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Thursday, May 19, 2011

In Which I Dye Yarn


A couple of months ago, I found many bags of plain white wool yarn at the thrift store. There were bags and bags of it for 99 cents each, so I figured, "why not?" and stocked up on white yarn. I've used a bit of it here and there, but for the most part it's remained unused, untouched, in my craft cabinet. At the end of the day, I am a pragmatist with two free range kids who come home with some major stains. I've been working on my laundry skills, but I don't know if I'm ready for white wool.


I was thrilled to stumble upon this tutorial for dying wool with easter egg dyes A) because it is written for children, which means I am more likely to be able to follow it and B) because we just happen to have some leftover easter egg dyes in the kitchen. I was a little skeptical about dying yarn, because it sounds like something that is just a bit too far out there for me to actually try (along the lines of making my own vanilla extract or something), so I gave it a try all by myself this first time around.

And? I am happy to report that it was easy, not very messy, and quite gratifying. You mix a few simple ingredients, microwave them with the yarn, and then rinse and dry. The color even turned out just about how I had imagined it, and with some luck will be turned into some baby booties in the coming week. My next project: dying yarn with the kids in the kitchen. We'll see how that one goes (and they will not be wearing anything made from white wool while doing it, thank you very much).

7 comments:

Irene said...

Wow! I love the color, and am amazed that you can do this at home. Nice job!

Kerry said...

Gorgeous! We have a yarn dyeing party planned for the near future. I only wish I had come into the yarn the same way as you. Too fun!

Michelle said...

I love the concept of making your own vanilla extract :)

Vicki said...

I would never have conceived of yarn in Easter Egg dye. I love it and the color is pretty, pretty. Now, off to grow those vanilla beans!

Adele said...

How about this, ladies: you make the vanilla extract and I rave about how amazing it is? ;-)

Unknown said...

I love how you wrote this post. So often I'll read a post on doing something like this and it reads like, "Pfft, I do this kind of thing all the time with my kids, and I probably sheared and spun the wool myself." ;) This was refreshingly real.

Adele said...

Oh, my dear, I would feel sorry for those poor sheep were I to shear them. Easter egg dyes on thrifted yarn is about as adventurous as I get.:-)