Spinning is fun, but dyeing what you have spun is even better! My first official skein of yarn came out to around 55 yards. I used the back of a folding chair to wind it into a skein from my spindle.
After researching different methods online, I found that Wilton's Icing Colorant can be used to dye yarn and fabric. Naturally, I drove straight to my local craft store and got a set of twelve Wilton Icing Colors for about $7.50 after using a 50% off coupon I had. Not too shabby, right? The main reason I wanted to try this method was because I could easily obtain the needed materials and I can use any utensil that I dye with for food again after I am done. Wanting teals and purples I mixed up three differnt colors using 1 tsp. colorant to 1 cup water and mixed thoroughly. I wetted my yarn in a water bath, using 1 cup vinegar as a mordant, for a couple of hours. You can soak your yarn longer, but I was excited and couldn't wait to get started. After removing the yarn from the water bath, I used an old towel to roll the yarn in to absorb any excess water and then it was time to dye it! Painting yarn is my favorite way to dye, so after covering my counter surfaces with plastic, I used a foam brush to paint the skein in thirds, using a different color for each 1/3. Next I put the yarn into a microwave safe glass bowl, trying not to overlap the colors too much. I then covered the bowl loosely with cling wrap and zapped it in the microwave for 5 minutes, let it cool completely and then zapped it again for 5 minutes and let it cool a final time.
Keep an eye on your yarn and microwave so that the yarn does not burn! Mist with water if yarn starts to dry out. After it was cool I rinsed the skein in cool to tepid water, used the towel again to soak up any excess water and used a clothing hanger to hang it up to dry. The end result is in the picture below.
I then decided to dye some merino wool yarn purchased from an online company to see if I could change the time in the microwave and also try a "pot" method. The second skein I spot painted with the same dye colors and let the colors bleed as they liked, then put it in the microwave and zapped it for only 2 minutes with 2 minutes rest time and then zapped it for 2 more minutes, allowed to completely cool and rinsed and hung to dry in the same manner as my handspun first skein. The pictures below show the result, which I was very pleased with.
The lower cooking time caused this skein to come out much lighter, but it is still beautiful.
The third skein was dyed in a pot using a method that uses three different colors and dyes 1/3 of the skein at a time. I was trying for a sunset-like peach, a blue-gray and a gray-brown after this picture my husband took on a recent business trip. As you can see from the pictures the colors separated and I got pinks and mauves instead!
Colors I was trying to replicate...
Colors I got...
As a gentleman in his blog I had found on dyeing silk roving said, the great and fun thing about using the Icing Color is that it is not fixed and stable, so you never quite know what you are going to get!
So, after my experimentation, it my humble opinion that the microwave cooking method is best when using the Wilton's Icing Colorants. Have fun and enjoy! Let me know it you have any questions.
