I meant to post this much earlier in the week, but per usual time escaped me. Week before last I decided to take the dive into dyeing. It was a very shallow dive, but a dive nonetheless. I determined that with a newborn in the house probably the best initial step would be something non-toxic, like Kool Aid, instead of playing with my acid dyes. Off to the grocery store I went!
Lucky for me there was a whole end cap of Kool Aid awaiting my arrival. I stood there for many minutes tossing around color combinations in my head. Something I never noticed before, the outside of the packet has a drawing of the juice and color! Typically this matches the base color of the packet too, I believe. So I grab various “colors”: shades of red and pink (the most common), green, purple and blue. I held off on yellow and orange for now. Now mind you, you need about 3 packets per ounce of yarn. I must have bought 30 packets of Kool Aid, thankfully the cashier didn’t even flinch.
The process I used was a very simple one. I bathed the yarn for 30 minutes prior to dyeing. Once the yarn was prepped I used a pyrex dish as my dye pot. In went the yarn with enough water to cover, and then I poured in the dye over that in the areas I wanted it to color. Now granted this method provides for some color mixing so I tried my best to use complimentary colors. Cover with plastic wrap and into the microwave it went for various 5 minute intervals until the water was clear, therefore indicating the dye was absorbed. Rinse and hang dry… easy!
Pictures!
Hugs N’ Kisses just after being rinsed, on its way to be hung for drying:
And all dried/skeined:
Spring Flowers:
Oceanic:
Did I mention it all still has a slight Kool Aid smell even after rinsing? Oh yes, it will be so “sweet” to knit with. Actually, I’m already using Hugs N’ Kisses to test knit a cowl for someone on Ravelry:
I much further along than that on the cowl now. Pictures when it is completed.
This past week was dedicated to spinning. I managed to complete 3 yarns, all of which I am very proud of:
Citron:
Gaia:
Bollywood Blast:
This coming week I need to spin the yarn for the Alice in Wonderland SAL, but beyond that I think I will be focused on knitting. Need to focus on getting the vest done! The back is completed and I’m halfway through the left front panel. Would be great to finish the front panels next week so I can get them attached to the back and pick up for the color/edging.
That’s about it for now. Off to find lunch soon with Caitlin. We’re having mommy & Caitlin time this morning 
~L