Every year or so I have the urge to dye some yarn. Usually, I will buy some Easter Egg dye kits at the end of the season and make some interesting creations. I have a large bag of expired food coloring that was being tossed out from an office move, as well as specifically purchased drink mix packages for dyeing. I still had a couple of hanks of yarn that I had purchased to dye as well as several undyed hanks that I received as part of a mystery box. The goal was to dye at least enough for a couple of scarves to donate to one of my special groups in the fall.
I started out with bare yarn, soaked it in water and added several containers of food coloring and the red drink mix to the dye pot with water and some vinegar. Then I let the yarn simmer. For this larger amount of yarn, I got out the dye pot that is only used for non-food/craft items. Think tie dying a shirt, not just yarn. The yarn simmered and took most of the dye and became a lovely darker coral-ish color. I wanted a deeper red for one of the hanks, so I purchased some RIT dye and then overdyed one hank and it took on a glorious, lovely deep red shade with darker sections where it was darker in the first dyeing.
The results are great and both dyeing experiments for early 2023 turned out well. For the future, I think I will use more food coloring, and less water to make the color more concentrated. Either way, it’s for fun and I enjoyed the process and like the results. Most of the yarn is really a mystery because I received it unbanded from a mystery box from a company that I’m not familiar with, so the yarn will truly be one of a kind and will make a special gift.
Since I have no plans to use it right away, I will wait to wind it and start a project, But for now, I’m just happy admiring my handiwork.
Happy crocheting!
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