Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Color experiment #1



So this is the result of our first kool-aid dying.  We didn't use enough kool-aid and the result was a very PINK fleece.  I thought I had pictures of our purple attempt but I can't find it. 
We did green on Saturday and are waiting for the blue to finish up today.  Blue seems to take a longer time to completely soak in.

MK plans to soak yarn once spun in vinegar to make sure that the color stays.  Other than that it is very easy.  We are just taking 4 packages of kool-aid. We started with 2 but that is why we ended up with pink.  So we decided to up the amount.  So we use 4 packages to 2 ounces of fleece.  We are using our white merino/corriedale fleece. ( ika ~ Bones). I take the kool-aid, boil some water (about a cup to a cup and a half) add the boiled water to the kool-aid in a small jar and then stir to make sure the kool-aid completely dissolves.  Then I pour the kool-aid mixture into a large kettle that I don't use for anything else.  I add about 2 to 4 quarts of water to this to cool it down so I am not shocking the fleece.  Then I lay the fleece in.  I try to put the fleece in a little at a time so that it enters the dye fairly evenly.  
Lastly we just let it sit in the kettle covered for about 24 to 48 hours.  As I said early those dyes with blue in them seem to take longer.  The pink and green only took a day.  You remove the fleece once the water is clear when you press down the fleece.  The dye is completely absorbed and the water runs clear.  It is so cool! 

I am hoping to post the green and blue later this week. Not sure if I can manage to get them posted but I will try.

Thanks for reading.
God Bless,
Kate

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