How to Dye Wool and Not Have it End Up (Super) Ugly, Part II

6. Dye stocks! Let's make some!



Now, I didn't know this part until pretty recently. Like, three weeks ago. So I was dyeing all willy-nilly, putting powder in bottles and mixing it up like a complete jackass. I use Dyeing to Knit as my reference to end all references. I don't want to give away any of the book's secrets, but I think it's safe to tell you how I make dyestock.

In a jar, add two tablespoons boiling water to one teaspoon of dye powder. NOTE: The dye powder is the toxic part of this whole situation. Don't breathe it in, don't leave your jars uncapped. The sooner you get the powder into liquid form, the better.

Stir until combined. (If you use hot water, you'll be okay until you get to the darker colors. Violet must have boiling water, or else it comes out lumpy.) Then add one cup of warm water, followed by one tablespoon of citric acid. Stir again.

That's it!

7. Figure out how you want to dye your fiber. You can do immersion dyeing (in a pot) or handpaint. I like both, but this tutorial is for handpainting.

8. Do you want to mix colors of dye? Now's the time. Do so in another jar.

9. Grab your funnel and squirt bottle. I put in around six tablespoons of dyestock for every cup of warm water I add to the squirt bottle. That gives me pretty vibrant colors. Use less for lighter colors, more for dark.

10. Put some plastic wrap down on your dyeing surface. I generally use three long pieces. Then lay out your fiber.



11. Make sure you have on your rubber gloves - acid dyes stain everything (and the acid isn't so great on open wounds, should you have any).

12. I start with my lightest color of dye, because it's the easiest to cover up later should I need to.



Here's where it's up to your personal preference. Too little dye = light colors, while too much dye = sloppy mess that turns everything brown. I saturate the fiber, let it soak in while I do other colors, then come back and make sure I haven't missed anything.

13. Color #2.



14. Color #3.



You'll notice that I still have white fiber showing. That's completely okay. When you steam the fiber, the dye will spread, which also gives you nice tonal variations.

After all of my dye is on the fiber, I press down on it with my rubber gloved-hands, one color at a time. Then I let it sit for a bit, maybe a half hour or so.

15. When I come back, I roll it up in its plastic wrap, lengthwise.





Roll that bad boy up into a coil.



16. Time for steam. I use my large stockpot filled with a few inches of water and place a colander inside. The coil goes inside that, covered by the stock pot lid. There are probably more civilized ways to do this, but we are a simple people.


(Yes, it's in the kitchen. No eating utensils were harmed during the dyeing of this fiber.)

Steam your yarn for approximately 30 minutes, flipping it over halfway through. Your coil should be puffy and the colors will be very, very visible through the plastic.

17. Unwrap your coil carefully. You can let it cool for a bit, but I can never wait. I gently unwrap it/rip off the plastic wrap and then let it sit in the sink sans water for a good cool-down.



18. Once it is completely cooled, fill the sink with lukewarm water and a bit of soap. I use Synthropol in this step because it keeps the colors from bleeding together, but before that I used regular (non-grease fighting) dish soap.



19. Let your fiber soak for at least 15 minutes. Over-soaking won't hurt a thing. You'll probably notice some color in your water, which is not unusual for this method. I generally give it a second soak, this time without the soap.

20. Then into the washing machine it goes! I use the washer to spin out my fiber and yarn, making sure no water enters the machine at any time. When I'm doing fiber, I put it in a lingerie bag (which, frankly, doesn't get much use for anything else around here). Hang to finish drying.

Tomorrow - the finished product!

posted by Kristin @ 9:02 PM