Thursday 24 May 2012

Dyeing Again


This evening was the evening.  Time to Dye.  I soaked two skeins of 100g laceweight Blue Faced Leicester in luke warm water for about an hour
I made two dye baths.  All baths had 400ml water.  In the one on the right I put just one pack of orange Kool-Aid, the other had three packets.
The bath on the left has one packet of grape and the right one has one grape and about 1/3 strawberry.  This has not turned into my nemesis pink.  It is a dusky pink, which so many of my experimental or mixed colours end up.  I really don't like it.  To me it says 'I've gone wrong'.  O found previously with the kool aid that red 40 is exceedling dominant.  It has kept to this dominance.  I might leave them over night so to get deeper colours.  Plus it's 11pm and my bed time.  I don't want a late night.  So far, touch wood, Mary-Jane has murmered and mooched, but not awoken properly or started crying.  Bonus.  It is still many hours till morning though!

I am sorely tempted to over-dye this to try and get rid of Nemesis Pink.  What colour I don't know.  No rash or hasty decisions tonight.  Our room is going to stink of kool aid by tomorrow.  It does already.  How I miss my own Knitting Room to play in.  I really do.  Let's hope life overall picks up and improves, I'm working my best to that end.
I have seen an orange shawl in Jane Austen Knits so was inspired to dye orange.  I am tempted to see if I can get a really nice bright red, somewhere in the regions between a lady bird red and a pillar box red.  But that shall be for tomorrow, not tonight.  Oh and I am keeping notes of all the dyeing that I do, good to refer back to.

4 comments:

paula said...

I read in a post about a woman who dies her yarn using the packets we use when dying eggs for Easter. So, I went to the store and bought several on sale after Easter. I was thinking about sying some white cotton thread.

We'll see.

CarpeDyem said...

I'm not sure if the kool aid type stuff dyes cotton? Have a look into it - unless you know already!

Luneray said...

Kool Aid will stain a cotton shirt so it should dye cotton yarn...no idea if the cotton will take up the dye differently than wool would.

CarpeDyem said...

I believe that KA will only dye animal fibres. I think it stains everything that comes into contact with it apart from plastic. Gloves are a necessity when dyeing!