steeping
of a different type - this one in a crock pot filled with yarn. I used the Kool Aid recipe (with some modifications) to dye Knitpicks Bare fingering yarn. Since there are 462 yards in each skein, and it's superwash wool, I wanted deeper color than usually results with KA alone. Also more water, more vinegar, and a pinch of salt (don't ask - it's in the recipe). I also added to the 2 packets of orange KA, a tube of Betty Crocker Neon food coloring gel in orange. Since this is Easter weekend, there was a run on food coloring and it wasn't easy to find. When I did, it was the last box on the supermarket shelf. Hope some kid isn't deprived of colorful eggs tomorrow. But I'm a kid, too... and having fun...
I let it steep in the crock pot on low for 8 hours, turned it off, left it to cool gradually for another 8 hours.
ta da!
This wool will one day metamorphose into neon orange socks (with a deliberate variation in intensity). But I couldn't stop and at this very moment as I write, there's another interesting brew brewing.
I used only the purple Neon food coloring (with a few drops of pink) because KA grape is so dull. Am keeping fingers crossed that it will actually look as nice once it's out of the pot, as it looks now - and that it won't fade out when the finished socks are washed. I know KA doesn't fade and god knows what's in this food coloring! I can't help adding this warning:
use both products for dyeing, but think twice about giving it to your kids to drink or frost a cake. And forget about strawberry Frappacinos at Starbucks with cochineal coloring. I simply can't overcome my horror at the thought of coloring a drink with dye made from dried bugs! Surely Betty Crocker wouldn't do that, would she?
