For the Love of Dyeing . . .

To me, yarn is manna from heaven. I love the touch, the smell but most of all . . . . the color. I'm like a magpie when it comes to collecting the colors - I'm particularly fond of a green/yellow/lilac combination, and have one or two skeins in my stash that meet that criteria. I also see combinations day-to-day; you know the type, a beautiful sunrise, waves and sand on a beach, a wildflower blooming in a grassy field and those are just the obvious ones! So, I thought it would be fun to try out some yarn dyeing - and oh boy, I'm hooked! My first two experiments involved the use of Kool Aid. There have been many tutorials written on the subject, so I'm just going to give you the links! This Knitty article was very useful, as is this article from KnittyOtter.

So, after a trip to the supermarket, I was armed with some Kool Aid in Cherry, Orange and Lemon/Lime. I had some Patons Kroys sock yarn in Ecru sitting by, waiting for an opportunity to show how lovely it could be! I re-skeined the yarn and then soaked it in mild soapy water for 30 mins, meanwhile I dissolved one sachet of Kool Aid in two cups of water - three bowls, one color in each. After squeezing out the yarn and rolling it in a towel to dry a little more, I dipped a third of the yarn in each of the bowls, being careful not to mix the colors. I left a bare patch between each of the color joins and carefully squeezed the dye to fill the gaps. The yarn was then coiled into one of the baskets of my steamer, and left to steam for 30 minutes.

Once cooled, it was given a good rinse and left to dye. A quick twist . . . and it looked like this!Pretty cool huh? I need to re-skein it, but I proudly present to you, Neon Punch (1201).

I loved the effect the cherry had, so I mixed a second packet with the dissolved dye and dropped two more prepared skeins in to get Cherry Love (1202).

It must be love, love, love . . . .