Please bear in mind this is my first attempt! And its all out of the pantry cupboard with items I had handy.
I definitely need to write down what I did so I can follow it again! I followed several techniques posted on the net and information posted in my rav group :) Thank you lovely ladies if you ever read this.
1. skein wool- over the back of two kitchen chairs worked well for me, 100g this time, 2 x spotlight basics 100% wool.
2. soak skein in 50/50 vinegar and water solution, I used roughly a cup of each, inside a mixing bowl. Soak at least 30mins to overnight- I soaked for about 5hrs.
3. make up dyes. I had 6 salad dressing containers I'd never even opened, just perfect! I made up another solution of 150ml vinegar to 100ml water and used for the base. I split this over the 6 containers- roughly 40-50ml in each. The primary colours I used approx two eyedroppers full of Queens food colour, red, blue, green and yellow. The other shades were at least one dropper (about 1ml) of primary and up to 0.5ml
port wine/purple- was 2mls red and I just kept adding drops of blue until I achieved the desired colour. It didn't turn out how I wanted but I actually love the resulting colour now.
teal- I used one ml blue, and added drops of green until desired colour
orange- 1ml red, 2ml yellow- I think (have already forgotten!)
4. Test the dye colours, I used rolled up pieces of paper towel dipped in the tubs to start with but ended up using drops on tissues just as well.
5. squeeze the vinegar solution out of the skein gently and lay on a plastic lined tray. I also tried to some extra wrap under and between parts of the skein to stop colours mixing between the outside and inside etc.
6. Start pouring on dye! I started with red, then orange, then yellow, teal, green, blue, purple. then I think I did teal, yellow, orange again to join it back up to the red. Squish in as you go, starting a little away from the previous colour and letting it join in gently.
7. when all the colour is throughout the wool, blot off excess dye. I had run out of paper towel so used an old flat cloth nappy. It is now lovely pastel shades which will probably sadly wash out lol.
8. The hard part- transfer to a microwave safe container- I used a -pyrex baking dish- to cook in the microwave, this is where the yarn brushed up against itself as I tried to get it in, causing the colours to leak and bleed on each other. I put plastic wrap around and between the yarn as it touched, then I plastic wrapped loosely over the top to keep the moisture in
9. Cook in 2min bursts for 8-10mins, resting for a few mins in between each burst. I didn't touch the yarn at all during this time.
10. let it cool. After a while I took it out of the microwave knowing the pyrex would keep it warmer longer and I was impatient hehe. I took the plastic off and laid it on an old towel to cool down to room temp.
11. rinse in lukewarm water (or same temp as the wool) so as not to shock the wool, no dye came out at all. I added a little wool wash at this stage
12. Time to dry. I squeezed out the excess and gently pressed it with a towel to get most of the moisture out of it, being careful not to felt or rub. Then hang to dry!
I have saved some excess dye and the leftover vinegar solution from soaking the wool to reuse for my next effort. I'll be shopping for more food colours today ;)
links I based my method on- thanks!
http://www.withawareness.com.au/new-page.htm
http://tia.thisismywww.com/tutorials/rainbow-yarn-dye/
http://peasoupoftheday.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-to-dye-yarn-with-food-colouring-and.html
ravelry:Aussiemcnmummiescorner- thanks ladies!
other helpful links
http://www.organicwool.com.au/handdye.html
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring07/FEATdyeyourown.html
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall02/FEATdyedwool.html
Curly Purly Soaker on 12ply Spacefrog unknown colourway, my favourite soaker!
