Let’s get ready to dye!!!

I just got my KnitPicks order in the mail! It contained two 100-gram hanks of ‘bare yarn’ for my kool-aid dying excursion. The 100 grams = 220 yards so I separated it into three sections. I know it’s more than 50 yards but I only had three color options in my cupboard. Grape, Cherry, and Orange.

First off- I need a Swift This would have made the entire situation easier when it comes to unraveling my yarn. I literally spent over an hour and a half (or three and a half episodes of Sex and the City) trying to get all the knots worked out. Eventually I got it all separated into three sets and had them all soaking.

So I went downstairs and grabbed three somewhat dusty mason jars from the creepy space under the basement stairs and filled them with water. Then I put the two sets of un-sweetened kool-aid into the jars while my skeins of yarn soaked in the sink filled with luke-warm water.

When I was satisfied with the concentration of kool-aid to water, I put the yarn in there. The color immediately soaked into the yarn and I was already impressed.

So I put all three into the microwave and hit the ‘one minute’ button two times. When it was done, I checked it out

My microwave...

I waited a few minutes, then put it back in the microwave and hit it for two minutes again. I left it again and hit the minutes again. After 3 zaps in the microwave, I pulled out the yarn and saw that the colors were completely dissolved into the yarn.

The Cherry, Orange and Grape juices after I took out the yarn.

I then put each yarn into the sink with some laundry detergent to help work out the excess dye. After that I gently pressed out most of the water and put it on a plate covered with tons of paper towel to soak up the extra color.

After letting the yarn sit on the paper towel for a while, I moved my creations into the bathroom and over the curtain rack. I turned on the fan and put an old towel under the dripping yarn.

I’ve been in to check on it a couple times and the yarn should be dry by morning (hopefully) so I can ball it up and start knitting! I can’t wait!

I have an addiction…

And I’m not afraid to admit it.

I just spent 30 bucks on yarn that I haven’t touched or seen before. But hey, at least I got a great deal on it! I’m always for a good justification!

I saw an ad on my Gmail that KnitPicks was having a massive sale. Naturally, I went ahead and checked it out, not really planning on finding anything but thought I could drool over the pretty-ness.

I found something…
A lot of something…

At 2.79 for 50 grams of yarn I could get Dougherty…

And Graham…

This was seriously a deal I couldn’t pass up regardless of if I should be spending that money or not… So I spent the money! I bought three skeins and both Graham and Dougherty and as soon as Dec 18 rolls around, I’ll be buying Beckett…

I then checked out the needles and found the sets to be a little pricey for my liking so I passed up on that… then I saw dying kits.

This is what prompted my want for dying the textiles. So I bought two hanks of Bare Superwash Merino Wool. I plan on doing the kool-aid dye-test and since I bought this wool for super cheap, I won’t feel that terrible if it’s completely effed up.

I’m fidgety in anticipation until these beauties come in the mail and I can start knitting.

In the mean time- it’s time for an orange and blue neckwarmer. Still undecided whether I should do multiple stripes or just two large stripes.

Dye your yarn with Kool aid!

Oh…. My…. God….

It sounds like an amazing idea! I even have a tutorial on how to do this! I’m fully intending on going first to Joann Fabrics for some ‘bare yarn’ and then to the grocery store for some un-sweetened Kool Aid in random colors… Then to the other side of the store for a few Mason jars (as well as the 10 other items I’ll need from the store like Shampoo…) and then it’s home to get dying!

It’s so simple it can be done in the microwave! All you have to do is lightly wash up the yarn with a mild soap (most people use laundry detergent)/soak it while you’re getting the dye together.

The dye is comprised of large mason jars, two packets of un-sweetened koolaid and water. At this point, your water does not need to be hot. Put in the yarn and cover it sufficiently with water. (Try not to do more than 50 grams, or 86 yards of yarn at a time or you might not end up with very vibrant colors)

Now it’s time to get the color magic working! Put your yarn/water dish into the microwave and power up for two minutes. Then let it rest for a few minutes then heat it up again for two minutes. Do this until the dye is saturated into the yarn and your liquid is almost clear-as-water again.

THEN! Let the yarn sit in the jar and cool off. Then go ahead and rinse it thoroughly in water the same temperature as the yarn. Finally, wash the yarn in mild soap, rinse again, and let dry.

Be very careful with this form of dying though- because your yarn is neither in a ball nor in hank-form, you run the risk of MASSIVE knots in your knitting so be wary of how you pull the wet yarn out of your jar.

I’ll upload pictures of my dying extravaganza later this week!