Dyeing With Kool-Aid

I tried my hand at Kool-Aid dyeing recently. It was very easy (so much easier than dyeing with acid dyes!). I took ideas from many different sources, including The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook, Kool-Aid Dyeing, and even the Dyed in the Wool article on Knitty! There are many others available if you just google around.

I had somewhat mixed results but was ultimately I was pretty happy with the dyed yarn. Here is a sampling of what I created.

The yarn I used was Paton's Classic in the Aran color (off white). I used 2 skeins and tried 2 different processes with each skein. First I wrapped the skeins around the back of a kitchen chair and then tied them off loosely, using cotton string in 3 different places to secure them. I then soaked them in the sink for about 30 minutes in tepid water with 1 teaspoon of synthrapol to wet them. I let the sink drain and gently squeezed out the yarn so that it was still wet but not too wet.

I usually prefer to dye outside but given that it is winter in Chicago I opted for my kitchen table. The first skein I dyed using a hand-painted method. I mixed up various colors of Kool-Aid in different paper cups, adding 1 Tablespoon white vinegar and 3 Tablespoons hot water to each cup along with one packet of Kool-Aid. I also tried mixing a few colors together to get different looks, but mostly I used the colors straight from the packet. I then used an eye dropper to drop bits of dye on the skein. I didn't have any blue flavor, so for the blue color I just used some food coloring I had around, using 1 teaspoon of color with the same amounts of water and vinegar. I was pretty pleased with the result, although I went a bit overboard with the pinks and reds. Next time I would leave more of the skein white, as the colors tend to bleed together when you are done. I left the skein to sit for a bit, mashing it in places with my fingers to get the dye to spread, and then I heat set it in my dye pot, steaming it for about 30 minutes on the stove. Once the skein was cool, I rinsed it out and let it dry for a day or so. I used it to knit some children's socks for the afghans for Afghans project (post coming soon!). I especially loved how fruity it smelled when it was dry!