Wednesday, November 30, 2011

How to Dye Yarn With KoolAid

I've always wanted to try dying yarn this way & I finally tried it the other day when I came across a couple skeins of yarn a friend of mine had spun & gifted to me last winter.
It was easy as pie! I used 3 packets of koolaid in different 'red' flavors. I had a bucket that ice cream had been packaged in & thought it was a good size for the amount of yarn I had to be completely submerged. I filled the bucket halfway with water...mixed in the koolaid very well & then took a wisk to push the yarn down into the dye until everything was saturated. After about 15-20 minutes of soaking, the water around the yarn is clear!
The yarn is a gorgeous poppy red which smells like cherries! How fun!
To best set the dye, I dumped out the bucket & wrung out the yarn a little & then put it back into the bucket...filling it halfway again with cold water & half a bottle of white vinegar.
I didn't mean for it to soak so long, but after an hour of being distracted by my kids, I came back & rinsed it well, washed it with mild detergent to get rid of the vinegar smell & hung it up on the towel rack in the bathroom to dry.
Now I just have to decide what I'm going to knit with it.

Note that if you would like to do this, the yarn needs to be mainly a natural fiber such as wool, bamboo, etc...not polyester, as it won't take the dye.

2 comments:

Cathy said...

What fantastic colour! Made anything with it yet?

Hello there! My name is June said...

I'm actually working on my 2nd pair of socks from this! I will be sure to post photos when they're done!