Kool Aid Dyeing
Jul. 16th, 2004 02:08 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
qtipgirl.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
craftgrrlHi everybody.
I found a lovely cashmere sweater at Savers a few weeks ago, and after many hours unraveling it (thank goodness for dumb shows on vh1) I ended up with a ton of lovely soft cashmere yarn. But it was beige. So I decided I needed to try out the koolaid dyeing and I learned a few things, which I thought I would share, in case anyone else wants to try it. I can't find the exact instructions that I used to dye it, but if you google "kool-aid dyeing" there's like a million.
1. It takes a hell of a lot of koolaid. I originally bought only 6 packages. Hahaha, I ended up using about 50.
2. Don't try to stuff the pot too full. The yarn really has to have a lot of room to swim around, or you will have some parts that absorb more dye than others. Also, if you tie your skeins, tie them very loosely, or you will have a stripe on your skein where it didn't get dyed. Stir a lot.
3. Koolaid truly will not dye acrylic. I knew this in theory, but saw it firsthand, when the white yarn I used to tie my skeins came out just as white as it was before. A red koolaid might stain it a little bit, but the green I was using had no effect whatsoever.
4. The koolaid/water ratio seemed to be unimportant. The yarn sucks it all out of the water, so I didn't worry too much about measuring.
5. My hands look like they belong to Shrek. Koolaid will dye your hands and your nails.
I can't seem to get a good picture of the color, but a quick color swatch search gave me this:
It looks just like that. A pretty apple green.
I found a lovely cashmere sweater at Savers a few weeks ago, and after many hours unraveling it (thank goodness for dumb shows on vh1) I ended up with a ton of lovely soft cashmere yarn. But it was beige. So I decided I needed to try out the koolaid dyeing and I learned a few things, which I thought I would share, in case anyone else wants to try it. I can't find the exact instructions that I used to dye it, but if you google "kool-aid dyeing" there's like a million.
1. It takes a hell of a lot of koolaid. I originally bought only 6 packages. Hahaha, I ended up using about 50.
2. Don't try to stuff the pot too full. The yarn really has to have a lot of room to swim around, or you will have some parts that absorb more dye than others. Also, if you tie your skeins, tie them very loosely, or you will have a stripe on your skein where it didn't get dyed. Stir a lot.
3. Koolaid truly will not dye acrylic. I knew this in theory, but saw it firsthand, when the white yarn I used to tie my skeins came out just as white as it was before. A red koolaid might stain it a little bit, but the green I was using had no effect whatsoever.
4. The koolaid/water ratio seemed to be unimportant. The yarn sucks it all out of the water, so I didn't worry too much about measuring.
5. My hands look like they belong to Shrek. Koolaid will dye your hands and your nails.
I can't seem to get a good picture of the color, but a quick color swatch search gave me this:
It looks just like that. A pretty apple green.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}