It may be news to you that Kool-Aid makes an excellent dye. No, seriously. There's something about the artificial color crap that protein fibers loooove to hold onto. This means animal-based fibers, like sheep (wool), goats (cashmere or mohair), critters (silk) or people (teenagers). Teens have been using it to temporarily dye their hair for decades. But in an immersion bath with a catalyst like vinegar, the color becomes bright and permanent. The same chemistry principle can be found in a Paas Easter egg coloring kit. It's a very cool and easy process, especially exciting - for geeks like me - because you never know how the end product will look. It's impossible to exactly replicate a colorway, and I like the uncertainty of the whole process. It will not work on most synthetic fibers. That's a different post.
Lacking a kettle that I am willing to sacrifice, or a cauldron in the backyard (since I have neither cauldron nor backyard yet), I decided to use my oldest crockpot. I've had this thing about ten years and it has served me well. The pre-owned history is unknown, but it's definitely been in the trenches for a while - it's brown with a loverly pattern of avocado green flowers. So I'm thinking 1972? Anyway, I have bigger and better crocks now, so this was an easy choice.
I wandered to Ben Franklin, our local craft franchise, and ended up with two balls of yarn. The first is 50g/125 yds of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, at the bargain price of $8.00 each, in a natural creamy color. This lovely yarn is 55% merino wool, 12% cashmere and 33% microfiber, so it's super-springy and resilient. It's a light DK weight. That's Double Knit, for all you non-fiber fans (and if you're not, God bless you for reading this far).
The second is Lion Brand Wool-Ease, also in cream ("99 Fisherman" actually), worsted weight, 85g/197 yds, $2,99. This one is 80% acrylic and 20% wool, to be worked with a size J crochet hook to become goodness knows what. Now you'll remember I said that an acid dye bath will not take to acrylic fiber, and yet I have those fibers in both of my yarns. Which means that miniscule acrylic fibers will not take up the color, which will end up muting and softening the final result. It will be neat, trust me.
The first step is to skein the yarn or fiber. When you buy mass-produced yarn, you'll most likely get a ball that looks like this:
Which is fine for working directly out of the package, but not so good for dyeing. You want the liquid bath to reach and be absorbed by every strand, so it needs to be spread out. This is accomplished by skeining. If you're truly dedicated you own a niddy-noddy, which is not only functional, but very fun to say. A picture explains it better than I ever could, so here it is.Chances are you don't have one. Neither do I, so we'll do it the analog way and wrap around our arm, from behind our elbow to our hand between thumb and forefinger. Once you've got the yarn wound, tie it loosely in four places (N,S,E and W) with string or what have you. I like to use a cotton yarn so I can easily find it after dyeing. Here is a skein from someone else, already dyed, but you can see how it was tied:
Now we need to soak in warm water and vinegar. This wets and opens the fibers to accept the dye. Just layer your yarn in the crock pot, fill it up with warm water and few chugs of vinegar. Say about 1/2 cup. You're not applying heat yet, just soaking. Let it be and come back in 15 minutes. Push it down and watch the bubbles come up. Sit for another 15. Now the fun part. Take your Kool-Aid packets (unsweetened only, please!) and carefully pour them in. I generally do three colors - like blue, yellow and green; or red, yellow, orange. I'm not very adventurous, really. But follow your bliss and live it up, ya know? If you want more regular coloring, think of a clock when you pour. For example, I would put my blue at 12:00, my yellow at the 6, half the green at 3 and half at 9. Or purple from 12 to 4, blue from 8 to 12 and the red at 6. Red spreads like the plague, use an easy hand with it. Or just throw any colors in wherever you want and let the fiber do it's own thing. Don't stir (!) and see how the colors take. Like I said, it's a very inexact science, so have fun.
Now it's time to cook, and let the magic of heat, acid and artificial color have their way with your yarn. Turn it on low and let it go. I check it each hour because I'm curious, but you really don't need to do anything for about 3-4 hours. You will know it's done when the water is clear and your yarn is vibrant. It also smells fruity, which is kind of neat. Turn it off and let it cool. Once it's cool enough to handle, gently remove it from the bath and rinse it under cool running water. Squeeze and roll in a towel to remove the excess water. Please don't squeeze it roughly, it's been through a lot. I like to spin it in a lingerie bag in the washing machine (spin cycle only), but that's not imperative. Hang it to dry on the shower rod, clothesline, deck railing or a chair in your well-ventilated kitchen. Wherever, just spread the strands so they can get some air. When it's dry, wrap it into a ball and have at it!
You'll notice I have no pics of a finished product and that brings us to my sadness. I can't find unsweetened Kool-Aid packets anywhere! I went to six stores yesterday. Six. Stores. On a Saturday afternoon. On what appeared to be the first day of tourist season. By the time I got home, my blood pressure and frustration level were about the same. And I had found exactly two colors, purple and orange. Thanks, but no. It seems all drink mixes in the interesting colors have gone to those stupid little single-serving packets that you put in an ecologically irresponsible water bottle. And while the color might still stain your fingers and dye my yarn, I don't think that boiling my wool in sugar water for three hours will yield the results I'm looking for. So my quest continues, and if anybody knows where I can find a dependable source of bitter color magic in an envelope, please let me know.
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