Dyeing some yarn has been at the top of my list for a loooong time (with some spinning) & i have the acid dyes... but i don't have a reserved crock pot or dish.. so i haven't gotten around to it. keep thinking about that kool-aid group... & i know all about the easter egg dye, food dyes, etc. well, this time i said "don't dump that egg dye, cause i WILL do it this year"! so i saved it for my birthday project. (earth day)
i have some Knit Picks Bare sock.. but that's a lot of yardage for the idea playing in my head & then a Rav search on my stash reminded me of some worsted wool in white, only 51 grams. my idea was a rainbow with the colors, obviously because they are all there made up & ready, but because my kid has been obsessed with rainbows for a time now. which i didn't always pay much attention to before, but now with his help i see how happy they are.. & so i now collect rainbow yarn. my thought is to make him a hat, perhaps Turn a Square by Jared Flood, but not sure how much to do of each color to make a rainbow repeat in the hat.. not ending up with only red through yellow or something.. ?? well, in the end of thinking of mini skeins & ends & finally just thought to try it by dyeing each 5 grams & if it doesn't work then cut it or find a new project.
there are probably easier ways to do it.. like sock blank-style, but until i find an affordable knitting machine... this was the quickest. i wound mini hanks & weighed them on my scale & tied each to keep it separate. soak in vinegar-water 1 hour.
dunked each section in small cups filled with rainbow colors until i knew it had time to soak. took the yarn hanklettes out & put on plastic wrap, dunked the next repeat (i didn't have enough yarn for the last purple). & put those in the same color piles. added a smidgen of extra dye over the piles, wrapped up & microwaved for 4 minutes. let stand a few, i meant 5 min, but i think i got distracted & it was more like 10? microwaved another 4, checked the dye water puddle underneath… clear!!! my only.. ugh!.. was when moving the plastic wrapped yarn back into the dish... the green got into the yellow a little. next time i'll have the plastic wrap in the dish, no moving.
i did this late & it was steaming hot.. so i left it to cool. came back in the am & rinsed it, squeezed the water out, hanked it & left to dry in the bathroom. AWESOME easy! ;) during the microwave process is when my spouse came home & pondered me using the microwave first... cause i don't microwave food.. i know, i'm one of those, so it holds the snacks out of sight from the vultures. then he asked.. what is that smell? pickled eggs?.. wet dog? why yes. late night snack of steamed wet dog & pickled eggs.. ...
i used PAAS dye.. there is both Red 3 & 40 in it.. not sure which in which colors so a i know the red may fade. i hope not.. but super great project to try out, or with kids.
yeah, so i'm hooked... need more!!
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