My First Try Dyeing Yarn

Yarn pics

Around The Homestead, Crafts No Responses »

Dec 072009

This is the yarn that followed me home on Saturday. LOL The black cascade is the one that was matted and tangled in the center.

The greenish/blue wool beside it I love! Each ball is 50 grams. So that would be about 6 oz all together. Its DK weight. Not enough for a shawl…Any ideas?

Busy Weekend

Around The Homestead No Responses »

Dec 062009

Its been a busy weekend around here. Sat. dh took a load of rabbits to market. We’ve kept a few but cleared out the barn until spring. We want to do some big renovations that will be easer with the barn empty. Also just don’t want to heat the barn right now. That cost us a lot last year…

When he got back we all headed out to the town we do our bulk shopping in. 3 of the little one were sound asleep and another had a sore tummy. So I staid out with them and kitted while dh did the shopping.

After that I stopped at Riverside Yarns. I needed some needles and found some nice greenish/blue wool on clearance. I love the color and will turn it into something for myself. What I’m not sure yet…ideas?

I also picked up a bulk skein of cascade eco+. It’s a nice bulky wool that I wanted to use for balaclavas.

After that I stopped at Walmart. I needed to get snow pants for dd7. I was surprised they had almost NONE left! All the winter jackets that were left were on clearance. I couldn’t find any snow pants, but did find ONE jacket/pants set that I thought would fit her. Then I found ONE snow pants in the boys section. It was on clearance as well so I picked that up just incase the other didn’t fit. But I’m glad to say the jacket/pants set fits great and she loves it!

I picked up the last Christmas gift for dh. I thought I was done shopping but he hinted about something. lol

I wanted to pick up the black fleece for my blankets there. They have always had a good selection and a much cheaper price then the closer walmart. But they had NONE! Much of there fabric area had been cleaned out and the displays gone….So I’ll have to try the closer one and hope they have it, even if it’s a little more money.

When we were on the way home we stopped in the town we normally shop in. They were having their Christmas parade! Dh bought us some pizza and found a place to park so we could see some of it. Kids loved that!

Today I spent the morning cleaning. Then this afternoon decided to wind the skein of wool into a ball and start my next project. Only problem was I didn’t have anything the right size to hold the skein…that’s on the to do list. I turned around and dh was standing by the wood stove. heehee “Oh honey can you hold this for a minute?” He was supper sweet and held the yarn while I wound it all up. It takes a while to do 8 oz of bulky wool. lol I got a little over half way done and discovered a mess. Much of the yarn inside was matted and tangled together. Some of it had un spun sections sticking multiple strings together. ACK!! That ended up taking me hours to untangle. (sigh) So no knitting tonight my arms are to sore from untangling that. But it’s ready to go tomorrow.

I am almost done the doll as well. Just an arm and a half left to go!

Kids did have fun playing in the snow this afternoon though. We’re up to about 4 inches now. Just waiting for a big snow storm to come along and dump a foot or two. LOL

Homestead Series How To Dye Wool Yarn With Kool-Aid

Crafts, Homesteading No Responses »

Sep 232009

Thank you all for you kind comments on my dyed yarn! I’ve been having a lot of fun dying wool with kool-aid. I needed to do some more today, to match the red and green yarn I did the other day. This time I made a video of each step. I hope it’s helpful!

I also wanted to share a great link. This site has a wonderful post on mixing colors using kool-aid and food coloring. I need to get some more yarn LOL! I’m also hoping to try dying with coffee soon.

I didn’t have a chance to take both photos and video. So here are the steps written out, I’ll update with photos as soon as I can.
Step 1. Put 1 to 2 inches of luke warm water in your crock pot and a “glug” of vinegar. Place your skein of yarn in the crock pot.
Step 2. Turn the crock on high and cover. Leave it until steam it starts steaming, try not to let it boil. That could cause it to felt.
Step 3. Place kool-aid into a heat proof container. I like measuring cups, they are easiest to pour from. Cover with about 1/2 a cup of boiling water. Stir to dissolve. Let the kool-aid cool until close in temperature to the yarn.
Step 4. Pour the coloring on top of the yarn in the pattern you like. They will mix a little were they touch. The more dye/liquid you have in the crock the more likely they are to mix together.
Step 5. Turn the crock down to low and cover. Leave it until the yarn has absorbed all the dye and the water is clear.
Step 6. Turn off the heat and let yarn cool completely.
Step 7. Remove yarn and rinse well, until the water rinses clear. Step 8. Drain and gently press out as much water in the sink as you can. Lay yarn on a towel, roll up and press out the rest of the water. Hang to dry.

My First Try Dyeing Yarn

Crafts, Knitting No Responses »

Sep 202009

I’ve enjoyed crocheting for a long time. Last year I learned to knit and I’ve been having a lot of fun with that! Now a new hobby has grabbed my attention. Dyeing wool! I’ve wanted to try this for some time and finally dove in.
I died two balls of wool yarn I had here using kool-aid in my crock pot. It was so easy and fun! Here are some pics.