It seems though, that my resolve is showing some cracks. A few months back, I received a "learn to dye" swap kit. I tucked it away with my crafts supplies, and then moved apartments and misplaced it for a few decades. I rediscovered it earlier this month, and decided I shouldn't let it go to waste.
I wasn't going to start Dyeing Yarn, really, I just needed to use up those gifts! That's all! It's not a new hobby!
And so began the great Dyeing Experiment.
I started with this bare silk/merino blend:
And this bulky KnitPicks wool in a light shade of gray:
My kit had a variety of dyes, but didn't want to try anything too complicated, so I opted for the Kool Aid as the dye least likely to stain parts of my kitchen and person permanently.
I had forgotten how stinky Kool Aid is.
Now, most people starting a new
They might try to remember something learned in their (rather expensive) high school art classes about primary and secondary colors so they don't wind up with brown sludge-looking mixtures.
I just sort of winged it.
For the bare merino, I mixed black cherry and pineapple, hoping for an reddish orange.
And for the other, I stirred up some grape, pineapple and lemonade--I don't really know what I was going for . . . a warm purple? I got something with a greenish tinge:
Eh.
But I soldiered on.
And given the completely uninformed manner in which I went about this whole project, I don't think things turned out too badly:
Other than not really giving any consideration to how to mix colors, my primary mistake was tying the skeins too tightly--the red yarn has white bands all around it where the dye didn't reach the yarn. Oops.
I don't think this will become a regular hobby, but it's definitely something I'm going to keep in mind when I find yarn in hiding in my stash that could use a fresh look.
And you know what else I have hiding my craft bin?
A drop spindle.
3 comments :
I love the black cherry and pineapple. Good job!
Linda B.
I think they look great! Not sure what else you have in that kit, but make sure they're food-grade before using them in your normal pots and pans. Some dyes can be toxic if ingested so you'd want to use a separate pot for them than for your spaghetti :o)
Wow, those actually look pretty good! I have a few colors of yarn in my stash that I don't really like, and I think over-dyeing them is the only way to fix them. I'll have to do some research about the color results first though. Thanks for the tip!
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