KoolAid dye question...

OK! I gotta ask: How do you get all that yarn into the microwave so that
you have a single dye lot?
Or, can you pack the yarn tighter in the microwave than into a stove top dye
bath?

On my first try at dyeing last month, I was amazed at how large a pot it
required for just 2 skeins. 12 skeins for a sweater and matching
hat/mittens will require a ...big kettle.

Is a dye pot part of a stash?

Aaron

"SlinkyToy" wrote in message
...
Yep, just don't stir them once they're in the microwave cooking!
*snicker*

On Tue, 14 Oct 2003 22:59:34 -0500, "Noreen's Knit*che"
wrote:


OK, Slinky, can I dye the fleece roving Els sent me??
Hugs,
Noreen



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Yes, dyeing equipment should be part of stash. And once you use a
piece of kitchenware to dye wool you should not use it for anything
else, unless you're using Koolaid or Easter Egg pills that are
food-safe. Most commercial textile dyes contain some pretty nasty
stuff that doesn't belong in your foodchain.

So far I haven't actually dyed yarn for a sweater. I suppose if I did
I would take a scientific approach to my dye mixing. I have a
triple-beam scale sensitive to tenths of a gram.

I'd have to make exact measurements and record everything. Once I
achieved a shade I liked during sampling I would then have to make a
concentrated dyestock suitable for the weight of fiber, and divide
dyestock based on the amount of fiber in each dyebath.

You also have to consider that some colors take up more easily than
others. Yellow doesn't take up easily, while red and blue both seem
to exhaust instantly. So if I wanted say, a yellowish-green, I have
to consider that while I'm experimenting, as I might need to put each
batch of yarn through two dyebaths to ensure even color uptake in the
fiber.

I'd LOVE to have a 50-gal dyepot in my back yard, but the heater to
run the thing would be outrageous and most likely unsafe. So I have a
two-burner hotplate that handles two 20-qt pots. I also have a
two-burner propane camp oven/stove thing, that handles two 20-qt pots,
and I have a propane turkey fryer with a 32-qt pot. So I probably
COULD dye a sweater's worth of yarn (which isn't as voluminous as a
sweater's worth of fleece!). I make notes as I go, and try to get
close, then blend the wool together on the carder - more fun!

I could babble on, but I need to find out who is collecting the boy
and if its me I need to find something clean to put on my stinky body!

On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 12:07:25 -0700, "Agres"
wrote:

OK! I gotta ask: How do you get all that yarn into the microwave so that
you have a single dye lot?
Or, can you pack the yarn tighter in the microwave than into a stove top dye
bath?

On my first try at dyeing last month, I was amazed at how large a pot it
required for just 2 skeins. 12 skeins for a sweater and matching
hat/mittens will require a ...big kettle.

Is a dye pot part of a stash?

Aaron

Thanks everyone, but here's another Q: won't it FELT the wool using a
microwave?

Nah! What really felts woool is agitation, not wetness or
temperature. You'd almost be safer dyeing in the microwave, because
you could be -certain- that you can't get your hands on it and felt it
yourself :-). I have a long boring article on the many ways to felt
(or full) your wool on purpose, which allows you to avoid doing it by
accident: http://fuzzygalore.biz/articles/fulling.shtml

"Els van Dam" wrote in message
...
Yes Noreen you can. But why not learn to spin first. Than go on to
dyeing......(big smile)


Alright, Els... it's just that I'm SO excited, and want to do it all!
Your suggestion IS of course correct, spin FIRST, dye later....
Big smile back...
Noreen



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| On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 11:28:00 -0700, (Els van Dam) wrote:

The original felters did it without soap....We are going back thousands of
years naturally.....

Or last week, even. I almost always use soap when felting. Perhaps this is
one of the reasons I avoid it when I'm just washing my woolens.


Helen "Halla" Fleischer,
Fantasy & Fiber Artist in Fairland, MD USA
http://home.covad.net/~drgandalf/halla/

In article , "Noreen's
Knit*che" wrote:

"Els van Dam" wrote in message
...
Yes Noreen you can. But why not learn to spin first. Than go on to
dyeing......(big smile)


Alright, Els... it's just that I'm SO excited, and want to do it all!
Your suggestion IS of course correct, spin FIRST, dye later....
Big smile back...
Noreen

LOL

Els

--
I have added a trap for spammers......niet.....

Aaron wrote:

OK! I gotta ask: How do you get all that yarn into the
microwave so that you have a single dye lot?
Or, can you pack the yarn tighter in the microwave than into a
stove top dye bath?

Well, I haven't done much dyeing in the micro, but have done somet, and also
thought a lot about it. For what it's worth, here's a few points I've
considered, and what I've actually done.

1 - If I had the money, I'd go to a 2nd-hand store and buy a *big* micro,
cheap. (and use it only for dyeing.) And the biggest, deepest plastic bowl/pan
that would fit in it.

2 - The larger the amount you dye, probably the less likely it is your yarn
will come out dyed perfectly evenly, whether you manage to do it in one dye-lot
or not. Make it an advantage. Brag about it being hand-dyed. g Heck, yarn
mfrs. charge the earth for hand-dyed, and specifically say the color's not that
even, so '...each skein is unique...' - look at the Manos del Uruguay yarns.
Slight differences in the solid colors, but they look gorgeous. Who cares if
it's not perfectly even?

3 - What with the fact that using acid dyes for wool you can steam instead of
simmer it, here's a thought: Dissolve the dye in a big plastic mop-bucket or
some such, with near-boiling water. Dunk your skeins in so they're thoroughly
saturated with the dye, a minute or two, and gently squeeze the excess out.
Then layer them in a plastic container and zap 'em for half the dyeing time.
Turn them all over, so the heat penetrates evenly, and re-zap to complete the
dyeing time. Let them cool down and proceed to rinse. Ok, this means using two
different containers, but you're not having to try and simmer umpteen gallons
of dye solution on top of a single burner in a huge pot. You also don't get the
water clearing and showing that the dyebath has exhausted, but you can always
test by pressing a piece of white paper towel against the yarn, I'd think.

I've done this using RIT on rayon and cotton yarns, so I don't see why it
wouldn't work on wool with acid dyes. As long as the fiber/yarn is thoroughly
soaked in the dye solution, so far it's come out almost as evenly as when I've
vat-dyed similar yarns. Cf the 'slippery rayon yarn from hell' I was ranting
about skeining for dyeing, last month or so. g Did it in the microwave.
Dunked the yarn in the dyebath for a minute or two, squeezed so it wasn't
majorly dripping, tossed it in my plastic bowl and proceeded to zap in the
micro.

It came out with some slight variations in color here and there - mostly where
I tied the skeins, 'cause I tied 'em *tight*, due to the slipperiness of the
dratted yarn. g I didn't care if the dye didn't penetrate under the ties,
'cause the project I have in mind for the yarn is going to be as wildly colored
as Joseph's coat, anyway. But other than those areas, the variation wasn't
much.

I rearranged the skeins each time I zapped it, which I did 2x for 2-3 minutes
apiece, and voila, I was all done. Got the deep, rich purple I was going for,
all in one process - 9 100-yd. skeins of sport-wt. rayon yarn. Not enough for
an entire sweater for me, but it all took up barely 1/3 of a big plastic mixing
bowl I've delegated for microwave dyeing. And no liquid except what the yarn
held. So there *would* have been enough room to do enough yarn for a whole
sweater - and as I'm a 3X, and like tunic lengths, that'd be about 2,000 yards!
Ok, that's sport-wt; might not be able to fit that much worsted-wt. into the
bowl all at once. *Definitely* not with bulky or chunky wt. yarn - but it'll
still hold quite a lot. And I used my ancient microwave, which is only about
the size of the smallest ones they're making now. (because the bigger, newer
one is reserved for food. g) The bowl is a standard big mixing bowl, I'd
guess could hold about a gallon or more of liquid - but it didn't need to,
since all I put in there was the yarn.

4 - Or actually steam the wool, just do it in the micro instead of in a
colander set in a covered pot of simmering water. There's a page somewhere on
the web showing this method for making hand-painted rovings. The author paints
the roving, then wraps it up well in heavy plastic wrap, sticks 'em in the
micro and zaps as above. The heat produces the steam *inside* the plastic wrap.
(which is what gave me the idea for the dip and micro thingy I tried, above.)
Not that much difference from #3, but might give a little more control, I don't
know...you use less liquid when hand-painting, so probably wouldn't get the dye
concentrating via gravity, as in #3, since it wouldn't be enough to travel as
fast. And as when cooking food, you do need to turn/rearrange the bundles so
they heat evenly and completely through; that would also help prevent
over-concentration of the dye, thus darker colors in some spots. No one says
you have to restrict this method to multi-colors; why not use it for solids,
too? Plus, you don't need to use a container at all with the skeins wrapped in
plastic! Just remember to wear *heavy* rubber gloves so you don't burn yourself
when handling the skeins. And use a heavy, good-quality plastic wrap, so it
won't melt, as some of them do.

And a dye pot is *definitely* part of a stash. gg Any fiber equipment should
count!

Monica
CMMPDX2 at aol
remove 'eat.spam' to email me
---------
"No, that isn't me you saw - I'm not here, I'm incognito!" (Me, Myself & I)
Support our Troops!!
http://www.wtv-zone.com/kjsb/bataan.html

"Agres" wrote in message ...
OK! I gotta ask: How do you get all that yarn into the microwave so that
you have a single dye lot?

I would say that part of the uniqueness of home dyeing is like "real"
homespun. The imperfection of it makes it special.

My experience has been a mottled effect anyway, if I was trying to get
"the same" results with several skeins, I'd measure the water exactly
so the dye was diluted the same. I've also noticed the yarn picks up
the dye so quickly that the first yarn to hit the dye bath is the
darkest. So there is always going to be some variation within the
skein itself.

(Els van Dam) wrote in message ...

The original felters did it without soap....We are going back thousands of
years naturally.....

Yes, but I'm sure there was something used to change the acid/base in
the wool itself. Perhaps the water was ascidic or base. Soap is only
one way one can change this.

Thanks for the information on dye pots.

But, a 55 gallon dye pot? That sort of changes knitting from nice clean
craft that I can do in one corner of the living room, into an industrial
enterprise. It really offers a new perspective on how hard traditional
spinners\knitters\weavers worked (or still work for that matter.) There was
a lot of love in those navy blue fisherman's sweaters!

Oh, well! I really like the the colors that I got from my first efforts at
dying. And, more to the point, my wife thinks my home dyed materials are
some of the most beautiful yarns / knit fabrics that she has ever seen.

We have sort of a Tuscan theme to our landscaping, and we always have extra
fire wood. Maybe, we need a BIG old bronze kettle, there in the corner of
the yard by the fountain? That would give the neighbors something to think
about.

Aaron


"SlinkyToy" wrote in message
...
Yes, dyeing equipment should be part of stash. And once you use a
piece of kitchenware to dye wool you should not use it for anything
else, unless you're using Koolaid or Easter Egg pills that are
food-safe. Most commercial textile dyes contain some pretty nasty
stuff that doesn't belong in your foodchain.

So far I haven't actually dyed yarn for a sweater. I suppose if I did
I would take a scientific approach to my dye mixing. I have a
triple-beam scale sensitive to tenths of a gram.

I'd have to make exact measurements and record everything. Once I
achieved a shade I liked during sampling I would then have to make a
concentrated dyestock suitable for the weight of fiber, and divide
dyestock based on the amount of fiber in each dyebath.

You also have to consider that some colors take up more easily than
others. Yellow doesn't take up easily, while red and blue both seem
to exhaust instantly. So if I wanted say, a yellowish-green, I have
to consider that while I'm experimenting, as I might need to put each
batch of yarn through two dyebaths to ensure even color uptake in the
fiber.

I'd LOVE to have a 50-gal dyepot in my back yard, but the heater to
run the thing would be outrageous and most likely unsafe. So I have a
two-burner hotplate that handles two 20-qt pots. I also have a
two-burner propane camp oven/stove thing, that handles two 20-qt pots,
and I have a propane turkey fryer with a 32-qt pot. So I probably
COULD dye a sweater's worth of yarn (which isn't as voluminous as a
sweater's worth of fleece!). I make notes as I go, and try to get
close, then blend the wool together on the carder - more fun!

I could babble on, but I need to find out who is collecting the boy
and if its me I need to find something clean to put on my stinky body!

On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 12:07:25 -0700, "Agres"
wrote:

OK! I gotta ask: How do you get all that yarn into the microwave so that
you have a single dye lot?
Or, can you pack the yarn tighter in the microwave than into a stove top
dye
bath?

On my first try at dyeing last month, I was amazed at how large a pot it
required for just 2 skeins. 12 skeins for a sweater and matching
hat/mittens will require a ...big kettle.

Is a dye pot part of a stash?

Aaron