Kool-Aid Dye

I have a hard time passing up "FREE" craft supplies!  My friend, Janie, was the recipient of multiple bags of fabric, yarn, and misc. and let me have a peek.  I took all of the embroidery floss!  Most of the fabric was not what I would use and most of the yarn was acrylic that didn't attract me but I was tempted by multiple skeins (over 20) of needlepoint yarn.

No, I'm not taking up needlepoint.  What I liked was the fact that the yarn is 100% wool.  Wonder if it will felt?  (If anyone knows, please comment.)  Each little skein is 40 yards.  Too bad they are ALL "lily pad green".


A long time ago, I saw some yarn that my friend Mary had spun herself, then dyed with Kool-Aid.  I was impressed.  Now it was time for me to give it a try.  Mary and I discussed it the other day and she said that there "probably" was a formula, but I just guessed.  People who know me will be shocked.  I scientifically placed three coffee cups on the counter, emptied the contents of three packets of Kool-Aid (grape, lemon, cherry), added boiling water to dissolve and topped each off with a bit of vinegar.  I had tied off one end of three skeins and stood one up in each cup.

The yarn magically absorbed almost all of the pigment.  I placed my little bundles in a baggie overnight.  When rinsed, the water ran out clear.  Stay tuned and see what I make out of my odd colored yarn.  One mystery is that the lemon did not turn out yellow.  Oh, wait!  I remember now.  The lemon was so pale that I poured a little bit of the cherry in with it!