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How to: Self-Pattering Yarn with Food Coloring

This tutorial is a combination of

• Eunny’s Techniques: Self-Striping Yarn - instructions on how to design stripe sequences and calculating the needed skein length
• Sarah’s Tie Dyeing Spun Yarn - how to create self-patterning (or random) sequences
• Julie’s Color to Dye for - three simple methods for using food coloring to dye yarn

Supplies

• superwash wool yarn, about 100g (3.5 oz)
• food coloring
• vinegar
• water
• aluminum foil
• clear tape
• scrap yarn, preferably in white or in a color that will not bleed
• measuring cups
• glass jars
• a pot

Preparation

1. Calculate the length of the skein depending on the color sequence you have in mind. Eunny has good instructions. I wanted to dye sock yarn and I know that with my gauge, 1 row equals about 80cm (31.5”). I wanted three color sections: two solid and one self-patterning. I also wanted 4 rows in each color so 4 x 3 x 80cm = 960cm (31’ 6”). This is the circumference of the skein. Divide the length in half: you need to place two objects about 480 cm apart. My one end was the door handle; the other was a shoe rack. Pick objects that are either fixed or very heavy since the yarn can have a lot of pull in it.

2. Tie the skein of yarn with pieces of scrap yarn about 30cm (a foot) apart so that it doesn’t tangle when you dye and rinse it. Julie’s got great instructions for that. Clearly mark the places where you want the colors to change. When the yarn is wet and in a big lump, it’s really hard to find these spots so use a contrasting color — just make sure it doesn’t bleed into your yarn!

3. Cut strips of aluminum foil 5 cm (2”) wide and about 5-7 cm (2-2.5”) long. I wanted a self-patterning section in 1/3 of the skein (320 cm). For 320 cm of yarn with 5 cm strips placed 5cm apart, you need 320 / (5 + 5) = 32 strips of foil.

4. Wrap the strips of foil on the yarn with 5 cm (2”) apart and secure them with clear tape. Then use pieces of scrap yarn and tie it firmly over the foil.

5. Soak the yarn overnight as per Julie’s instructions. For 100 g (3.5 oz) of wool, I used 1.5 liters (about 3 pints) of lukewarm water and 175 ml (3/4 cup) vinegar.

Dyeing

Now the fun part!

6. Measure 300 ml (1.5 cups) of lukewarm water in each glass jar, add food coloring and 15 ml (1 tablespoon) of vinegar. Mix well. My colors were:

• jar #1: 3 ml green + 12 ml blue (I wanted teal but got a deep sea green)
• jar #2: 3 ml yellow + 2.5 ml green (lime)
• jar #3: 3 ml green + 1 ml blue (bright green)

7. Gently put the glass jars in a pot, pour water in the pot (not the dye jars!), and place it on a stove. Slowly heat it near boiling point. I have an electric stove so I turned it on setting 1 for about 20 minutes, then turned it up to 2 for another 20 minutes, and then finally on 3 for the final 20 minutes. After about an hour, nearly all of the dye had been exhausted (all dye had been transferred from the water to the yarn).

8. Let the yarn cool to room temperature. This can take several hours.

Rinse, Wash & Dry

9. Rinse the yarn in the sink, each section separately so the colors don’t bleed into each other. If the dye was not exhausted, you may have to rinse several times until the water runs clear.

10. Carefully open the tie-dyed sections and peel of the foil strips. If you dare, use scissors, but be careful not the cut into the wool!

11. Add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar in the final rinse water and let the yarn sit in it for a few minutes. Drain well. I also like to machine wash the yarn in a wool cycle (30° Celsius).

12. Hang out the washed yarn to dry and let it dry completely before removing the wrap ties and winding onto a ball or hank.

That’s it, you’re done! :) Take pics of your pretty yarn.

The tie-dyed section knits up into interesting wedge-shaped patterns. I think this yarn wants to become a pair of Jaywalkers. :)

Lessons Learned

• For a darker color, use darker dyes, not more of the same dye. I wanted teal but could only get a strong but bright sea green. Adding 12 ml of the blue dye was definitely too much: the dye didn’t exhaust and I had to rinse it over and over again because it kept bleeding.
• It might be a good idea to stir the dye pots gently every once in a while. Now more dye got settled in the bottom of the jar than at the top and the supposedly solid bits came out uneven.
• It’s painfully time-consuming to wrap the foil strips on the yarn (and to peel them off afterwards) so make sure you have plenty of free time.

How to: Self-Striping Yarn in the Oven

I have always been fascinated by the idea of dyeing your own yarn with plants and other natural dyes. But the thought of using noxious and hard to come by chemicals needed as mordants has put me off. I’d been vaguely aware of Kool-Aid dyeing, but since Kool-Aid is not readily available in stores where I live, I’d never tried that, either. The article Color to Dye for by Julie Theaker in the Spring 2007 Knitty was a real eye-opener for me: you can dye yarn with food coloring! Those I can find in just about any store that has a baking section.

Supplies

• a 150 g ball of Novita Nalle (75% superwash wool / 25% polyamide) in white (#011), or any natural-colored wool yarn will do (superwash is safest)
• liquid food coloring
• ordinary household vinegar
• water
• aluminum foil
• large oven pan
• measuring cups
• rubber gloves

Preparation

I bought two 20 ml bottles of liquid food coloring concentrate, red and blue. I wanted self-striping yarn so I skeined the ball into a long skein of about 10 meters across. As per instructions, I tied the skein with pieces of scarp yarn and then soaked it in vinegar water for about 7 hours.

Dyeing

In each of three measuring cups, I added 250 ml of lukewarm tap water and a tablespoon of vinegar. I wanted something really simple so I was going for a section of blue, a section of bright red, and sections of purple in between. In cup #1, I added about 2 teaspoons of blue dye. In cup #2, I was going for red, but noticed that the red dye is much less strong than the blue one. I must have added about 5 teaspoons. In cup #3, I mixed a little bit of blue and a little bit of red.

For the actual dyeing process, I used the cold pour method described in the Knitty article. Julie warns that if you use a low-quality plastic wrap, it might melt in the oven and get permanently stuck in the yarn. I decided not to risk it, so instead of wrapping the yarn in plastic, I covered a large oven pan with aluminum foil. I then arranged the yarn in the pan and poured the dyes in three sections. What looked deep navy in the measuring cup was a sky blue when poured on the yarn. The red I was going for turned out to be more pink, and the third color was a light violet.

I thought I’d just pour all the dye stock on the yarn and then smush and press it to cover each spot. Bad idea! The color set really fast even at room temperature and smushing it afterwards didn’t get rid of the white spots. Oh, and this is why you need rubber gloves: the stuff really stains. :)

Setting the Dye

Once all the dyes had been poured in the pan, I covered the whole thing with another sheet of aluminum foil and popped it in an oven preheated to 120° Celsius for about 1.5 hours. I checked that all the dye had been exhausted — it had — by dipping a piece of tissue paper on the wet yarn. By this time it was already pretty late at night so I turned the oven off and let it cool to room temperature overnight.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

In the morning, I opened the package and, in the kitchen sink, rinsed each section separately, just in case. There really wasn’t any need for that since all the dye had been exhausted and the colors didn’t bleed at all. In the final rinsing water, I added a splash of vinegar and let the yarn just hang out for about 5 minutes. Then I drained the water form the yarn, popped it into a mesh lingerie washing bag, and machine washed it in a 30° Celsius wool cycle. After washing, I hung the yarn to dry for about 2 days before untangling all the knots and winding the long skein into a neat ball.

The final colors are much more brighter pastels than I thought I’d get, but I can’t be disappointed with my first try. The yarn stripes pretty nicely, and I divided the 150g ball into three 50g ones to knit a pair of socks. :)

Lessons Learned

• Good ventilation is a must. Even if the food dyes are not poisonous, the smell of wet wool and vinegar combined is not very pleasant. This is why I also machine washed the newly dyed yarn right away instead of just rinsing it thoroughly. Add a bit of fabric softener and you get a nice, fresh smell instead of something reminiscent of wet sheep.
• The strengths of the food dyes vary quite a lot. You need about twice the amount of red to get the same level of saturation as with the blue dye.
• The colors look much, much deeper and darker in the dye stock than what the final product is. I must have used nearly a third of the bottle of the red dye, so the liquid concentrates are not very economical.
• The dyes set quite fast so it’s better to pour just a small amount of dye on the yarn and rub it in evenly before continuing. And I also had just a hint too little of each dye stock: you’d need about 300ml of dye stock for 50g yarn — I had 250ml.

Dyeing Resources

• Color to Dye for by Julie Theaker
• Dyeing with Wilton’s Icing Dye by Jen at www.pieknits.com
• Techniques: Self-Striping Yarn from See Eunny Knit!
• Tutorial: Dyeing Self-Striping Yarn from BeatleWear
• The Dye Pot