Okay, finally something to look at besides blog quizzes etc! Yesterday I think all the stresses we have had lately were catching up to me and I decided to play a little while the kids were napping. So I took out my binder with spinning and dyeing information in it and looked at several different methods for dyeing with Kool-Aid. I used Knit Picks Color Your Own which is a fingering weight merino and very soft!
For the purple one I used the colod method. I soaked the skeing in cold water for half an hour and then put 1 cup white vinegar in the canning ketting, 6 packets of grape Kool-Aid and water and then put the wool in. I let it heat until whisps of steam came up and then I simmered it for half an hour. I did not stir the Kool-Aid because I wanted a bit more random coloring. The coloring difference is very subtle and it looks almost like a heathered yarn. The picture does NOT do it justice. These will most likely be socks for me.
The second skein I put in a pyrex dish with plastic wrap around it, although the plastic wrap did not stay around it so I don't know...I may not bother next time. Maybe I am doing the method wrong and using too much liquid. It said to use 2 oz vinegar and 6 oz water per packet of Kool-Aid. I used 4 packets so that was 4 cups of liquid in there for it to float around in. I used similar colors, 1 Great Bluedini (a turquoise color), 2 Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade (aqua) and 1 Berry Blue (bright blue). I wish I had used a little more blue and a little less green. But it is pretty bright and looks like the caribbean sea. It has a little bit of white here and there because I didn't squish the dye in, but in a way that just makes it look more like water...the foam on the waves. It is much brighter than the photo shows. This will either be socks or perhaps a scarf.
And the picture of roving is some that I bought on eBay and is hand dyed. In the picture on eBay it looked a little more rainbow-ish which is what I wanted, however my son is delighted with it. :o) So maybe this will be a project for him, though I'm not sure what since where we live we rarely have need of things like hats and mittens! :o) First I need to learn how to spin it. I listed my questions about it under the picture. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. I changed my comment section so that you should be able to leave comments now without registering for blogspot.
All of us, except hubby have been sick with a cold and mine may be heading for a sinus infection. It has been real nasty and I'm exhausted from everyone being tired, sick and cranky! DS always has a total change of personality when he is sick. On top of everything else a tooth I had a crown on this summer has been bothering me and getting worse! UGH! So off to the dentist I go this afternoon. I did finish my other snowflake hat and need to sew up the top and take a picture. It was really gratifying because it was a stashbuster! :o) Now I need to finish the Autum Kiri. I think I need to make a list of everything I have been planning to make for gifts for Christmas so that I can prioritize them. Well, I'm off...in homeschooling DS we are learning ASL (sign language). I got some great DVDs on eBay for doing this. They are called Signing Time and there is a good vendor for them on eBay if anyone is interested. I bought Friday night and they arrived from IL here on Monday! That's service. Their price was lower than Amazon's if you bought in a bundle so I got the first three. The kids love them (for ages 0-5) and hubby and I enjoyed them too. Well, I said I was leaving right? LOL
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