kool-aid joy!

[Gracefulmom]

Well, I finally tried my hand at kool-aid dyeing, and I can't believe how fun it was!! I used tropical punch and grape on off-white wool and tan wool... and now have two fun variegated yarns. It was interesting to see how different they were... the tan wool has much deeper tones of the dye.

Anyway, now I have a silly question: how DO you make one of those pretty, twisty, figure-eight-ish skeins? A center-pull ball, I can accomplish... but I just want to see this in a loopy-looking skein!

[iowaorganic]

Awesome! You have got to post a pic!

To make the cool varigate hank- rewind your yarn into a slightly different diameter hank. retie it and then fold it in half, grab the ends and twist and wrap and tuck! and then post!

I bet they are beautiful!

[utopia760]

oh i want to try

[flapjack]

Pictures?

To make your skein look pretty, put one end around the door handle, stick a wooden spoon through the other and twist. It'll do the rest itself.

[Cussin' Crafter]

may I ask, how did you learn to learn to dye with kool aide? Do you recommend a book or an internet site? I've always wanted to try that with my roving.

[~Megan~]

Originally Posted by Cussin' Crafter

may I ask, how did you learn to learn to dye with kool aide? Do you recommend a book or an internet site? I've always wanted to try that with my roving.

Soak in water and vinegar for 15 minutes. Apply Koolaid mixed with water to your fiber, heat set, rinse and dry. That's about it.

You can do it in jars or with roving it might be easier to lay it out on a table in plastic wrap and use syringes to apply color.

[Angelorum]

I think I read a good article about koolaid dying on knitty once.

[flapjack]

Yarn Harlot presents a guide to dyeing fibres
Use the links to get parts 2 and 3. It works, though. I wouldn't bother with the vinegar, IME kool-aid is acidic enough. I use a surfactant like washing-up liquid or shampoo to help the dye penetrate though.

[feminist~mama]

Thanks for the links and the instructions! I'm absolutely going to have to try this- I guess I thought it was more complicated for some reason!

Maybe I'll add some undyed to my 100purewool order...

[EarthMamaToBe]

Tie Dying is how I make my living but I've never tried Kool-Aid dying. How well does the Kool-Aid stand up to washing?

[Gracefulmom]

I haven't washed mine yet, so I'm interested to hear what other people have to say... but when I rinsed after dyeing, the water ran perfectly clear. I was surprised!

There's a picture on my blog now, in case you'd like to see.