So I have seen many of my friends on sites like Facebook and Ravelry discussing how fun it is dying their own woool for their projects for quite some time now. I had researched it a couple times but the process seemed so long and dragged out compared to what you actually get out of it… isn’t it easier to just go to the store and buy the colour you want!!
Then I stumbled across something that caught my attention – Crockpot wool dying… Really? I already have a serious addiction to my crochet projects AND as obvious on here I LOVE my slow cooker so how could I possibly pass up the opportunity to combine the two!
So here’s a breakdown of how I did it for those that want to give it a try too π
What you need: 100% (or as close as possible) wool. You don’t want to use man made fibres as the colour won’t hold. I used Lion Brand Fishermen’s Wool which I purchased at Michaels (and you can use the Michaels coupons!!). You’ll need a slow cooker, doesn’t need to be anything fancy. Also water, some vinegar and koolaid in your choice of colours.
Start with your slow cooker. Set the heat to medium (or high for those that only have low and high) with nothing in it except water and a little bit of vinegar. The vinegar helps to set the colour properly so that it lasts. Place a skein of the wool into the water and put the lid on. Leave it soaking for approximately 15 minutes or until the lid of the crockpot completely steams up.
Once it has soaked its time to select your first couple colours. You can do any mixture of colours but to keep it simple I started with just 2 per skein so that I could try to keep it simple. My first ball was a mixture of red and purple, the second pink and green. Keep in mind the way the colours will look when they mix as well something that wasn’t as well thought out with the pink/green as there are a couple spots that ended up being a weird brownish colour.
Sprinkle the koolaid onto the ball of wool covering it in the colour you are wanting to use. Cover the slow cooker and allow it to sit long enough for the wool to completely absorb the colour. If it has, when you scoop some of the water up with a spoon it will be completely clear.
Flip the wool over (use a large metal slotted spoon to make this as easy as possible) and repeat this process on the other side. If you are choosing to use 4 colours for example instead of two, use 2 colours on the first side, and then 2 othere colours now when you’ve flipped it. Once again allow this to sit long enough until the wool has absorbed all the colour.
Now using the spoon search your wool for any spots that are still left undyed. Use one of your colours to sprinkle a little bit on each of these spots to ensure proper coverage. Try to be patient at this point… Patience is not one of my strong points so I got fed up and gave up searching. The result is my first ball is actually red and purple with highlights of off white lol!
When you’re comfortable that your yarn is fully dyed, remove it from the crockpot. Squeeze the water out the best you can without twisting it (I don’t know why or what will happen, but all the sites I found describing how to do this were very clear about not twisting lol). You can pat it down wrapped inside a towel to absorb some of the actual moisture and then hang the skein to dry. It took mine a couple days to be completely dry to the touch.
Then all you have to do is wrap the wool up as you like to store it. I personally rolled mine into centre pull balls just so that I can use them right away without having to re-roll them the way I would if left in a skein lol!
Mine didn’t turn out perfect by any means, but pretty good for a first attempt!!!!
I’m sure there will be a second attempt to follow soon, now that I have figured out how to do it!!! The biggest challenge I have found: finding places in this area that carry a selection of different colours of koolaid!!!!
Enjoy trying this out!