Yarn Dying

Every January I make a list of things that I want to accomplish in the year. These are not so much resolutions but goals or tasks to be completed. One of these tasks for 2011 was to learn how to dye yarn my own colours. While I will admit I was a bit intimidated at 1st the process really was quite simple, and not nearly as messy as I figured it would be. Thanks to the great tutorial that Pea soup put up http://peasoupoftheday.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-to-dye-yarn-with-food-colouring-and.html I was able to master this art.
I started out with a bare hank of Knit Picks Superwash Merino Wosted weight yarn and ened up with a beautiful hank of yarn that reminds me of the sea.

Here is the hank before I did anything to it. Following Pea Soups instructions I then soaked this in a bowl of 1 cup of white vinegar and 1 cup of water for 2 hours.

Once the soaking was done, I squeezed the vinegar mix out of the yarn gentle and placed it on a garbage bag on my table to begin the hand painting. I used food colouring mixed with various amount of water and a sponge brush to apply the color. Seeing as I only had 2 colour of food colouring on hand (blue and yellow) I went for a nice marine them of blue and green. The stuff to the left is some baby blue roving that I had on hand that I also wanted to dye. I dyed it useing the same method.

I found that the most difficult (and stinky) part of the whole process was the cooking. I put my yarn in a ceramic bowl and microwaved (covered with the glass lid) for 5 mins on high. I then let the yarn cool (to make this process a bit quicker I put the bowl outside seeing as it was quite cold). Once the yarn was cool I nuked it for another 5 mins, then back outside to cool. After the second cooling I placed the yarn into a cold water bath that I had prepared in my sink. Amazingly none of the dye ran at all! Once rinsed I gentle squeezed out as much water as I could and hung the hank on a coat hanger to dry. As of this morning it was still a bit wet but looking beautiful.

I am really looking forward to crocheting something special with this yarn. What I don't yet know. What I do know is that this has just led me down yet another slippery slope of crafting. I can definately see more dying in my future.  So if you are ever thinking about dying your own yarn, but are feeling a bit intimidated take it from me it is much easier than it looks.

Signing off,
OCD (Obsessively Crafty Dork)