Dying!

I've been anxious to try my hand at dying for a while now.  I'm interested in the natural dyes primarily, but the vivid and fun colors coming from Kool-Aid were too good to pass up.  I decided to try beets and Kool-Aid - one of each - for my first time. 

I read through several sources for instructions on dying.  I looked here for guidance on Kool-Aid formulas.  A few weeks ago, I picked up Craft of the Dyer by Karen Leigh Casselman at the local library book sale.  It's got lots of great information!

I chose two yarns from my stash to dye.  First, I had a skein of Jojoland Harmony I got in a grab bag.  It was a REALLY light, pastel rainbow and I wasn't a fan.  I decided to overdye it with the beets.  The second yarn was a white mystery yarn.  I'd say it's a DK weight and I was pretty sure it was animal fiber of some sort.  Because I was questioning the content, I chose Kool-Aid for this one.

First, I soaked both skeins in a fixative.  I used about 6 cups white vinegar and 12 cups water.  This ended up being far more liquid than I needed.  I heated the mixture on the stove in a big soup pot and dunked the yarn in.  For about an hour, the yarn stayed in on low heat.  According to several dying instructions, a fixative for Kool-Aid isn't necessary.  Since I was already doing it for the beets, I decided to throw both in, anyway.
 

 

While the yarn was soaking, I prepared my dye baths.  I peeled and chopped 6 beets.  I cut them into about 1/2 inch cubes and dumped them into enough water to cover the yarn. I brought it all to a boil, reduced heat and let it simmer, covered, for about an hour.  I used a mesh strainer to strain the beets out. 

For the Kool-Aid, I used enough water to cover the yarn plus some to allow for evaporation.  I used three packets of Lemon-Lime and one of Lemonade.  I mixed in the packets and let it sit. 

 

Kool-Aid                                                 Beets

When the yarn was done in the fixative, I used tongs to remove the yarn.  I let as much water run off as I could.  I used a wooden spoon to squeegee more water out.  A skein each went into the dye bath!  I mixed immediately, getting the dye around the skein evenly.  

The Kool-Aid went fast.  I mixed until the water was clear.  It was very cool to watch!  When the water was clear, I rinsed with cold water, gently squeezed out water and hung to dry.  The beet dye bath took longer.  There's evidence of mixed results using beets.  Some say they can get red, other say the best they can do is brown.  I pulled the yarn out of the dye bath a couple times to check color, but ultimately left it to simmer for about 45 minutes.  I rinsed, squeezed and hung that to dry! 

I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with the results.  There's some white left in the Kool-Aid yarn, though that doesn't bother me.  The beets turned out better than I expected.  It's a tad more "rusty" in person, though.  This picture gives it a tad more credit than it deserves. :)