Ok, so the dyeing yarn with kool aid thing.
LOVE IT!! This totally caters to my art school girl and newbie obsessive knitter sensibilities. I can't help thinking of the different color combinations I can come up with and what kind of crazy stuff I can use to dye all my plain yarn.
The knitter's guild potluck was way down in the south valley, almost to Isletta. The lady who was hosting the party had lots of fun "critters" - two sweet dogs, goats, geese, all kinds of stuff. There were a few experienced kool aid dyers but most of us were flying blind. Thanks to the great thread at craftster and knitty article I came fully prepared with manymany packets of non-sugar, non-nutrasweet kool aid, white vinegar, little pots to mix the kool aid in, a turkey baster, and the infamous roll of saran wrap.
I had three skeins of undyed handspun wool from the estate sale - two were larger and one was pretty small. So last night I washed it with some baby shampoo (it was kind of stinky) then soaked it in a vinegar and water mixture and put it in a ziploc bag for the trip down.
Once we got down there I spread out an old towel on one of the tables outside, put a long strip of saran wrap on top, then laid the wet wool out on the plastic wrap.
On the small skein (Mr. Grape-Lime-Blue Raspberry up there) I sprinkled the kool aid powder right onto the wet wool (using two or three packets for each color to be sure the colors would be bright), drizzled some vinegar on it and scrunched it up to spread the color around.
For the larger skeins (the lovely sunset ladies down below) I premixed the kool aid with vinegar and water but made it very dense. I'd read on several sites that I would really need to use a LOT of kool aid to get the kind of good, bright colors I like. Then I just used the turkey baster to paint the yarn, sometimes getting impatient and just pouring it on.
Then I wrapped each skein in the saran wrap, then wrapped that in a black garbage bag, and set it in the hot July New Mexico sun to cook for a few hours. At first I didn't think it would get hot enough. But who the hell was I kidding. It's a black plastic bag in the sun at noon in July in New Mexico. It got plenty hot to cook that dye.
These turned out remarkably similar to the "Fire" color of the Giotto yarn I'd gotten for my birthday. How cool!
Anyway, I carefully brought the bags home, rinsed the yarn out in the sink, and hung them out to dry in the NM evening sun. Now to plot my next dyeing adventure with the estate sale brushed mohair mwahahahaha!
Oh, and I picked up the book I'd reserved at Barnes and Noble today and they gave me an extra present. Guess what the book was.
God I'm such a trendpuppy.
Comments
I really love your hedgehog icecream photo. great blog
Posted by: Alison Ashwell at July 18, 2005 2:33 PM
Your yarn turned out beautiful. I love that "sunset" color.
Posted by: Michelle at July 18, 2005 7:45 PM
Is it a bad thing when our dogs are more fashionable than we are?
Posted by: Cheeky Prof at July 18, 2005 9:06 PM
I have a feeling that I've seen your blog before and probably told you this, but just in case - I love your blog! It's so cute! :)
(Dropped in via Blogclicker.)
Posted by: Nanette at July 20, 2005 10:53 PM
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