What's your favorite method to dye yarn?

If you've dyed yarn before, what technique did you use? How did it turn out?

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Permalink Reply by Susan the Blue Lake Knitter on June 10, 2010 at 7:29am

No, we wouldn't want that! ROFL!! ♥s

Permalink Reply by Peggy Stuart on June 10, 2010 at 10:54am

It might color your experience.

Permalink Reply by cherylbwaters on June 10, 2010 at 11:13am

I'll try to see if I can keep from falling in! It could be that my hair could use a dye job but I've earned every gray hair I have.

Permalink Reply by Peggy Stuart on June 10, 2010 at 11:37am

Then I guess I have to try harder! I don't have very many yet.

Permalink Reply by cherylbwaters on June 10, 2010 at 11:40am

I don't either, but it's all around the front hairline and since I keep it pulled back it makes it look a lot grayer than it is.

Permalink Reply by JEN V. on May 5, 2010 at 7:58am

Here's my ?

If you're using the sock blank, and kool-aid, and want to have variation in your color, how do you achieve that?

Permalink Reply by Angela on May 5, 2010 at 9:04am

Amy and I will be blogging about our experiences with the Kool-Aid dye next week. I'm just a beginner, this was my first time dyeing. Nina has done a lot of food color and Kool-Aid dyeing, she might have some ideas for you.

I tried dipping different sections of the blank in different pots of boiling Kool-Aid. I also thought about dripping it on the blank with squirt bottles or painting it on with a brush, but I didn't try it, so I'm not sure how it would work out. I've just seen people in the office use those techniques with the acid dyes.

Permalink Reply by Peggy Stuart on May 5, 2010 at 9:14am

I was planning to do that with the Bare yarn I bought. I haven't tried it yet, but I was going to divide the hank up Into sections.

Permalink Reply by Nina on May 5, 2010 at 10:18am

There are a lot of fun ways to get color variation on a sock blank! You can "paint" right on it: soak the blank in a solution of water and white vinegar or citric acid, wring it out and lay it flat. Then paint it with your premixed dyes (any dye in liquid form will work, so kool aid, jaquard dyes, food color drops in water, etc), either from squeeze bottles (like the ones used to dye hair!) or with those foam brushes from the hardware store. Once the blank is painted, roll it up in plastic wrap and pop it in the microwave for a couple of minutes, or put it in a steamer on the stove to set the dye. let it cool, and then rinse, and you're ready to go!

If you want a long color transition from one end of the blank to the other, then you'll want to immerse the whole blank into a dye pot and then pull it out an inch at a time in 5-minute intervals, adding more dye to the pot as you do. This way, one end of the blank will be light and the other will be dark.

There are a lot of cool methods for dyeing in this knitty article:

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring07/FEATdyeyourown.html

She uses food coloring but Koolaid will work just the same, and all the methods will work on a sock blank, as well as on a skein like she demonstrates. Good Luck!

Permalink Reply by cellogirl on May 5, 2010 at 11:17am

I've used my own handspun yarns--mostly fine cross-bred from Australia. I pick whatever dyestuff that looks good in the garden, soak it. I mordant the skeins of yarn in one of the 5 mordants, let soak and dry. Then add to the dyepot in which I've boiled the dyestuff at least an hour. They simmer an hour or two, let cool in the pot, hang dry, then wash to remove the leaves, twigs and excess dye (usually none left in the fibers). I then shock the yarn before knitting or weaving with it so that it will never shrink--dry and have fun!! My dyed fabrics and sweaters have been in use for 38 years and have not faded, are soft and smell good!! The "natural" dyes are naturally grayed down, therefore shades of the various hues and combine with each other extremely well. I've done limited chemical dyeing with wool using acid dyes--experimented getting an entire 32 color wheel mixed and dyed from the 3 primaries--one learns a lot about color when hand dyeing. I taught some dye methods including indigo from "scratch"--great fun watching it bloom!!

Permalink Reply by Angela on May 5, 2010 at 5:06pm

wow, I'd love to see some photos of your yarn cellogirl, especially the ones dyed with natural dyes from your garden, that's so cool.

Permalink Reply by Christina Fairley on May 7, 2010 at 4:50pm

My favorite method right now is crockpot dyeing! Got a .50 crockpot at a yard sale and have been using icing, acid dye, and kool-aid. So much fun! I will add pictures later on