It’s been a long time since I wrote a branching out post, partly because I haven’t tried anything new for a while! Way back in September when we went to Yarndale, I bought some undyed Merino yarn with the intention of trying out dyeing it myself.
Over the last few months, I’ve read blogs about dyeing and watched YouTube videos but never really had a good chunk of time that I could devote to it uninterrupted. Until now, when the children have been at school/preschool and I haven’t. I’d already ordered the ‘kit’, I got some pipettes from eBay, bought white vinegar and had some Wilton food colourings in the baking cupboard.
I will confess to feeling really quite nervous as I plunged my skein of yarn (which cost the best part of £10) into the vinegar and water solution. I had to just tell myself that all hand dyed yarn is unique and therefore into didn’t really matter what it looked like! A fellow yarn addict, who I met at a party, had informed me that the purple Wilton dye doesn’t work well on yarn so I mixed up a solution each of pink, green and blue. After a good few hours soaking, it was time to lay it out on the cling film and start adding the colour. I was aiming for a speckled look rather than dyeing it fully, and I watched several more YouTube videos whilst I was waiting for the yarn to be ready.

I took a deep breath and just started dropping colours on to the yarn, starting with pink, then green and then blue. I worked in a fairly random fashion, then mixed up more solution for the other side of the yarn. (I wasn’t sure how much would be needed and the lady on the video had made too much so I erred on the side of caution. Luckily I’d measured the water so it wasn’t hard to make it up again!)

Once I’d used every drop of dye solution, I wrapped the whole thing up in cling film and microwaved it. As our microwave is really powerful, I stopped it every minute to check it hadn’t popped and that the yarn was still covered. It was during this 10 minutes that Mr C came home and was distinctly unimpressed with the vinegar/sheep smell pervading through the house. I swiftly opened all of the windows and, when it was time, left the yarn to cool outside on the barbecue! (It’s in quite a nice part of the garden, under the budding clematis.) At this point the children asked if I was making spaghetti…

Once it had cooled, I made up a cool water solution of baby shampoo and gently washed the yarn. I was really careful to make sure it was all at the same temperature-having got this far I didn’t want to felt it now! I then hung it to dry on the airing rack and left it overnight. At this point it was very pleasing to see that the pink and blue had mixed in places to give me my coveted purple!

The next day I tackled turning the skein into a ball, a fairly new experience for me and also a fairly challenging one. My parents in law’s dog looked bemused as I was taking care of him and battling a big pile of yarn spaghetti. I managed to wind it all (nearly 300m) without having to snip a knot out even once.

Finally I had a cake of my very own hand dyed yarn, and because the colours were reminiscent of my daughter’s birthday cake I decided that it should be called ‘Birthday Cake’. (Funny that, since I used the same food colouring!)
I will definitely be adding yarn dyeing to my ‘try it again’ list, and now I need a lovely project to make with it! Next time, though, I might take the microwave into the garden, as it took a while to get rid of the smell. (Lemon and water in the microwave works a treat!)
Have you ever tried yarn dyeing? How did it go? Let me know!
Wow! It looks shop bought! Brilliant 🎂🎂 Any thoughts on what you might create with your unique yarn?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, I think that’s the thing about hand dyeing, it’s all unique. I’m sure it must take a lot of skill to make several the same though! I’m thinking of a knitting rather than crochet project but that’s as far as I’ve got. 100g is enough for socks, or maybe a small scarf/shawl. I’ll treasure it to just look at whilst I decide!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes…double treasure worthy as you dyed the yarn too. Next step..sheep? 🐱🐑🐑
LikeLiked by 1 person
The allotment committee would be having kittens if we tried it 😂😂 (but it seems I’m on the committee now so maybe I could get them to write some new rules!) 🐑🐑
LikeLiked by 1 person
Or how about llamas…lol!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are some llamas at the other end of the village lol. I’ll put it to the committee!
LikeLike
Ha ha ha! I just threw llamas out there totally by chance! You beat me but I do expect to see something craft AND llama related!😁😸😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
You can’t beat a good challenge 😂😂 oh dear, now I’ll have to think of something!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow! Loved reading about your yarn spaghetti cake! I have never tried anything like this. The end results looked to be worth the effort. What will you be making from your beautiful hand dyed yarn? 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, I appreciate the process more now and what dyers actually do to get their end result. I’ve no idea what I’ll do with it apart from look at it, I do think the colours are pretty. It might make a nice scarf, shawl of cowl. I wrote down the amounts of dye etc so if I got the same yarn I could reproduce the amounts of colours, it’d still be random though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have thought about it but haven’t pulled the trigger on buying the supplies. Every time I see someone’s hand dyed yarn, it makes me want to do it too 🙂 I love yours!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, I’ve a feeling it could be addictive!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, that turned out well! I would not have guessed that you hand dyed it yourself. I’ve never considered trying it before, but now I am.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, I promise it’s fun, but messy and smelly too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll keep that in mind if I ever do get around to trying it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That looks so professional!! The colour scheme is great too, so fresh and pretty. This is proper crafting!
LikeLike
Thank you, I keep having ideas for other colour schemes now !
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is lovely and must be such a satisfying feeling!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is, thank you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
wow i love this and how honest you were! Have you looked into organic dyes? like using fruits and stuff? I think it came out so springy and cute! love the yarn cake
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like the idea of organic dyes, and I’ve read quite a bit about them. I think they’re something I’ll try out too, but maybe with mini skeins too. I’ve seen solar dyeing and that looks really good too, using plants/flowers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Maybe you can tag me in those posts, don’t wanna miss them! It sounds fun. I don’t have a lot of room in my apartment to get messy. Have you tried making yarn out of t-shirts?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not yet, but it’s on my list 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
mine too! ^.^
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those colors are beautiful! I laughed about Mr. C not being impressed with the smell. Sounds like Chicken Grandad when I make salsa!
Just wondering ….. do you spin your own yarn also? I always think that sounds like a relaxing thing to do if I could get the coordination down.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, I have tried spinning with a drop spindle and really enjoyed it. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
We used to have sheep and I always thought it would be fun to try spinning. The carding looked like a lot of work but maybe it isn’t so bad?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I haven’t processed any fibre, but I tried carding at a national trust property and it was quite hard. I bought a braid of dyed fibre that I just predrafted for spinning. I must do some more as I have a spindle full but nothing to ply it with.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I thought the carding looked hard when I saw it at an old time vendor thing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
gorgeous yar! Enjoy using it (eventually!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, I am going to be keeping an eye out for beautiful projects that I could make 😊
LikeLike
Your birthday cake is very very pretty. But the real prize was achieving something new.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, you’re right, I do love to learn new things as well as working on improving old skills.
LikeLike
Wow, looks like a very professional job! Can’t wait to see what you make with it 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, if you see any great projects let me know! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
That looks gorgeous! Definitely a success 😀
I don’t suppose you have any tips for turning a skein into a ball? I had a go last night and got in a TERRIBLE mess.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. Sadly no tips apart from leaving it and coming back after a break if you think you’ve reached snipping point with it! I have seen swifts used well, although I don’t own one. I considered putting the skein stretched over my clothes airer to keep the two sides separate, that may be worth a try. 😊
LikeLike
I’ve got two more skeins to go, so I think I’ll give the airer a try!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’d love to hear if it works. Good luck!
LikeLike
What a great project, and I love the name of your new yarn!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
That looks so cool and great 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, it really is fun!
LikeLike
Wow what great results you achieved. I love the colours and cannot wait to see what you will make with it.
I tried, natural products (flowers, veg etc) on embroidery floss many years ago. Unfortunately most of the things I tried, looked lovely until they dried and then just seemed to turn an unappealing brown colour. I kept it for years, it took me so long to make, but then it ended up in the bin, as I knew all along it would never be used.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, I like the idea of natural dyes but I really wanted the vibrant colours the food dyes produce. I quite fancy trying natural ones, but it’s a shame they fade. I bet beetroot works well!
LikeLike
Lovely results, will be good to see how it makes up, the whole thing looks pretty addictive , apart from the sheep smell. Impressive as always
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, I think I will knit with it rather than crochet. I just need a pattern that only uses 100g!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ooh that might take some choosing -I ‘d always for go for a teddy bear or toy of some kind, although a hat might fit the bill , is going to turn chilly next week !
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m not sure I can knit that fast 😂😂 but a hat might be nice for next winter.
LikeLike
This has turned out wonderfully. It’s going to be beautiful knitted up and I think Birthday Cake is a perfect name for it 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, I think I’ll enjoy using it, when I find the perfect project!
LikeLiked by 1 person
so pretty! I love the colors!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, they’re really springy! 😊
LikeLike
Wow! That is beautiful! Well done, I’d love to see how it works up, I bet it will make a gorgeous project! Do you have anything in mind for it yet?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Still no ideas, but I’ve got plenty of WIPs to deal with so I’ve got a bit of browsing time. I’ll be scared to use it in case I don’t love the projec!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think I would be too, it will have to be the perfect project!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed it will. I’ll just look at it for now 😂
LikeLike
Ooh lovely blog post and lovely looking yarn too. Well done. Hey, wouldn’t that be pretty spaghetti – hope the children weren’t disappointed in the real spaghetti !
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, they were happy enough with their spaghetti but I could always colour some myself for them, maybe! (Let’s not mention the hyperactivity warnings on the pots of colouring…)
LikeLike
This looks excellent and like the wool you buy in the shops.. So well done Mrs C…. you should give yourself a pat on the back.. and no I have never tried dying wool.. I have tie dyed T-shirts before.. and Jeans.. lol especially in the 70’s 🙂 But this is beautifully done for your first attempt
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, I remember having a tie dye top in the late 1990s!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Big smiles yes they did the rounds again.. I was a young teen in the flower power days.. 🙂 And I remember tie dying with my mum in the copper boiler 🙂 Loads of things all at once.. Purple was the rage then 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
I just bought mine already dyed! I always wanted to have a go at tie dyeing though 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your dyed yarn looks fabulous! Can’t wait to see what you create with it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, I’m still searching for the perfect pattern! 😊
LikeLike
So beautiful! I am now tying to convince boyfriend and my best friend that we should try this during the summer.
Do you have any specific videos that you watched?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I really can’t remember but I think the best was by the yarn chemist (or similar, the lady was in full on science gear and it was a fab video!) Have fun! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person