Care & feeding of wool yarn

[Badtz_maru]

KA dyeing looks so interesting, I have some handpainted yarn (peach and grape colors, so pretty!) but of course it would be fun to do my own.

 

Q. Doesn't boiling and microwaving the yarn cause it to shrink and felt? I'd hate to end up with a giant technicolor hairball.

[Ladycrochat]

I used to worry about this too, but it doesn't! When you want to felt something, there has to be a lot of agitation with other things in the washing machine along with your project, and secondly when you felt you are supposed to add detergent and/or baking soda to change the PH of the water, I think dyes are too acidic to allow felting to happen.

[losingmymind2]

You're correct, felting takes all three things happening at once. And when you use the microwave, you nuke 2 minutes, cool 2 minutes, and repeat the cycle as needed but don't stir the yarn around. Now dyeing in a pot on the stove you have to be careful since you want to make sure the yarn is well immersed in the dyebath. I usually put the wool in when the mix is cool, and then slowly slowly heat it until the yarn takes up the dye.

 

Sun dyeing is an option I've just started exploring, and really enjoy. I mix the dyebath (used paste food coloring last time) and stir the yarn into it, set in the sun and come back later to lovely dyed wool.

[Badtz_maru]

Great! you guys are so knowledgeable, this place is a wonderful resource!

 

I found some websites on koolaid dyeing which I definitely want to try, and I just got yarn for a felting project (I just didn't want to do both simultaneously!)

 

thank you!!!

[losingmymind2]

Just set out 5 skeins to sun dye...two in rose food color paste, one in lemonade drink mix and two in blue drink mix...might overdye some of one to see how that goes after the first color takes.