Dyeing Yarn on the Stove Top ~ Join Me and Follow Along!

I have a yarn dyeing project today and I thought you might like to join me. So here's my assignment:

My mom knitted a nice winter hat for herself from some pretty variegated yarn. She would like make a scarf to compliment the hat, but doesn't want to use the same yarn. She feels that it would look a little too busy to wear a multicolored hat with a matching multicolored scarf and I would have to agree.

So when she came to visit last week, she brought a sample of the yarn. We held it up to the color charts for the two different brands of dye I carry and ultimately chose Landscapes Dye in the color Pacific. Then we went yarn hunting. Out of my collection of ecru yarns, she picked Rogue which is a Bulky weight Highland Peruvian Wool. She likes the idea of a yarn that will make up quick. Also, as you can see, the weight of the Rogue is similar to the yarn she used for the hat.



Here's my mom in her hat. Cute huh? Now we just need to dye a yarn that will make a pretty scarf to go with that hat!

My first step is to prepare the yarn. Rogue comes in 1lb hanks that contain 500 yards. My mom figures she'll need about half that amount to make a nice scarf. To measure out half, I'll use my 2 yard niddy noddy and a swift.




What's a niddy noddy? Glad you asked! It's a tool used to wind skeins of yarn and it looks like the picture to the right. I also mentioned that I'll be using a swift. The swift will hold the hank of yarn for me so I can easily wind the amount I need onto my niddy noddy. Here's a picture of my swift from a previous project so you can see what one looks like:



I'll put my big hank of ecru yarn on my swift and then start to wind it onto my niddy noddy. My niddy noddy is sized so that one complete revolution is equal to two yards in length. This will make it easy for me to measure out 250 yards for my mom. Why not just wind it into a ball? Well, we need our yarn in a good loose hank so it can take the dye evenly.

After I measure out my yarn, I'll tie the ends onto my new, smaller hank to keep it secure for dyeing. Then I will put it in a bowl of water to soak for at least 30 minutes. My yarn needs to be wet all the way through. This also helps to prepare it for the dye.

Ok, now I need to run off and actually do all of this so I can come back and tell you about the next part. See you soon!