Thursday, October 6, 2011

Dyeing Wool Yarn

After seeing the process of "painting" wool yarn on various blogs and in an old issue of Living Crafts magazine, the girls and I decided to give it a try using food coloring.

First I put a few "glugs" of vinegar in a large pan with water and heated to near boiling.  I added each skein of yarn for a minute to soak, one at a time and placed on towels on our table.  In most tutorials I have noticed they used plastic, but we didn't have any, so there was a bit of a mess under the towels when we were done.

I took the hot water/vinegar from the pot and poured a some in six bowls and then added about 8 drops of food coloring total to each bowl to make red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.  

Next we spooned the color on each of our skeins of yarn.

I then heated up about 1" of water in a large canning pot and then put the bottle (canner) holder over the edge of the pan and when the water came to a boil, I carefully put one of the dyed skeins of yarn around (in) the jar holder, then put the cover on to steam the yarn for about 3 - 4 minutes.  Next, the yarn was removed to cool down and then I rinsed it under lukewarm water and wrung it out then hung to dry.

Abby winding up her yarn.

Her finished yarn

Sarah finger knitting with her yarn.  She wants to double finger knit it to make a jump rope.  Her dad will help her make some branch handles.

My finished yarn.

The colors came out a bit faded, but it was a fun process.  It sure makes me appreciate those that make truly beautiful hand dyed yarns such as The Sitting Tree, Springtree Road, Sweet Basil Fibre Works, and Brambleberry Yarns.


17 comments:

  1. Wonderful! I love that purple/blue colour you got in yours. Also loving that your daughter wound the ball herself. I tried this with my Middling back last winter, and was a bit disappointed with the weak colours. But the roving she dyed turned out much brighter. I've been wanting to try it again, and this just may be the nudge I need to do it!

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  2. I taught a class of girls recently and did it with a tie dye kit...I think your way is a lot more cost effective...it really does make you appreciate how some can create such masterpieces.

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  3. I have seen the various blogs with posts on yarn dyeing too and would love to try it. I just received the newest Knitpick flyer so I know exactly were to purchase the yarn! xx

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  4. So fun! I've done some yarn dying with the kids and they just love it!

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  5. I have been wanting to try for a while but I don't dare....I look at my beautiful natural yarn and I say"how can I do this to you?" But I want to do it with my son, thanks for sharing your process

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  6. Has your husband ever considered crafting some nostepinnes? I have been researching them lately. I did some nosting today...but I just used the handle of a craft paint brush. :)

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  7. you did a good and it looked really fun! Barefoot Mama

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  8. They turned out very pretty and soft looking! :)

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  9. I'm impressed Tonya, that you still have time to do fun projects like this one with your little ones, with such a new baby. You must get a lot of help around the house from your older children and your husband. :)

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  10. What a beautiful thing to do! And what beautiful results...

    Blessings, Debbie

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  11. very nice...I like the soft colors that came through. Have a wonderful weekend!

    hope you're getting my comments....i'm having trouble.

    lisaq

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  12. Dear Tonya, my children loved doing this very same project! <3 It all looks beautiful.

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  13. I love the softness of these colors. Beautiful work:)

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  14. Your yarns are beautiful! What a wonderful project. Do you do any loom knitting? It is so much fun to see how these different yarns work up in different techniques: knitted, crocheted, woven.

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  15. How pretty these are! I have some yarn I need to dye; that was the purpose of buying it. However, I haven't had the courage to try it. I think I will now!

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  16. They look beautiful. Do you have plans for your finished yarn?

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