Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Dyeing for Fun Part 1

Since I plan to dye a lot of yarn in the coming months and the yarn I dyed for the fingerless gloves was such a hit, I thought I would start a series of posts about my dyed yarn. Some day in the near future, I hope to open up an Etsy/Artfire shop to sell my dyed skeins. I even have a name for my company, but that's for a later post. :)

Here is one of my more recent dyes:



Colorway: Caribbean Sea
Fiber content: 100% Merino Wool
Weight: Fingering/4-ply
Yardage: 440 yards
Unit Weight: 100 grams
Care: Hand wash/Dry Flat
Dyed with: Kool-aid, Hawaiian Punch sugarless packs and food coloring

10 comments:

  1. Beautiful yarn, you did a lovely job with it

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  2. Oh. My. Gosh. Love! Now you have to teach me how to do this... or at least point me in the direction of a good book or tutorial? Please? :)

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  3. Love, love, love your dyed yarns! Every one I've seen is breathtaking.

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  4. Halfpint, thank you! I can't wait to see how it knits up. I think I'll be keeping this one. :)

    Paula, thank you! To be honest, I own a book for dyeing but haven't used it yet. I started out using a tutorial online, but pretty much just wing it. Here's the link: http://www.knitpurlgurl.com/2009/06/my-first-attempt-at-dyeing-yarn.html

    Pentalia, thank you! I've been pretty happy with most of it so far. It's so fun to see how it turns out once dried.

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  5. Kathleen, I did! the darker, purply-blue is the food coloring. Just the kind that come in the little bottles and are cheap from the grocery store! Thank you!

    Alea, thanks! ::blushes::

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  6. Wow, that turned out awesome! I dyed with Kool-Aid once (grape) but it didn't turn out nearly so brilliant. I've heard you can do it with Easter egg dyes, too, but I hadn't heard about Hawaiian Punch or food coloring.

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  7. Chelsea, thank you! Yeah, the grape Kool-aid isn't as bright as others. It can turn a little muddy quickly. The Hawaiian Punch I used was in little packages and obviously didn't have sugar added, just like the Kool-aid. Food coloring works good, but the Wilton's Icing dye is the best for vibrant colors IMO.

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  8. I have found that dyeing yarn is such a creative outlet. And so relaxing or meditating in a way. I really enjoy it.

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  9. suddenexpression, totally relaxing, though I always run around like a chicken with my head cut off for some reason while I'm mixing the dyes.

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