A Quick 'Tute' on Hand Dyeing Wool Yarn

As I was looking through the yarns I had dyed to find one for my next knitting project, I found another whole package that had not been dyed yet.  So I decided to dye two of those hanks  today  and make a quickie tutorial.  This is the way "I" dye  wool and silk yarns ...it is not the only way and maybe not even the best way, but it works for me.  As with any chemicals, use common sense and care.

I get my yarns that are ready to dye in bulk... ten 100gm hanks to a package



My first step is to loosely tie the hank I'm working with in several places so it doesn't get tangled during the dyeing and washing process.



Next I soak it in warm water for at least a 1/2 hour. Then I add white distilled household vinegar to the water(that's the acid) and let the yarn soak another 1/2 hour. You can see my dye sink has been well used over the past 6 years we've lived here!



During this time I get my plastic bags laid out and ready, I'll wrap the hank in this for steaming later;  and gather the dyes I'm going to use.  For wool and silk yarns I use acid dyes...these  happen to be from Pro Chemical.  Some people use food dyes or Kool aid.  I prefer the professional acid dyes from pro chemical or Dharma. I'm using sun yellow, magenta, and brilliant blue today.



When the soak time is up, I gently squeeze the excess water/vinegar solution out of the yarn and place the hank on my plastic bag.  You need the yarn to be good and wet, but not dripping.



I mix the dyes with hot water. I use about 1/2 cup water for each color and then add just a small pinch of the dye and mix it with a spoon.  These dyes are very intense and it doesn't take much dye powder to get deep, saturated colors.  Be sure to wear a dust mask and goggles when dealing with the dye powder...once it is in solution, you can take them off.  I just spoon the dyes onto the yarn and used my hands (gloved) to get all the dye spread around.



I flip the hank over and make sure the dye has penetrated all through.



Next I wrap it up in the plastic trash bag



And then put it in a microwave safe container..I use this Pyrex pie plate



Into the microwave it goes. The point is to steam set the dyes.  It sets them and also intensifies the colors.



I cook for 1 minute on high; then rest for 1  minute.  I repeat this cycle at least 3 times, then check to make sure the dyes have exhausted.  You'll know that by looking at the water formed from the steaming. If it is clear, you're done. If not, run the cook/rest cycle once more.  Carefully remove from the microwave..it's VERY HOT!  I put it in a dishpan in the sink and let it cool.



Notice how there is no excess dye, the wool soaked it all in and the water is all clear.  Once it is cool I rinse it , usually adding a little shampoo to get rid of the vinegar smell and rinse well.  I then hang it until it is completely dry.  Then it's ready to knit!   This is a much quicker process than with the fiber reactive dyes.  Once the initial wetting and soak is done, the actual dyeing process takes less than 10 minutes.

Here is the other hank I did today.



I'm thinking I'll use the blue/green for a hat and the rainbow hank for my first pair of socks!

And I did finally finish wrapping up the pearl cotton...I switched to making center pull balls.





And I think I need a yarn swift and ball winder...the threads were only  77 yard hanks. My yarns though, are over 400 yards per hank!  I don't think I want to keep winding them by hand. Any favorite brands ? Any I should stay away from?