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Dyeing Yarn with Kool-Aid
By Sonja Record of
Sonja Kathleen Contemporary Knitting
Kool-aid is
a safe, easy and fun way to dye wool yarn. It requires no specialized
equipment, and is safe enough to do with small children. Since it's
actually food dye, you can even use your kitchen utensils without fear
of contamination.
To begin,
you'll need a quantity of wool yarn. One of the great things about wool
(and other animal fibers) is that it takes dye so easily and so
beautifully. It's really pretty hard to get bad results. Plant fibers
such as cotton can be more difficult to dye, requiring a dye solution
with a base pH, so these instructions are for wool yarn only.
The yarn you
choose can be thick or thin, natural or dyed. If you choose a previously
dyed yarn, you should select one in a fairly light shade, since you want
the Kool-aid color to show up. Overdyes often result in a more subtle,
sophisticated color effect. For example, you could place light blue yarn
into a yellow dye bath, and the resulting green will be different than
if you simply placed natural white yarn in a green dye bath.
You should
choose enough yarn to complete the project you have in mind, since it
will be fairly difficult to duplicate the results exactly. If you think
you might want to repeat a color in the future, then you'll need to make
notes regarding exact quantities, times, and temperatures of everything
you do.
If your yarn
comes in a center-pull skein, you'll need to rewind it into a twisted
skein or big loop. This allows the dye to come into contact will all
parts of the yarn. (It's amazing how protected the yarn at the center of
a ball can be!) You'll be handling the yarn a fair amount at rinse time,
so tie the skein in several places to avoid having a snarled mess when
you're done.
Pre-wet the
yarn by soaking it in cool water for about 20 minutes, then squeezing it
out. This allows for quicker, more even dye penetration. If you want to
try for a mottled look, you can skip this step and start with dry yarn,
but it will take longer for the dye to saturate the wool.
You'll also
need some packets of unsweetened Kool-aid or other brand drink mix. The
colors are fairly predictable - for red, try strawberry or cherry. For
purple or blue, try grape or blue raspberry. For orange, try orange or
tangerine. For green, try lemon-lime. For yellow, try lemonade. For
other colors, try mixing different flavors together. Feel free to
experiment with whatever flavors you can find - that's part of the fun.
Some colors are harder to come by than others, and you may have to
substitute or supplement with the kind of food coloring you can buy in
the spice section at the market.
How many
packets you need is largely a function of how much yarn you want to dye
and how dark you want to dye it. For a sock or scarf-size amount of wool
and a light to medium color, one or two packets should suffice. It's
difficult to give exact formulas for the dyes, since so many variables
besides amount of dye can affect the final result. The entire process is
subject to a fair amount of trial-and-error, but that's where the fun
is.
Remember
that in almost all cases, you will be mixing the flavors in a much
stronger concentration than you would to drink them. If you still can't
get a color you like, try adding a few drops of food coloring. In
general, when you mix the dye you want to have enough liquid to cover
the yarn. If the yarn isn't completely immersed, the results will be
mottled (a nice look, too), and having an excessive amount of liquid
will dilute the color and waste the dye.
Finally, for
best results, add about ¼ cup of white distilled vinegar per quart of
water to make the pH of the solution acidic. This step isn't necessary,
but wool accepts dye better under acidic conditions.
So,
let's get started. I like to do this in my kitchen, but I do put down a
layer of newspaper, plastic, paper towels or whatever on the counter to
minimize messes. Kool-aid may also stain fingers, mouths, and clothing;
so wear clothes you don't care about.
The easiest,
most child-friendly method is to empty a packet of Kool-aid into a large
zip lock baggie, add about a quart of cold water, put in the yarn
(enough for a scarf or socks), and seal the bag. You can then squeeze it
around until it's well mixed and place it in the sun for several hours
or all day if possible. The reason for placing it in the sun is that
heat will help to set the dye, but it's not so hot that little fingers
will get burned.
Allow the
bag to cool as much as possible before taking the yarn out and rinsing
it in cool water until the water runs clear. The reason for this is to
avoid temperature shocking the yarn, which could result in some unwanted
felting or shrinkage. Squeeze out the excess water and hang the yarn up
to dry, out of direct sunlight if possible. This method will result in a
single-color yarn, possibly with some variation in color saturation.
If you're
not happy with the color, you can re-dye it with the same or another
color, or use the dip-dye technique described below.
Cooking the
mixture on the stovetop will set the dye better and more quickly than
letting the sun cook it in a baggie. Simply place the dye mixture in a
saucepan and add the yarn before turning on the heat. Heat the mixture
to a gentle boil for 5 to 10 minutes, squeezing the yarn with a spoon or
other implement to saturate it with dye. Be careful not to slosh the hot
liquid on yourself.
Allow the
mixture to cool to room temperature before removing the yarn and rinsing
with cool water until it runs clear. As before, hang the yarn to dry.
The
dip-dye method will allow you to use two or more colors on the yarn.
Keep in mind when you select your colors that they will overlap and form
a third color for a short area. So, if you choose blue and yellow, you
will also have a section of green where these two dyes blend.
Use a
separate bowl or jar of the same height for each dye color. Add the dye,
place the jars right next to each other, and put half the yarn in each
jar. If the section of yarn that's out of the dye remains uncolored, you
can "rotate" it part way through the process. Allow the yarn to sit in
the dye for several hours, or until the dye is "exhausted." The dye bath
is exhausted if all the dye adheres to the yarn, leaving virtually clear
water behind.
If you like
the color after only a short time, by all means remove the yarn from the
dye and finish processing it. Remember that some of the color will rinse
out, and the remaining color will probably dry a shade or two lighter.
After the
dye bath, you can simply rinse the yarn in cool water and dry as before,
or you can "cook" it to further set the color. To do this, place the
yarn in a baking pan in the oven at 200 degrees for about 10 minutes.
After removing the yarn from the oven, allow it to cool to room
temperature before rinsing in cool water and drying.
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