Adventures in Dyeing

I had another Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi urge but felt thoroughly uninspired by the colours of yarn in my basket so decided to do some dyeing.

I gathered my Knit Picks yarn which I had separated into 15g mini skeins and my easter egg dyes and spent a couple of hours stinking out the kitchen with vinegar :) I really like the vibrant colours you get from easter egg dyes and also love the fact that they are non toxic which means I can use whatever pot I can grab to dye in, instead of having to have special dye pots.

I don't really follow any formula when dyeing like this. I soak the yarn in water and a splash of vinegar for about 10 minutes (I'd probably leave it a bit longer if I was more patient), then I fill a jar or bowl 3/4 full with water and another splash of vinegar and dissolve the dye in there. When it's all dissolved I add the yarn making sure that it is totally covered by the liquid, cover the top with cling film and pop it in the microwave for about 3-4 mins, keeping an eye on it the whole time. When the water is clear the dyeing is done and I just leave it to cool for a bit.

After a mini rinse I soak mine in some lavender Eucalan to make them smell nice and after squeezing out some of the liquid I hang them to dry.

Taa daa - lovely bright skeins...

Now to get knitting :)

Do you dye? What are your favourite dyes and yarns to dye?

Dani x