Kool Way to Dye!

So knitting is my latest thing, and dyeing yarn is my latest knitting thing.

First of all, if you knit you need to be on Ravelry. Unfortunately I tend to spend more time on Ravelry then I do actually knitting!

I started with this:

This was some "age undetermined but very old" wool that my mom gifted to me (thanks Mom!). First I had to combine all of these small skeins into one large hank. I used my swift to wind the skeins into one long hank for dyeing.


For future reference - the hank ended up being 5 ozs of 3 ply fingering divided into three 40 inch sections for a total of 120 inches. The end result should be self-striping yarn suitable for a pair of socks.

I used several online references for instruction on how to dye the yarn. I opted to use KoolAid for my first attempt as it was cheap and easily available - and nontoxic. Some of the references I used are: knitty.com and Streets and YOs. There are many other resources online as well.

Once I had the yarn wound all in one hank I soaked it overnight. I did add vinegar to the water, although I don't think it was necessary when using the KoolAid method of dyeing.



I decided on three colors: green (lime), purple (grape), and orange (orange).



I decided to use the hot water bath method. I filled a large pot about 2/3 of the way full with hot water. I then put the canning jars with the dye into the pot.



I brought the water in the pot to a boil and then simmered the pot until the water in the jars was primarily clear.



I rinsed the yarn in the water that was in the pot to avoid shocking it and risk felting.


Once the yarn cooled I drained it.

And then hung it to dry.

I made myself a niddy noddy so I could wind the dyed yarn into a hank solely for the purposes of photographing it. I used the directions here: Niddy Noddy Instructions and made this:



Unfortunately I removed the ties on the hank too soon and ended up with this:



But with lots and lots of patience and time I ended up with this:



And then this:



I will definitely doing more dyeing in the future. I have on order some Jacquard Acid Dye from KnitPicks as well as the book Teach Yourself Visually Hand-Dyeing.

My New Toy!

Okay, so this would definitely be a "want" not a "need," but it is very cool.

Yarn Ball Winder:




When I started knitting about a year ago I started with dishcloths using
Lily Sugar N Cream cotton yarn. Those dishcloths are still going strong!

I then discovered the Ravelry website and got totally hooked on knitting. I'll post another time about Ravelry.

Since then I have started accumulating a small stash of yarn. I would never have thought I needed to do anything to the skeins of yarn I buy from Michael's or Jo-Ann Fabrics, and really I don't. But if (or shall I say when) I branch out to buying yarns from independent yarn stores they will come in hanks, which will need to be wound into balls before they can be used.

I found this on Jo-Ann.com, and after using an online coupon it was just over $20. I had to buy some yarn for a project that required more than I had bought originally (of course I couldn't find any more locally) but I also signed up for an account and got a coupon for $2.95 shipping, so it wasn't too bad.

This winder has gotten mixed reviews, but I think mainly the problem was with people not realizing that you have to pull the side yarn guide all the way out until it clicks. I've had no problem with it so far, and it is tons of fun to do. Even my 11-year-old son has fund winding the balls, although he got a little too enthused and pulled the thing off the table!

So here is what you start with, what it looks like in progress, and the finished product!






And here is just a little bit of my stash looking all rolled up and cute:




If you are interested in buying the yarn winder there is a link to one sold on Amazon to the right of this post. But be careful, winding yarn can be addicting!