A How to: Dye yarn

Since Q is looking at a next crafting step of coloring her own fiber, I want to share my knowledge.

Finished products!

Materials:
- Fiber to dye (I normally do 50-100g batches), must be protein (animal) fiber, or animal fiber blend, or nylon
- Acid dyes, I use Jacquard
- Vinegar, preferably the really cheap white vinegar, you will use a lot of it.
- A bucket
- A dedicated dye pot, I use a cheap crock pot.
- Metal or plastic measuring spoons (These will also be dedicated to dyeing, so don't use your nice ones)
- Plastic spoons for mixing
- Mason jars
- A mask
- Gloves ( I like Nitrile, but vinyl or latex would work as well, but you can't go around doing "Two by Two, hands of blue".)
- An apron, or painting clothes, I use an old lab coat, this gets messy


***NOTE: Anything that you use for dyeing needs to be dedicated to dyeing or at least to crafting, and not EVER used in food preparation once it has been used for dye.***

1. Soak your fiber in warm water with vinegar added. The vinegar will open up the proteins in the fiber, so that is important. For yarn you want your yarn in a skein, not a ball. Make sure your skein is tied off in at least two, preferably three places.

Yarn bucket

2. Prepare your dye. Wear your mask while working with the dye powder, once it's mixed it's not necessary. Start out with about 2 cups of warm water in a mason jar. Add 1-2 teaspoons of dye powder to the jar. This can be in any combination of colors. For my blue-grey yarn I used 1&1/2 teaspoons of silver grey, and ~1/4 teaspoon gunmetal.  Mix with a plastic spoon.

Supplies!

Write down your recipes. Or you will forget them. This is important if you want to make the same color more than once. You can test your color by wiping the back of your spoon on a paper towel, a coffee filter, or I use my lab coat. Once you have a color that you like, add a glug of vinegar, no need to measure.

3. Combine dye and fiber. There are two methods that I like.

A) Kettle dye. 

This will produce generally one all over color for your fiber. There will be some natural variations in how the dye is absorbed, and that is good, but it will be all one color or close to it.

I do my dyeing in my really cheap crock pot, but you can also do it on the stove in dye only cookware. Add enough water to the pot to submerge the fiber in. Then add the fiber, and a glug of vinegar. Then pour some your your already prepared dye over the fiber. Mix with a spoon or other stirring utensil. If the color does not appear saturated enough, add more dye.

This yarn is in progress

B) Saran-wrap method.

This method is good for combining multiple colors on one skein of yarn/piece of fiber. Lay out a piece of Saran-wrap that is a little longer than your fiber. Place a second piece of Saran-wrap so that it overlaps the first piece by about an inch, so that you basically have a double wide piece of Saran-wrap.
Lay your fiber on the Saran-wrap longways and apply your dye. You can use squeeze bottles (hair dye bottles work well), spray bottles, eye droppers, or just pour the dye onto the fiber. You don't want too much extra liquid on the piece.

Colored with leftovers from another project

Gently massage the color into the fiber. After you are done with one side, flip the fiber over and apply dye to the other side if needed. Once you are satisfied with the colors, fold over the short ends of the Saran-wrap and then roll the fiber into a fiber-burrito (roll down the long way of the fiber). This doesn't need to be super tight, just not sloppy. Place the fiber-burrito into a (dry) crockpot.

This burrito is not for eating

For both methods - Cover and "cook" for about 30-45 minutes. The kettle method will simmer, and the Saran-wrap will steam. The heat is important for getting the color to set, but the acid in the vinegar actually does most of the work. You can also leave dyed fiber in a black plastic bag in the sun or a car trunk, but that takes longer.

4. Rinse and dry. Once the fiber is done cooking, rinse it with warm water, gradually decreasing the temperature. You don't want to rinse hot fiber with cold water, or it will felt (I have yet to try this out as a method of actually felting something, but it might be a way to felt with a high degree of control). Once the fiber is rinsed, then comes the really fun part. Take it outside and spin it to remove excess water. Optional: sing "I whip my yarn back and forth."  Hang it up to allow it to dry. Unused exercise equipment comes in handy for this. Put your bucket under the drying fiber to collect any drips. Once it is dry, use it as you normally would.

Have fun, and don't be afraid of color!

This didn't fit anywhere else, it's my first dye project from a class.

Which turned into a gorgeous pair of fingerless gloves.

~DoHP

P.S. If the color doesn't turn out the way you want it to, resoak it and dye it again! Works best if the second dye is darker than the first.