So there is the culmination of a good mornings work. I used 4 Koolaid packets to make this rainbow of color. The colors on the dryer are more vibrant than they appear, it's grey out and warmish, and perfect for drying the wool away from the sun. It's actually a simple process, so if you're just starting out it's an easy way to go.
The procedure is basically the same for all the different dyeing's I did. First I washed the wool/fleece in a little dish soap, and rinsed it carefully, squeezing it out gently because I didn't want to felt the wool. Then I soaked it in some water for about 10 minutes. I didn't want it too saturated, I was going for a mottled look. The next step was to dissolve the Koolaid in a liter of water inside a large pot that I knew I would only use for dyeing. The Koolaid doesn't need anything since it has enough citric acid in the packet, which acts as the mordant which helps it set so the color doesn't leach out. Once the Koolaid has been stirred enough so that the crystals are fully dissolved, you can add the wool if it has had a good enough soak and enough water to cover the materials being dyed. Now put the big ole pot on the stove and crank the heat up on your burner. Check it every once in a while, you don't want to boil it, but you do want to get it close to a boil. Now put on the lid and check your dye every 10 minutes or so. Once the color has leached from the water into the yarn or fleece and is left clear, you can pull it out of the water and into a container for rinsing. I do this in my kitchen sink matching the water temperature of the tap water to the temperature of the yarn/fleece being rinced so I don't felt the wool, and once the water runs clear you are done dyeing. Time for drying. I use a small little round about with pegs attached to hang my items. I place them in a shady place and allow to dry, squeezing the water out gently as it hits the bottom of the dyed item.
So now that the basics are out of the way, here are the variances I applied to the dyeing. The first color I used was Koolaid Cherry. I wanted a full bodied color and so I used only one skein of wool. I followed the procedure outlined above and then hung to dry. The color is a nice soft red, not quite pink.
The next color was Koolaid Ice Blue, which I followed the procedure for as stated above, but instead of using prespun yarn I used unspun fleece. I used a lot of fleece, enough to make about two skeins of yarn, and after the final rinse, I put it in a net bag, then hung the bag of fleece to dry. I achieved a variety of colors on the fleece from a whisper of blue, almost soft white, carrying through to soft palest blue, to a very pale blue, to blue. There is a lovely mottled affect on the fleece and when it spins up it should have quite a lot of variance in color.
I then followed up with Lemon-Lime Koolaid, which is a bright green. However that is not the color I wanted to create. I wanted a pale grass green. So I grabbed 3 skeins of wool, 2 of them were wool blends, and the third was 100% wool. I soaked them for about 5 minutes before I added them to the pot with the dissolved Koolaid. There is not much dye in there so it does not take long to soak up all the color. I was rewarded with one skin of pale green wool, and two skeins of mottled very pale green wool blends.
My final batch was with Grape Koolaid. I did not want bright purple, I wanted lavender, so I went again with using 3 skeins of wool and wool blends and followed the same procedure as for the Lemon-Lime Koolaid. I was happy with the results and received one offwhite and lavender skein, and one greyish lavender skein of wool blends, and one lovely very colorful mottled lavender skein of wool.
This was a great project and I'm going to do some more dyeing soon, but this should keep me busy for the next few weeks. I have the spring colors I want, well almost... tomorrow I may be delving into yellows with some onion skins and vinegar. :D We see how the day goes. For now, I'll have to wait for my beautiful rainbow to dry.
Well done Grasshopper : D
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