Dyeing Roving with Kool Aid
I’ve put together a little step-by-step with photos of how I do this at home with as little mess as possible.
Things you will need:
- Kool-Aid or other sugar-free drink mix. Store brand will work just fine! More packets mean more color, so you want to have more on hand than you think you’ll need, just in case.
- Clear glass, microwave safe bowl
- Gloves (unless you want tye dye hands!)
- Old clothes or an apron
- Vinegar (optional – most drink mixes have citric acid in them which sets the dye without needing vinegar)
- Colander or strainer
- White plastic utensil
- Roving of your choice – cream, brown, grey, any color! 4 ounces is a pretty standard amount.
- Old rag or towel
- Microwave
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1. Gather all of the items you’ll be needing. Fill the clear glass bowl about 3/4 of the way with lukewarm water. |
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2. Squish the roving gently into the bowl of water. Completely submerge the roving (this may take a little time) and leave it in the bowl for about an hour. You want to make sure that the roving is thoroughly wet so that it doesn’t singe in the microwave later. My roving is a grey/brown blend of BFL. |
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3. After the hour is up, gently pour out the bowl of water into your colander over the sink. Give it a few good shakes to get most of the water out, but make sure the roving is still very damp. |
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4. Prepare your Kool Aid! I usually cut the tops off and set them upright in a dry cup or bowl so that they’re within reach and don’t spill all over the table. |
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5. In the glass bowl you used before, lay out the roving so that there is one level of roving in the bottom of the bowl. Here, I’ve gone in a spiral pattern, making sure not to overlap the roving. Start sprinkling on the Kool Aid – I did half/half here, but you could do one color per layer or any sort of pattern you can dream up! I’ve used Cherry and Grape Kool Aid and Raspberry Ice store brand (Great Value) drink mix. |
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6. Squish the dye in with your fingers. This will help ensure a more even distribution of dye if that’s what you’re looking for, otherwise, hands off! The dye will only take where you’ve laid it. Repeat Step 5 and 6 until you’ve used up all of your roving. |
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7. Gently pour in water to cover the roving. Again, we want to make sure that the roving is thoroughly wet so that it doesn’t singe in the microwave. If you pour too quickly, the top layer of dye may wash off a little – don’t worry, there’s still enough dye in the water to take, but you can re-layer dye on top after the water has been added. If the roving isn’t completely covered on the top, that’s okay, as long as it’s good and wet, it’s fine. |
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8. Carefully place the bowl into the microwave and set it on high for two minutes. Check after the two minute cycle with your white utensil in the bowl to see if there is still a lot of dye in the bowl or if it’s mostly clear. Wait a few minutes and run the cycle again. Depending on the type of wool and color of dye, this can take a few cycles, just keep going! |
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9. Here you can see that the water in the bowl is mostly clear. Allow the glass to cool until it’s cool enough to touch and remove from microwave. |
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10. Gently dump the bowl into your colander over the sink again. Give the colander a few good shakes to get most of the water out. Fill the glass bowl about 3/4 of the way with water that is about the same temperature as the roving and place the roving gently in the bowl. Give the roving a few squishes to make sure all the dye is out, and pour the whole thing back into the colander. Shake to remove excess water and gently squeeze as much water out as you can. |
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11. Hang your roving up to dry! Here I’ve got a cookie cooling rack placed over a plain white dish tub and spread the roving over the top. The colors came out great and I can’t wait for it to be dry! |
2010 Knitting Resolutions
Oh dear 2010, where to start with you? How about with a few knitting resolutions.
- The American Aran Afghan. This is the beast that I will tackle and finish this year.
- Knit /spin any club yarn/fiber in the month it is received.
- Knit two sweaters.
- Knit one double-knitted item.
Here we notice that there is no sock goal. As much as I enjoyed the sock-knitting last year, it’s really time to branch out a little, don’t you think? I’m going to re-try for the sweater goal, and we’re going to try something double-knitted. The list may seem shorter, but that number one resolution is a BIGGIE. I’ve oogled over the afghan on Ravelry for a while and finally decided that it’s my turn to work on an epic afghan project. Plus I need something to drape beautifully over this new antique chair I just acquired. :)
2009 Knitting Resolutions – Wrap up
2009 is over and gone, and I’m going to check through my list and see how I’ve done.
1. Clear the WIP queue from last year by the end of the month.
There’s still one outstanding WIP from 2008 in my queue, but otherwise, I did pretty well on the clean-up! We’ll consider this one not complete, but close, right?
2. Knit two sweaters this year.
I got one! I blogged about that one here, and got a good start on the second one, but haven’t yet finished it. Hopefully soon.
3. Knit one pair of socks per month.
Oh boy did I EVER do this one. And I think I deserve a HUGE GOLD STAR. Because I’m awesome.
I knitted a few socks this year. Here are my official 12 per the year, but the total count is 19 pairs *finished* this year (some were started in 2008). The links below are to flickr and the original post on my blog.
| 1. January flickr – blog |
2. February flickr- blog |
3. March flickr- blog |
| 4. April flickr- blog |
5. May flickr- blog |
6. June flickr- blog |
| 7. July flickr- blog |
8. August flickr- blog |
9. September flickr- blog |
| 10. October flickr- blog |
11. November flickr- blog |
12. December flickr- blog |
4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
I might not have gotten them all in on the right month, but here we have it! Some of those are 8 ounces, so I don’t have 12 photos, but there are more than enough ounces to count at least four for every month of the year. Yes, I realize October is missing, but there are two entries for March, so the math works out in the end, yes? Yes.
| 1. Jan/Feb blog |
2. Jan/Feb blog |
3. March Flickr |
| 4. June/July blog |
5. June/July blog |
6. August blog |
| 7. September blog |
8. May blog |
9. March blog |
| 10. November blog |
11. December blog |
5. Dye more yarn and roving.
Oh yeah. Did that. Hosted a dye-day at my house with the local Stitch n’ Bitch and it was super fun.
6. Knit at least one pair of stranded socks.
Nope. Not even a little. I really over-extended myself this past year.
7. Finish holiday gift knitting throughout the year instead of all at once in December!
I guess I got this one? Sorta cheated since I only did one item for one person. It’s so hard knitting gifts when there are five sisters-in-law to knit for. I’ve opened up next year for requests, so we’ll see what happens.
8. Participate in another test knit.
Yep. A few of them. I think three total?
9. Work on an original pattern.
*buzzer* Not even a little bit. It was a nice idea though?
The tally comes to five out of nine. I think the list for 2010 is going to be more conservative. More on that later, while I think up some goals to set.
December Knitting Wrap-up
December (and all of 2009) is gone and it’s time to update on the knitting resolutions.
3. Knit one pair of socks per month
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Hanging Vines of Envy Pattern: Hanging Vines Designer: Kelly Porpiglia Needles: US 1 (2.25mm) Yarn: Sheepy Time Yarns Sheepy Feet in, “Green Eyed Monster,” from the Sheepy Time Knits December 2009 Club -Ravelry Project Link- There was just no excuse for this one to be anything than what it is. It’s the December colorway since I’m a speshul snowflake, and thus, these socks had to be knitted. They’d been in my queue for a while and when this yarn popped out of the mailbox, I KNEW, just knew what the yarn was destined to be. Not a super-easy knit, challenging enough that I wasn’t bored, but I definitely needed the chart the whole way through. The results are very much worth it and I’m totally jazzed about how they came out. |
4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
I made up for last month and covered this month too.
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This is 8 ounces of Handspun alpaca. The roving comes from Black Diamond Alpacas, a local gal who sends the fiber from her animals to be processed together. The names of the alpacas used in this blend were even on the label which is just too cute. Unfortunately, the fiber was REALLY dirty and I think it’s probably from an oil or grease used during the process that draws out the roving to keep the fuzz from flying. It washed out (after four rinses), and I’m rather happy with the results. I ended up with about a worsted weight, approximately 350 yards. This wasn’t so much a spin for a specific project, but I’m thinking a pair of thrummed mittens may be in order. |
And that’s all I’ve got. I have to get a few posts together this month for a resolutions wrap up as well as a 2010 resolutions (*gasp* 2010?! DID I JUST SAY THAT?!).
November Knitting Wrap-up
November is gone and it’s time to update on the knitting resolutions.
3. Knit one pair of socks per month
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Plain Old Socks Pattern: None – plain Stockinette socks Designer: Me? Needles: US 1 (2.25mm) Yarn: My Handspun from dkKnits Superfluff roving in, “Shooting Star” -Ravelry Project Link- I had so much fun spinning up the yarn and then knitting the socks. The yarn is a basic fingering weight yarn that was spun on my SpinOlution Mach I and then navajo plied. I broke the yarn at the heel and started from the other end of the ball so that the color progressions on the leg and instep would be continuous. Yeah, it’s a few more ends to weave in, but. Look at that! Becky always does such a fabulous job with colors. |
4. Spin four ounces of roving per month.
See above – the yarn was finished spinning about mid month. Then it jumped in front of everything and decided to become socks.
2. Knit two sweaters this year.
Still working on this. I really hope to be done with the second by the end of the month, but I’m just not sure that will happen.
I’m really looking forward to January so that I can post a big follow-up to this year’s resolutions and set another batch for next year. There are going to be some good ones, I can just feel it. Also looking forward to lining up all 12 photos of socks from this year and patting myself on the back a whole bunch of times. Speaking of which, I should probably start the pair for this month, huh?
Upcoming Show
I’ll probably post this a few billion times between now and the show, but here’s the first time. Please please please come out to the show and say hello – it would mean so much to see you there. A TON of really talented photographers will be showing their work next to Scott Church’s photography, and I’m honored to be among them.
Seasonal Knitting
I’m starting off with a photo this time since, well, just look at that! This is a test knit for my friend Abbie who designed this wrap (also available in a scarf version). I finally got the french knots on and took it out yesterday on a Thanksgiving walk with the dogs to Valley Forge. It propped itself up on the wheel of a cannon and primped and posed for me. 
The pattern was just released this week, so you ought to go check out the pattern just to see the *cough* really awesome photography (that I might have contributed *wink*). It’s two patterns in one, so buying from either project gets you both patterns. Gogogo, check it out!
Bliss
I had a Saturday off with no obligations and planned to stop by the SAFONA Fiber Festival. It was being held about a 45 minute drive from home through some Amish farmland and pretty historic parts of Pennsylvania. The whole drive out had me making a mental checklist of all the places I wanted to see on the way home – wineries, shops, etc. Met some wonderful people and made purchases from Rock Creek Yarn, Wolle’s Yarn Creations, and Black Diamond Alpacas. All are wonderful vendors and I had a blast taking time to chat with each of them and oogle their display items. Practiced my knitter’s handshake a few times (grab knitted item, squeeze, ask wearer if he/she made it). After having my fill of fiber, I turned the car around for the adventure back home.
First stop was the Goodville Fabric Outlet which is basically a HUGE warehouse filled to the top with fabric. All kinds of fabric. Cheap fabric! It was really overwhelming and while I wasn’t looking for anything specific, it was really neat to stop there and find the deals for future reference.
Then I came across the Poole Forge which had been turned into a beautiful park with a classic red covered bridge, winding stream, and lovely old stone buildings. I stopped for a while with the camera, smiled at an Amish man passing by with his buggy, and took in what had become a gorgeous afternoon.
Next stop was Olde Peddler Wools. Great shop with a good variety of classic, workhorse yarns – the stuff that is cost efficient and quality fiber. It’s a shame that they’re not closer to home!
The next detour was the Kog Hill Winery. When I walked in, the gal behind the counter who was running wine tastings was KNITTING! She had just learned and was working on a garter stitch scarf. We chatted about knitting as she fed me wine samples, and it was one of many random-acts-of-randomness that really made the day. Bought some wine, wished her luck with the knitting, and headed back out.
Wineries? Pennsylvania has a lot of them, and it’s almost hard to drive more than 10 miles without running across at least one and the next detour brought me to another winery. Most of them produce decent wine – stuff that’s delightful to drink, but nothing really world-class incredible. The J Maki Winery is not that kind of winery. Their wines BLEW ME AWAY, specifically the Gewurztraminer which is a really unique interpretation of that grape. The reds were dry – just how I like them – and the ice wine, particularly the Cabernet Franc ice wine, was phenomenal. Really quite the gem of a vineyard, and I will definitely visit again to pick up some more wine.
My final stop before home was the Glasslight Studio. I took a detour for a historic sign that didn’t pan out the way I thought it would and ended up passing this place on the way. After being greeted by a large, black Bouvier mutt (who later nudged my arm for more head-scritches and buttrubs), one of the glass artists talked to me for at least a half hour about the glass blowing classes they offer. He let me look in on the class that was in progress and took my email address for future classes.
I know this post has gotten long, but honestly, the whole day was filled with such wonderful people and I really needed this kind of a day after a sort of rotten week. Now, a photo!
Rachel Schain
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This is Rachel Schain, a local musician and friend who asked for some new photos for promotions, websites, etc. The two hour shoot went very well and she came away with a TON of really great shots. Musicians seem to make great models and are seldom shy of the camera lens. This photo here is really my favorite shot out of the bunch, but I’ve added another color one below so that you can see her gorgeous red hair. If you’d like to check out her music, you can go to her myspace page or her facebook page. |
Neighbors
There’s always one in every neighborhood. The weird ones who do weird things and get gossiped about over the fence. You hope to Bob that this is not you, but might secretly take some sort of satisfaction that if it were you, you might be eligible for some sort of freak merit badge.
Thankfully, this is not us (sadly, no freak merit badge), but the favorite family in the neighborhood happens to be two houses over. We live in an older neighborhood with some houses dating back to the late 1800s. Most of the older houses had outhouses at one point, but they’ve since been removed ages ago in the name of oh, I don’t know, Modern Plumbing. Said neighbors still have their little red brick outhouse in the backyard. One morning, I awoke to sounds of construction outside. Having dogs is always a good excuse to go out and investigate, so out we went. While the puppies were sniffing all over the yard for any trace of squirrel poop to consume, I looked two yards over to see a man, on a ladder, chiseling old shingles off the roof of the outhouse.
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I know. They were re-roofing THE OUTHOUSE. I could see if it was a deluxe model and they were repurposing the thing to be a shed, but really? Four square feet don’t really constitute bonus storage space, especially if that four square feet comes with a bench that has a hole in the middle. During the past two years, there have been so many memorable things, but this one definitely takes the urinal cake.
