Easter = Yarn Dyeing Fun!

I admit it. I am a big kid at heart. I don't have kids of my own, so while everyone else is buying Easter egg dye to dye eggs. I am stockpiling for the year for yarn dyeing. Today I hit a couple sales to stock up. I found most of the egg dyeing kit at half off, so for $1.50 or less. :D Of course, I couldn't wait to start so, I wound 3 skeins of Premier Yarns Deborah Norville Collection's Serenity Sock Weight yarn into hanks for dyeing. If you don't know how to do this, look it up on YouTube or click here for more information: knitting.about.com

Here is a tutorial on how to dye yarn with egg dye (and Wilton paste icing dye) :)

Getting Started!

You will need:
Egg dye (and Wilton icing paste dye, but it isn't required)
A microwave safe container
Vinegar
Water
Hair dye bottles for each color you want to use (Sally Beauty Supply is awesome for these)
Paper towels
Plastic wrap
Microwave
Wooden spoon
Scissors or a knife (to open egg dye pouches)
Gloves (optional, I don't use in the tutorial at all)

Yarn in pre-soak

Step 1: Pre-soak

I use the same container for everything, so you will only need one. Fill your microwave safe container with warm water about 2/3 of the way and add about a cup of vinegar (not an exact amount, you just want the yarn to be coated in it to make the dye stick).

Set the container to the side so that you can prepare your dye. Let the yarn soak while you prep.

Fig 1 - PAAS 9 color egg dye kit

Step 2: Preparing the dye

For this step, you will need scissors, paper towels, water, the hair dye bottles, egg dye, and vinegar

The egg dye comes in little pouches inside the dye kit (see Fig 1) . Sometimes their are multiple pouches and you will notice that none of the colors are marked. Most of these annoying tablets also don't look like the actual color they are. There is an easy way to find out.

Place each little tablet in a line across a paper towel. Under each tablet, drop a couple drops of water on the paper towel. Press each tablet on the water drop below it and remove. This is the actual color the tablet will turn when mixed with water and vinegar (see Fig 2)!

Fig 2 - Small packet of PAAS 9 color egg dye kit

Notice that the left and right colors are pretty similar, but the one in the middle which looks brownish is actually a vivid lime green.

Once you have it figured out, then it is time to mix the tablet with vinegar so that it dissolves completely. I fill my hair dye bottle with 2 or 3 ounces of vinegar and wait until the tablet stops fizzing. If in doubt, shake it a bit. It shouldn't fizz any more. If it does, wait a couple more minutes.  While I was waiting on this. I mixed about 1/4 tsp of Wilton green dye in one of the bottles of vinegar. I used hot water from my tap to mix the paste (it needs a little heat to not clump). I filled the bottle to the 6 oz line (the top line on the bottle), capped it, gave it a good shake to mix the paste dye up and set it to the side. I used warm water to fill the rest of the the egg dye / vinegar solution bottles and capped them as well. You don't need to shake these as the dye tablet broke down in the vinegar.

Wilton paste dye in leaf green

Step 3: Prep the Dyeing Surface and Yarn

I like to lay down paper towels before my plastic wrap, but if your counter top or work surface is light in color or prone to stains, I would lay down some aluminum foil, then paper towels on top of the foil. On top of the paper towels, overlap some plastic wrap. This will act as a barrier to keep the moisture above the work surface and minimize clean-up.

Once you have completed this, pour the water out of your soaking yarn and squeeze (don't ring) the excess water out of the hanks individually. Once they have the major drips contained, place each hank evenly on the plastic wrapped surface.

Fig 3

Fig 3 is what your hanks should look like before you apply the dye. Kind of looks like angel hair pasta at this point. ;)

Step 4: Dye Your Yarn

This is the fun part, but it is also a lot of trial and error. I will warn you, so you won't be discouraged. Try to use colors that are close on the color wheel. Using contrasting colors (like orange and blue) will cause muddy browns. I am only using greens in this example. The first color is the Spring Green color from the small pack of the dye kit. The second is a bluish green from the large pack of the dye kit. The third color is the Wilton dye in Leaf Green.

Make sure your lids are on your bottles tight before you begin. I am going for a tonal color, which is like having really nice highlights in your hair. They are subtle and blend, but the color isn't flat or boring.

I started with a zigzag pattern in the lightest color, my spring green and did one pass. This is what it looked like:

Try to keep the dye even as you go. If you drip or goop, don't worry, it will be invisible at the end. 

Now pick up your second color, in this case, the bluish green and do the same thing. Do not try to hit the same area as your first pass, keep the color even and moving randomly.

Go all of the way to the edges of the yarn, if you go over the edge of the yarn and onto the plastic, lift the plastic a bit and the dye will just roll back into the yarn ;)

Now go for the third color doing the exact same thing.

Keep doing this until the yarn looks like this.

Flip the hanks over and with the wooden spoon and do the same thing. Smoosh the yarn with the spoon so that any pooling dye under the hanks is absorbed. You may have to refill your bottles for good coverage, but light spaces in the above picture will be fine because you will be placing the yarn in the final dye bath next.

Now that your hanks have been covered in the "highlights," I prepare a warm dye bath in the microwave safe container with vinegar, water and about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of the Wilton dye. I chose the Wilton dye because it was the color I liked the best of the three. Mix the dye well. I added water to the picture above to bring it to the top of the container once the hanks were added and stirred it around a bit with the wooden spoon.

The highlights will not be noticeable until after the yarn has dried, so you should see a pretty consistent color. 

Step 5: Cook It

Microwave the container of yarn in the microwave for about 5 minutes, cover, and let sit 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, check your yarn. The yarn should have pulled the color out of the water and the water should be close to clear. If it isn't, microwave it another 3 and wait for 30 more minutes. Continue doing this until you don't see any (or minimal color, if no change after microwaving again) color in the water.

Let the yarn cool to warm on it's own then remove the yarn and fill the container with plain water and soak the yarn back in the water. No color should bleed at this time. If it does, you will need to heat the yarn longer until it does not bleed. You wouldn't want the color bleeding out on a garment or on you, so this is necessary.

Step 6: Dry Time!

This is what the yarn looks like fresh out of the water with as much excess water drained from it as possible.

Right now you can't see a lot of the tonal variations because the yarn is still damp, and probably won't be completely dry for a couple days. I place the wet yarn on paper towels for about half an hour then hang each hank from a clothes hanger. I recommend a bathroom, kitchen, or other tiled / water resistant area for this since it can still drip. I hang mine from the chandelier in the dining room and leave the microwave container under it to catch drips. When the yarn is dry, I will post the finished product! Enjoy!