KOOL AID DYEING

Pictured above is nylon eyelash yarn from Henry's Attic dyed with 1 package of lemon, 1 package orange and 1 package of cherry Koolaid. This is a fun project to do with children but you of course have to be there for the microwaving.

Supplies needed: White vinegar
Microwave safe dish
Sugar free Kool Aid

Wind your yarn onto a hank, either over a chair or umbrella swift or whatever you have to accomplish the job (some people sell it by the hank). Tie the 2 sides separately so that you can get them apart later without a gigantic mess. You can dye wool and most nylon with this method (I have only dyed wool, mohair and the nylon yarn shown here so I can't guarantee success with other fibers).

Kool aid will effectively dye your nylon yarn but first you must soak the yarn hank in vinegar water. Get out a casserole dish or any glass flat bottomed dish (one that fits in the microwave). Fill it with warm water and pour in a glug or two of white vinegar.

Let the hank soak in the vinegar water for at least 30 minutes.

Now is the fun part:
Pour your Kool Aid into a glass or cup. Fill with ¼ cup warm water, warm enough to dissolve the Kool Aid.
Fill as many cups as you need for your different colors.
WOW, have you looked at the colors available in your grocery store? I paid $1.00 for 4 packets yesterday and brought home a handful of different colors.

Take the hank out of the vinegar water and gently squeeze any excess water from it. (it's not critical to get all the water out but you don't really want it dripping before you start dyeing). Circle the hank around the edge of the microwave safe container and into the middle if you have a huge hank. Now paint the yarn using a plastic syringe, a stencil brush, a spoon…whatever you have that will allow you a little control in where the Kool Aid mixture goes. If your colors blend into each other, that's generally OK but be aware you will be making a new color if colors mix so be careful which colors mix, you don't want a muddy color. Orange and red looks great mixed, red and blue might safely mix but beware, mud wouldn't be pretty on a scarf.

I use a teaspoon and dab a little in an area and then push down on it with the spoon so that the color goes all the way through the hank. Now get another color and do the same thing. Keep going around until you have the whole hank colored or the part you want colored, it's OK if you want some white in the mixture as well-hey, you are the designer in this process. Look at my picture above, you might see where there are lighter and darker oranges, I mixed some cherry in spots too. The lighter sections are where the orange and lemon mixed, making a lighter orange. A friend of mine tried Grape and said she needed 2 packages of Koolaid for the darker color that she wanted.

Now cook on high in the microwave for 2 minutes.
Let it rest for 2 minutes.
Then cook for another 2 minutes on high.
At this point, take the bowl out of the microwave and place it someplace where it can cool. Once it is cool enough to handle, rinse and rinse and rinse, in water the same temperature as the yarn is at this point. Keep on rinsing until your water comes out clear. Mine actually rinsed clear immediately which means the color was totally absorbed into the yarn. Gently squeeze out as much liquid as you can and hang the yarn to dry. You can spin it in your washer if you have a mesh bag or some way to contain the yarn. (I like to drape mine over a clothes hanger and hang it on the dining room light fixture)

Once dry, carefully untie the pieces of yarn that are holding your hank. Please note, the yarn is holding the 2 sides together, if you accidentally get those 2 sides mixed up you will spend the rest of the evening untangling it. I like to hang my hank over the back of a chair back as I wind it into a ball and its now ready to use for knit or crochet.

The pattern I used for my yarn was a HK pattern that is so simple you can do it mindlessly in a waiting room or the car. I thought about trying this on the LK 150 but needed a hand knit project to haul around with me.

With size 10 ½ needles
Cast on 18 stitches. K1, *YO K2Tog* to end, K1
Repeat from * to * until you have only enough yarn left to bind off. Sew in ends and you're done.

Tension: 5
Cast on with waste yarn, 18 stitches (needles 9 - 9) and knit a few rows.
Knit 1 row ravel cord

Ewrap cast on with main color yarn,
Knit 1 row

Row 1: You always skip the end needles as you Transfer every other stitch to the needle next to it starting with the 2nd needle from the left. Leave empty needles in work, K 2 rows.

Row 2: Again skip the end needles as you transfer every other stitch to the needles next to it but start with the 3rd needle from the left. Leave empty needles in work, K 2 rows.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until you're nearly out of yarn, latch tool bind off.

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Here's a couple links to Henry's Attic eyelash yarn I used, it's called Ballerina:
http://www.fiber2yarn.com/custom/henry.htm
http://www.redbarnfarm.net/henrysattic.htm
I had a 2 oz hank and the final HK'd scarf measures 44 inches long, 4 inches wide.

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Copyright © Roz Porter 2004

The information, patterns and images contained on this page are for personal use and may not be altered, converted nor uploaded to any electronic system or BBS nor included in any compact disk (CD-ROM) or collection of any type without the express written permission of Rosalind Porter. port3280@bellsouth.net

Roz Porter, South Carolina US
photo album @ http://tinyurl.com/7ova