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Winner + How to Dye Yarn at Home with Minimal Mess

Congratulations to imwalton, our winner for this month's blog giveaway! We will be in touch with you shortly to arrange for the delivery of your prize.

If cabin fever is starting to set in this winter, why not try dyeing your own yarn to add some color to your next project? It's easier than you think - in fact, you might have everything you need already in your kitchen! Here, we've used sugar-free Kool-Aid to dye a multi-colored skein of yarn and will show you how to do your own at-home dyeing with minimal mess.

Supplies:

  • 1 skein of undyed yarn. We've used Beth, a blend of 30% US Merino Wool, 20% Silk and 50% Alpaca from Kraemer Yarns, which already has several ties on the skein to keep skeins tidy throughout the dye process. Click here to see their many undyed yarn options!
  • Packets of sugar-free Kool-Aid in a variety of flavors. We've chosen Pink Lemonade, Strawberry & Grape to create a Valentine's Day-inspired colorway; click here to see the colors produced by each flavor on the Knitty blog archive.
  • 3 bowls (for mixing dye).
  • Microwave-safe dish. Make sure that your entire skein of yarn can fit comfortably without the colors touching.
  • Gloves.
  • Dish Soap.
  • Spoon for mixing.
  • Newsprint or brown craft paper (to cover your work area). 

Dyeing Your Yarn:

1. Mix each flavor of Kool-Aid in its own bowl with hot water. For our colorway, we mixed 1 c. hot water with 1 packet of Pink Lemonade, 2 c. hot water with 2 packets of Strawberry, and 2 c. hot water with 2 packets of Grape. Stir with spoon to ensure that powder is thoroughly dissolved, then add a dash of dish soap to each bowl and give it another quick stir (the soap will help to work the dye through your skein of yarn).



2. Take one end of the skein and dip it into your first bowl of dye. Gently work the dye through with your gloved hand in a "massaging" motion.


3. Take the middle of the skein and dip it into the next bowl of dye, again massaging the dye throughout the  skein with your gloved hand.


4. Take the other end of the skein and dip it into your final bowl of dye, working the dye through the skein with your gloved hand.


5. Now, begin massaging your yarn to incorporate more of the undyed skein into each color section like so:


6. Allow the skein to set in the bowls for a few more moments, then transfer to your microwave-safe dish carefully, gently squeezing to remove excess dye from each color section as you do so. Make sure to go from light to dark in order to protect the lighter color as much as possible.


7. Heat set the dye by microwaving for 1-2 minutes (find more info on how to heat set your yarn here; there are also guidelines for heat setting dye in a conventional oven found here).


8. Remove your yarn and allow to cool down before the next step - you want to avoid shocking the fibers from hot to cold, which could cause accidental felting.

9. Rinse  in cool water, either by hand or in a top-loading washing machine which allows you to skip to the spin part of the cycle. If rinsing by hand, gently remove excess water by squeezing skein gently, then wrapping in a fluffy towel to remove remaining moisture. Hang to dry, or lay flat on Knitter's Pride Blocking Mats, if you prefer.

Note: If this is your first time dyeing, or if you are just unsure whether or not you have correctly heat set the dye, we recommend testing a small section of the skein under running water first before immersing the entire thing. If your dye was heat set correctly, you will not see any dye in the water at this stage. It will be easier to return to step 7 to re-set the dye if you have only rinsed a tiny section!

Once your skein is dry, you can look for the the perfect pattern for your new creation!
Our Naturalz needles are a great choice for this colorful yarn!

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New Year's Resolution Mad Lib & Giveaway

At the start of every year, people make New Year’s Resolutions to improve their lives: weight loss, improved eating habits, saving money, or learning a new skill often top the list.

Have you ever thought to make resolutions for your crafting life? Do you want to learn how to knit brioche, or how about learning how to do broomstick lace? We've created a fun Mad Lib to help you make yarny resolutions for 2017!

Start by filling out the following spaces below (you can print your own copy here, or do the mad lib online) and then transfer your answers into corresponding blanks of the story below!

Feel free to print the PDF and bring it to your knit night to see what your friends are going to resolve for 2017 - we invite you to share photos of your completed Mad Lib on social media using the #knitterspride and #knitterspridemadlib hashtags, too!



To complete Mad Lib: Fill in the blanks below, then transfer your answers to the following story.

[your name]: ______________
[craft not ending -ing]: _____________
[plural noun]: _____________
[number]: __________
[skill not ending in -ing]: _____________
[verb not ending in -ing]: ___________
[number]: __________
[month]: ___________
[exclamation]: _________
[designer name]: _____________
[color]: ____________
[color]: ____________
[number]: __________
[fiber art tool]: __________




Now it’s time to fill in your answers to discover your Yarny Resolutions for 2017! 


I, [your name] _______________ have the following resolutions for 2017.
  1. This year I will [craft not ending -ing] __________ 10 [plural noun] __________ with size [number] ____ needles.
  2. One lucky person will win
    this Royale DPN Needle Set!
    I will learn how to [skill not ending in -ing] ________.
  3. I will not [verb not ending in -ing] _________ until I finish [number] _______ sweaters before [month] ______.
  4. I am going to make the [exclamation] ______ shawl by [designer name] ___________.
  5. I am going to create a sweater in [color] _____ and use [color] ______ as an accent.
  6. I will keep my yarn stash below [number] ______ skeins, and if I exceed that number, I will sell my [fiber art tool]  ________!


Giveaway
Paste your completed Mad Lib into the comments below to enter yourself into our January Blog Giveaway! One lucky blog reader will win this Royale DPN Needle Set.

Be sure to also include your Ravelry ID or email address so that we can contact you if you win. We'll announce the lucky winner on Friday, January 27. Good luck!