Friday, September 12, 2008

Something I've Been Dyeing to Do

I've been reading a lot about dyeing yarn with Kool-Aid -- so yesterday I decided to take the plunge.
Not wanting to waste much money, I started with a 48-gram ball of ivory yarn from my stash. I got it for $1 at the Hub Mills Store. The label says it's Sesia Ghibli 100% merino. This was in the odds and ends bin and I assume the label went with the yarn. In any event, it seems to be a sport weight, approximately 130 yards.
Here's what it looked like after I unwound the ball. And these are the two dye pots -- one lemonade, the other pink lemonade. Each is mixed with 4 tablespoons of water (see below, I don't think that was enough).


Next I squirted the dye on the yarn with a turkey baster -- in eight sections. I kind of ran out of dye, that's why I think more water would've been better. Then, onto the stove it went to steam for about 45 minutes.



After it cooled, I washed the yarn and put it on a rack to dry. It looks lighter, but that might just be the lighting where I was taking pictures (no dye was released when I washed the yarn). And finally -- ta da -- the finished product, all wound and ready to knit. Now I just need a pattern. I can't wait to see how it comes out. The yarn looks just like sherbert to me.






1 comment:

Casey said...

Thank pastel pink one reminds me a lot of a kimono I used to wear as a little girl. Same pink and greens. :) Koolaid brings nostalgia!