Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Attempt #1: Epic Failure

I suppose it was bound to happen eventually, right? I've been trying so many new crafts lately and, mostly successful with these endeavors, so I was totally due to fall flat on my face at something.

So I tried the KoolAid dyeing this morning, with much trepidation, on my newly frogged (recycled) yarn angora/wool/nylon blend from this sweater:


If you can tell it's terribly fuzzy but it's oh so soft! It's also got a tan strand and a white strand that runs all the way through the yarn, which I was hoping would make for an interesting colour variation. So here's what I started with:


So I did my reserach on Ravelry with the help of some very knowledgeable women, then got to work. At first I poured both packets of Orange koolaid in to the bowl, decided that was way too much, dumped out 2/3 of the bowl and added more water, THEN dunked in the yarn. This was my first result:



Soooo... I was thinking that the Nylon probably wouldn't absorb as much of it, right? And well maybe by only doing 4 rounds of 2 minutes in the microwave it won't soak in quite so much. Ummm... not so much. Traffic Cone Orange wasn't my goal. So I decided I would try to put the red over the top to make it more... oh I dunno... reddy-orange like a fall colour. Here's my second result:


Better, right? But still NEON. I guess I"ll have to find some green dye if I want to muddy it up some? Or you know... just knit it as my swatch piece for gauge and be DONE with it. LOL Oh, and I totally didn't use gloves either! Hehehe! I'm typing this post with some very red finger tips!


So now I'm at an impasse. Do I use more of this soft cuddly yarn to keep experimenting with? Or do I just knit it up in it's boring white/tan colour way? I'm thinking it's bulky enough and that I'll have enough of it (about 600 yards?) that I can knit something pretty nice.

I would really appreciate any feed back from the more experienced dyers! What the heck did I do wrong and how do I do it right next time? LOL

6 comments:

  1. I don't think it's a fail! A lot of people like bright colors like that. You are right, though, muted color would be gorgeous.

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  2. Hm. I'm not really sure how you could make it darker, so I can't help you there. A little bit of green (or perhaps blue maybe?) might make it darker, but don't take my word for it. Good luck with dying the reat of it, and I hope that whatever you make from it turns out good, weather you dye it or not.

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  3. Your blog is so interesting. I'll be following! Thanks for visiting and following mine

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  4. Came over from sknitter, really like the blog. I tried dyeing w/ Kool-aid, looked just that vivid, big neon blue and yellow splotches. I just ended up using it as scrap yarn, but I still like it! http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall02/FEATdyedwool.html This article has a great picture of which "flavors" equal which color.

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  5. Thanks for commenting on my blog post about my first attempt at Kool Aid dyeing (http://homeinnd.blogspot.com/). I would say keep trying the dyeing thing. My next attempt is going to be dyeing some yarn using the Jacquard Acid Dyes I just got from KnitPicks. I'm also going to try some overdyeing of some of my stash yarn the color of which I'm not so enamored. Great blog - I'll be following you!

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  6. Every journey starts from the first step. The thrill of crafts is that there is always a chance to redo things or use yarns for something else. The world need colours, also those we might not like that much.

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