After some deliberation I dyed my first skein of yarn today. I used Cascade Ecological Wool which is 100% undyed Peruvian highland wool which I purchased from my LYS KnitKnack in Maplewood, N.J. The hank is 250 grams/ 478 yards and worsted weight. The wool is an ecru color as opposed to a true white. I will be posting pictures as soon as the yarn dries.

I used lemonade and  orange Kool Aid, boiled onion skins and  turmeric as my dyes.  I blended one bottle with the onion skin liquid and one with onion skin liquid and  powdered turmeric, in the next  the lemonade  (two packets)  and in the last,   two packets of orange. I did not measure the amount of water that I put into each mixture. It was rather hit or miss. I purchased plastic bottles that are used to put hair dye on that have  squeeze tips.

I tied the yarn in four spots so that it would not become tangled. I soaked the yarn in lukewarm water for about 1/2 hour and then gently pressed out as much of the water as I could. I then lay the yarn on a large piece of plastic and squirted the different dyes over sections of the yarn. I then put the yarn in the oven set at 200 degrees for 20 minutes. I removed the yarn and let it cool. When it was cool I rinsed it with cool water until the water was clear. I then pressed the water out, wrapped the yarn in a towel and then hung it to dry. We will see how it comes out.

First lessons learned. It is very difficult to get the dye through large quantities of yarn with the squeeze method. I didn’t have a lot of onion skin and didn’t boil it very long before turning the flame off. The resulting liquid was like weak tea. It barely stained the yarn. In the future I need to measure the liquid and know how much water is necessary to get the colors that I want.  You will see the results in a day or two.