Homemade Friday: Dying yarn with Kool-aid

This is something I’ve done only once before, but the same thing happened both times.

Shock.

Awe.

Giddiness.

It’s just such a neat thing.  Kind of, almost, magical.  And so simple.

You have to start with 100 percent wool, or a yarn that has wool in it, but only the wool part will hold the color so you’d get a variegated color.

First it’s probably best to get the yarn wet.  I don’t know if you know this or not but if you’ve got a 3-year-old helper and a sink full of water, more often than not he will stick his head in it.

After the yarn is good and wet, dissolve the Kool-aid in some water in a pot big enough so the yarn has some room to breathe, then add the yarn to that.  

Heat it on the stove, but you have to pay close attention and make sure that it doesn’t boil, because that would felt the yarn.  Wool’s kind of persnickety.  But it’s easy enough.

(Coffee optional.)

When the water in the pot is clear, then you’re done.  Let it cool, then rinse it a few times and hang it to dry.

Wind it up once you’re done and you can knit stuff like this with it:

Or, you know, just stare at because it’s pretty and you worked really hard on it.

You can also dye yarn so that it stripes when you knit it.  I did this one about 6 or 7 years ago.  It was a pain in the butt and involved measurements, chairs, and every pot I owned.

But still, cool, no?