Tie Dying cotton Yarn??

[BakerALM]

You know that self striping sock yarn you can buy, well I love the idea of multicolor self dyed yarn. So I thought I could make something similar at home, not as perfect, I don't expect it to actually make a pattern just have random color pattern when knit up. What do you galls think?

My thought to actually get this to work was to use the tie dye method, Leave my skein of yarn the way it came from the manufacture and then tie dye. Since the yarn is wrapped in an interesting pattern from the manufacturer I thought leaving it that way would lead to a cool pattern.

The dye I was planning on using was this, does that seem right? I have only tie dyed once in my life and it was YEARS ago. Is there anything I should know before I start? Tips and tricks, dos and don'ts.

DOES this sound like it will WORK?
THANKS!
Andrea

[Roar]

If you put self striping sock tutorial into Google you'll hit on some tutorials. Here's a couple: http://www.streetsandyos.com/archive...lfstriping.php http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/2005/1...ping_yarn.html

I wasn't sure what you meant by the yarn is in an interesting pattern already. If it is balled or in the balls that stuff like Patton's comes in you wouldn't end up with stripes. You'd end up with some color on the outside and a lot of white near the middle of the ball. If you want to learn dyeing you might find it is lower cost to start with wool and koolaid and get a feel for what colors work well together.

[BakerALM]

Originally Posted by Roar

I wasn't sure what you meant by the yarn is in an interesting pattern already. If it is balled or in the balls that stuff like Patton's comes in you wouldn't end up with stripes. You'd end up with some color on the outside and a lot of white near the middle of the ball.

I was thinking if I used the plastic squirt bottles to do the dying like you can do in tie dying I could stick the tip into the ball and squirt. That would avoid the white patches, but even so a little white will add to the look.

[lyttlewon]

Originally Posted by BakerALM

I was thinking if I used the plastic squirt bottles to do the dying like you can do in tie dying I could stick the tip into the ball and squirt. That would avoid the white patches, but even so a little white will add to the look.

Do you know how to do a swirl dye? Seems you could pretty much do the same thing with the yarn somehow.

[BakerALM]

Originally Posted by lyttlewon

Do you know how to do a swirl dye? Seems you could pretty much do the same thing with the yarn somehow.

No I don't could you point me in the right direction with a link or a description? THANKS!

[lyttlewon]

Originally Posted by BakerALM

No I don't could you point me in the right direction with a link or a description? THANKS!

Three Irish Girls sells a dying stripes booklet. I was thinking about dyeing it after it has been knitted like you would tye dye a t-shirt. You soak the item in soda ash and water, and then lay it flat. You grab the middle of the item and twist it in a spiral pattern but still flat. Band it with rubber bands and then dye it in pie shapes around in a circle. The full instructions usually come in whatever kit you buy.

[BakerALM]

Originally Posted by lyttlewon

I was thinking about dyeing it after it has been knitted like you would tye dye a t-shirt.

OH I got ya! That's what threw me off. LOVE the link to the book thought! I might have to splurge and buy it! THANKS

[BakerALM]

Just found this amazing tutorial. Not exactly what I was looking for but still great.

[cristeen]

If the yarn is in a hank from the manufacturer, that would be fine, I would not try to dye it in the ball or skein though. The process of dyeing and rinsing will not only leave you with large white patches, but is liable to leave you with a huge tangled mess. When I dye, I tie the yarn in at least 6 places, tied in a figure 8 pattern. If I'm doing self-striping, I use more ties, as the hank is longer. And even then some tangling happens. The one time I didn't tie it well though (my first time), it took me HOURS to untangle the mess.

[BakerALM]

Originally Posted by cristeen

If the yarn is in a hank from the manufacturer, that would be fine, I would not try to dye it in the ball or skein though. The process of dyeing and rinsing will not only leave you with large white patches, but is liable to leave you with a huge tangled mess. When I dye, I tie the yarn in at least 6 places, tied in a figure 8 pattern. If I'm doing self-striping, I use more ties, as the hank is longer. And even then some tangling happens. The one time I didn't tie it well though (my first time), it took me HOURS to untangle the mess.

GOOD POINT!! THANKS

[flapjack]

If you go to www.pburch.net, she has a nember of dyeing tutorials. I'm aiming to use the low-water immersion technique on some cotton yarn some time soon, I'll let you know how it goes...(unless you want a dye-along?)