Do you ever have a knitting or crochet pattern you want to work on, and you just can’t find the right color or shade of yarn?

Yeah, me neither. There are too many gorgeous yarns out there to be stuck for long! Nevertheless, sometimes the dyes call to me. And, so, here is the Very Unscientific method I use for occasional forays into applying color to string.

Note: when using the acid dyes, it’s important that your dye pot and all the utensils are used only for this purpose and never food preparation. That includes your microwave, if you choose to do the plastic wrap/microwave steam method. I use clean glass canning jars for the soaking (and some dye methods), and a second-hand crock pot from Goodwill. For now, I’m using paper cups to mix my dye solutions, but I plan to start making stock dye solutions, and for that I’ll use canning jars. I cover my work surface with a plastic garbage bag. One should also wear a mask & gloves while working with powdered dyes.

First I soak my yarn in tepid water and some white vinegar. I don’t measure.

I let that sit for an hour or so. It can go longer, but I don’t usually plan this stuff far enough in advance.

Meanwhile, I decide on colors. This time around, I decided to go for a golden yellow, so I pulled out three paper cups and mixed up solutions in varying shades of yellow and golden ochre.  (To get a darker color, I used a bit more of the dye powder.) Again, I didn’t measure. And I don’t have photos of this step. Anyway, I mix the powder with hot water (should probably boil, but I’m lazy) and a glug of white vinegar.

What? “Glug” is a totally valid unit of measurement in the Very Unscientific method.

My next step is to take the yarn out of the soaking solution and squeeze it gently to remove some of the water. It should still be wet, just not swimming. I layer it in the crock pot and start pouring the dye solution randomly over the yarn, moving the yarn around with my fingers (wear disposable gloves) until the dye is taken up. I start with the darkest color, then move down to the lightest.

The photo below shows the yarn after all the dye solution has been added. At this point, there is once again enough liquid to cover the yarn.

Set the crock pot to high, put the lid on, and walk away. After a while, I check to see if all the color has been exhausted. I don’t time it. I just try not to let it cook to the point where it smells like cooked yarn, you know? No? Well, you’ll know it when you smell it, trust me.

After this, I just let it cool, then rinse with a bit of wool wash or a couple of drops of Dawn dish soap, then lay it out to dry. I was lucky to get a sunny day this time.

Ta da! 480 yards of fingering weight sock yarn (90% superwash merino/10% nylon).

I couldn’t resist starting to knit with it immediately:

This is the beginning of the Citron shawl. I am a crap knitter, so please do ignore that mess at the beginning there.

I’ve got 10 skeins of undyed yarn coming in the next few days, so I’m planning on some epic yarn dyeing sessions and these will appear in my shop in the next several weeks.