vinegar soak in an attempt to get the dye to stick and the water was clear after that. 

Squeeze out the excess water and hang to dry. 

Twist into a hank, and take pretty pictures.

I'm quite pleased with the result.  It's bright, practically neon orange.  It has some slight variations in colour - is that what you would usually expect dying it this way?  It could have gone a lot worse considering the amount of yarn I was dying at once.

I think I'm going to call the colour, Fanta-sea.

Now.... what to make...

~Tan

P.s. Linking up with Nat at Made in Home for Let's get acquainted!

Oh yeaahhhhhh

I dyed some yarn baitches!  Wooo dye!   I've already mentioned that I was going to dye some yarn so that I had a few more purpley coloured stripes for my Sailor Purples Shawl .  I had about 200 grams of remnants of laceweight yarn I purchased from the bargain room at BWM skeined into little bunches.  

Who else sees a blank canvas?

Dye Job #1 - Kool Aid

Firstly, I have never consumed kool aid.  We don't get it here.  Well, now we do, in those shops that are popping up all over the place selling American lollies and drinks and such.  Most of my knowledge of kool aid comes from Dane Cook's jokes about it.

I used this tutorial to dye my yarn.  I used the microwave method.  Now, I experienced a few problems.  The tutorial says use 1 packet of kool aid for every ounce of yarn.  (Come on USA, use the metric system already!!!)  Google tells me this is 28 grams, so I used 2 packets of grape kool aid for 66 grams of yarn.  Well, 2 packets was no where near enough for this amount of yarn.  So after going through the process, I had to use another 2 packets to get a bit more coverage for my yarn, and even then it's still very patchy.

Another lesson learned, I probably should not have been wasting time taking pictures of partially dyed yarn, because the yarn sucked up the colour from the kool aid fast.  Mega fast.  The liquid was going clear before my very eyes.  The instructions instructed me to 'add my yarn and enough water to cover it' to the kool aid mixture.  Next time I would add extra water first so my yarn could be submerged all at once, rather than some of it missing out on the dye because there was not enough liquid to cover it straight away.

Anyway, the results.  I could not photograph this yarn true to colour.  But as you can see, even after 4 packets of kool aid, I could not get consistent coverage.  Not sure what my problem was, too much yarn at once mayhaps?  I didn't stir it enough?  I think it comes back to the yarn sucking up the dye super fast and me not being quick enough to get it all in there.  Nevertheless, I quite like the varigated result. 

Afterthoughts:  People actually drink this stuff?  It's sooooo potent!! There must be sooo many chemicals!  I'd definitely do this again, maybe in smaller batches.  It leaves your yarn with a lovely fruity aroma, so that's also a plus!  Also this:

via

Dye Job #2 - Food Colouring

It was really difficult to find a tutorial for this method that I liked.  Most of them I found told me to soak my yarn overnight in vinegar, or some other tedious process.  Sorry, but I want results NOW!!  Then I found this video, and there was much rejoicing.

I dyed three lots of yarn using this method.  First, I dyed some with red only, wanting a pale pink colour.  The result was the below shocking neon magenta colour, so I dyed it a second time with purple (3 parts red, one part blue).  I'm quite happy with the result!!

Next I did straight purple, using the 3 parts red 1 part blue concoction.  Sorry, I didn't take any pics of these unwound.  Finally, I overdyed a couple of blue remnants with red.  I poured a LOT of red into the water, and was very surprised how much of it took.  I was expecting purple, and got burgundy.  I'm diggin' it though - pictures of this one wound below.

Blue + red = purple right?  Not necessarily!

Afterthoughts:  I also like this method.  It was quick and easy, and I managed to get some varied results, so I was quite pleased. 

Now I've got about an extra 175 grams of purples (and red) to add to my shawl.  Looking forward to seeing how it all pans out!

The final verdict:  dyeing was tons of fun!  So many steps involved though (I'm mainly thinking about skeining, washing, drying and winding up) so it's a slow process, and I have a new appreciation for all those indie dyers out there!