Color to the rescue!

Fortified with chili and hot chocolate, I was very happy to spend Saturday dyeing a couple of skeins of Bare Fingering weight yarn. My plan was to do a sort of tie-dying so that I could play around with several colors and have a certain amount of surprise with the result.

The first step was to twist the loops of yarn into tight skeins. I didn't soak the yarn overnight because I didn't want the dye to be taken up evenly. Instead, I hoped that the liquid dye baths would be taken up slowly and unevenly with different colors.

I stuffed one entire skein into each jar. I wanted to make two completely different colors of yarn since 100 grams each would be enough for a pair of socks.

I set up two sets of three dye colors to use as the dye baths. I made a mix of what I wanted to be the main color, added a couple of tablespoons of vinegar to set the color and then poured it over the yarn in the jar.

I steamed the two jars in my canning pot sitting in the rack just above the simmering water.

 

After thirty minutes, I used a spatula to keep the yarn in the jar while I poured out the dye bath. Then I ran hot tap water into the jar until the water ran clear. I poured out the rinse water and then added the second dye bath.

After the second bath, I repeated the rinsing process. One of the skeins looked very nice with just two colors so I laid it out to dry. But, the second skein still had white sections in the middle of the twist so I unwound it a bit, put it back in its jar and poured in a third color. After the second skein was finished, I wanted to give both skeins a bit of a headstart in the drying process. I wrapped each one up in a towel and gave them a quick turn in the spin cycle of the washing machine. I laid them over our clothes drying rack and they were dry by Sunday morning!

   

A very satisfying day!

Comments

[Denise]

Kelly you look so serious!! But I was always faulted for that when I was student teaching.. cause I loved what I did and I was so serious about it!
It follows here I suppose!

Granite counter top + glass jar + hot, staining liquid = fierce concentration! :)

Kelley

[dorkyquilts]

That looks like so much fun! I hand-dyed your worsted wieght yarn for a Clapotis; it came out great. Now, I got to get to that Bare sock yarn I ordered from you last December. I love the Jacquard dyes; they were very easy to use. Thanks for the fun post!

[Theresa]

a-ha! Now I know what I'll be doing this weekend. All that Bare yarn on my shelves, and nothing but two days of no work! Thanks for the inspiration.

[Kristy]

What a beautiful job! I love both of them, but especially the brighter one. What pretty socks those will make!

[oboegoddess]

Soooo cool! Love, love the dark one. Can't wait to see them knit up! --Jill P.

[Karen Bacon]

The skeins dyed up beautifully!! What a treat. You have given me great ideas for the future. BTW, what was that white stuff behind the skeins? :)

Karen in TX

[Janet in MN]

I dyed a piece that I knitted with the bare yarn using Koolaide and vinegar. It worked great. How do you keep the second and third colors from changing the color that was used first?

[Blondi]

Kelly, your colors turned out great! You must try indigo next time -- it is so cool the way the yarn comes out of the dye bath a yucky yellow-green color, then as it oxidizes -- magic!

[Rheba]

Well, this is timely because I am preparing to dye some yarn with my new Knit Picks Jacquard Acid Dye starter kit this week. Your yarns turned out beautifully; my favorite is the darker one. It is 51 degrees and sunny in the Texas Hill Country at 8:51 this morning, Kelly. Want to come visit?

[Kathy in KS]

You are such an enabler! I want to try dying too, but for some reason I'm slightly scared. You make it look so easy.

[Kristine]

I'll be excited to see these socks when they are knit up, the colors look great in the skein!

[Deborah (a.k.a. Mt. Mom)]

2008 is the year I hope to do some yarn-dyeing. May I ask you? I recall you talking in your podcast about warm and cool versions of colors. On my monitor and in my KP catalog, I can tell the warm from the cool red, but can't with the blue. Could you *please* enlighten me on which of the Jacquard dyes are warm? I want to start there, as you did, but aiming for Spring vs Fall colors. Thanks.

[Janice]

Wow, now it's time to try hand-dyeing! Kelley, these colors look great. Thanks to your podcast and blog, I've been wanting to try things in my knitting I never thought I would, like sock knitting, spinning and now hand-dyeing. Thanks for being such an inspiration to me!

[Teish]

Wow! I've been tempted to try yarn dyeing, but I've been afraid that it would be too hard. It really does look easy! I do LOVE the bright yarn; it makes me want to dye some bright yarn and knit myself some socks!!! My little girl would really like a sweater made from some "tie-dyed" yarn. :-)

[Alyssa]

you look like you had so much fun. I wish we had more room in our little New York City apartment to dye. One day...when we move!

[Joy]

I would like to ditto Janet... do the colors just not blend when they dye on the bare spots for the second and third colors? Obviously, I'm going to have to try this at home :o)

[Jana]

Wow! I love the bright blue/green one, but the darker one is beautiful too. May I ask what color dyes and what order? I have always wanted to do tie dye, but never thought it possible in the home kitchen - you rock!

[Mel]

The bright blue and green one is beautiful! Hope to see what you'll make with it :)