This week I took a crack at dyeing some cashmere yarn I had unraveled from a sweater.
I wanted a really, really dark purple, so I used 5 packets of grape Koolaid for about an ounce of yarn, and this was the result:
In sunlight, and bright light, it looks like this:
And in dim light/regular inside light it looks like this:
Yay!! :woot:
Now I can start knitting Verdigris 
I only have a few curiosity questions. Does the kool-aid dyeing last or does it fade quickly? How did you hear about it? How do you do it? Is there an article online about it? I have dyed things using regular dyes but never heard of using kool-aid. Yarn dyeing is an interesting thing for me then I could get the color I want instead of trying to find it!!!
>> The yarn does look beautiful!!!
ooooh, I love it! I love purple! I’m getting ready to overdye a bright green cashmere blend I recycled, and I think I might go for purple.
mathwizard, koolaid dyeing is so easy! It doesn’t fade, but it can only be absorbed by animal fibres, or animal/nylon blends. So no synthetics (acrylic, etc) and no natural fibres (cotton, etc). The only exception I’ve seen is the Soy Wool Solids/Stripes which is a wool/soy/nylon blend and I know from experience it dyes excellently.
The great thing about koolaid (or other drink mixes… crystal light, store brand stuff) is it already has citric acid in the ingredients, so you don’t need to add vinegar or anything when you use it. Just make sure you’re not using the sugar-already-added koolaid. Otherwise, it just works the same, in the microwave, crockpot, pot on the stove… heating until the dye is absorbed, rinsing, drying.
oh, and it makes your house smell really good while you’re dyeing it!
That’s beautiful. Now you’re making want to try it. I don’t have time for all these distractions…LOL
Oh so pretty:inlove: ! I’m a purple person anyway. I need to venture into dying yarn.
I love it, purple is my favorite!!
[COLOR=“DarkOrchid”]WOW! That is a truly beautiful colour…
I haven’t thought about koolaid dye-ing for some time.
Glad it works so well and the cost is minimal… :woot:
TEMA:knitting: [/COLOR]
OOohh, pretty! Purple is my favorite color! Mathwizard, there is a handy article on Knitty about dyeing with Kool Aid, here. Also video on YouTube, which is here.
I love the smell of kool-aid. Does that mean I can’t use it to dye the silk I just recently bought?