Flashback: Getting in the Dyeing Spirit

I joined Dye-O-Rama. It’s been a while since I sat down and dyed any yarn, but a few years ago, Jeanne and I and some other friends hunkered down and dyed up a storm one weekend. We wound a lot of yarn on our handy dandy homemade niddy noddies. (Note that Chaos wasn’t even born at the time of this dyeing adventure, but he was more than happy to check out the niddy noddy when I pulled it out for a picture earlier.)

“I think this might be just the thing for my little tool use development project…”
Yikes, you can barely see Jeanne behind all that yarn!

We gathered supplies…

The foaming, frothing pink isn’t something from Snape’s Potions class – it’s what you get when you mix vinegar and lots of magenta Easter egg dye tablets.

Here I am, very focused on dyeing some variegated sock yarn with Wilton’s before popping it into the microwave. You can also use Wilton’s in a dye bath for solid colors. Here’s a color chart with color mixing ideas, plus another mixing list from Wilton’s.

And finally, our yarn drying, as much out of the sun as we could manage.

“I wonder if I can make a spear out of this?”

26 thoughts on “Flashback: Getting in the Dyeing Spirit”

  1. Hi Chris,
    I love your “yarn tree” Is there a picking season? that Chaos is one talented cat! He can do everything!
    Have a great weekend! wendy

  2. I joined Dye-0-Rama too, I’m hoping to make some nice varigated yarn using Kool-Aid, a stock pot, and some mason Jars. I’ve bought six skeins of Dye Your Own Yarn just in case… Hopefully at least ONE skein will turn out well…

  3. Take that thing away from Chaos! What would he be like if he learned to use tools!

    Dyeing interests me more than spinning, as long as I’m messing up someone else’s kitchen (mine’s messy enough already!)

  4. Clearly Chaos is eschewing reading the directions to put that thing together. It’ll take him all night.

    Nice tree! Can I get a sapling from it? It would be so much easier for me if yarn grew on trees.

  5. Chaos is being irresistably cute there, as always ;o)

    The yarns look beautiful! I saw something about dyeing with tomato-plant stalks that we might have to try this year!

  6. Chaos- I know you could TOTALLY make a spear out of that niddy noddy!

    Chris- you must start dying again! what pretty yarn you made… what did u end up making with the yarn?

  7. Your yarns look fabulous. You’ll need to post pictures of them dry and skeined.

    I have a homemade niddy noddy too. To get in the spirit, I went and bought clearanced Egg dye today to try out and some of the artic green apple koolaid that looks like it was being discontinued.

    Dying fun coming up for me too…

    Gwen

  8. Wow! In Minneapolis, yarn grows on trees! 😉 Beautiful colors. Can’t wait to see the dried yarn.

    I’m giving Felix my Niddy Noddy. All of his balls are under something, and I think one is in Della’s stomach.

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