Some yarns like to hang out in the kettle and boil a bit. I used 2 packets of Kool-Aid black cherry, 2 of plain ole cherry, and one of tropical punch. Is anyone surprised that my very first home-dyeing experiment was with RED? Oh well. I added the tropical punch in a while after the others, and did not stir the yarn, so there were patches of brighter red here and there. Manos del Chapel Hill, baby!
Other yarns prefer casserole dishes, who can say why. The smaller hank wanted to be "handpainted" but I didn't have a baster, so I used an ultra-high-tech "spoon." Yes, all spoon-owners are equipped to make beautifully variegated yarns a la Koigu! For this little guy I used 2 packets of lemonade, poured the yellow coloring unevenly over the skein, then spooned one packet of orange over it, covering most of the unyellowed portions but not all, so there are undyed spots to mix in with the yellow and orange. I thought of raynorgrace the whole time, because anything orange makes me think of raynorgrace. The dish went into the microwave and required only three two-minute sessions to absorb the dye. A warning!! Just because the yarn isn't steaming like the stovetop yarn, that doesn't mean the yarn won't burn you! I'll have to remember to get tongs for next time.
I didn't want to wait for the yarns to hang-dry (and it was also dark and wet out) so I threw them heedlessly into the spin cycle on my washer (which is how I dry my handknits anyway) and then hung them in the kitchen near the oscillating fan. They were dry this morning, and curled up cozily into these hanks:
Happy dyed skeins! I have no idea what to do with them, but since my SP5 sent me another big skein of Fisherman's Wool, I am much inclined to have another dye-party-for-one in the near future.
1 comment:
oooh, how pretty! now that i've moved, i think i need a microwave for reheating food, and, um ... koolaid dyeing? ;)
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