Dyepot Weekly #16 - Dyeing Sock Yarn with a Tulip Tie Dye Kit

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

In this video, I dyed 100 g of fingering weight sock yarn that is 75% superwash merino / 25% nylon shrsl.com/pssf (KnitPicks Affiliate Link)

[@singingwolfdyeworks2391]

You had some magic happen with those dyes - beautiful colors!!

[@MarieH528]

Beautiful Yarn, I Love it! It's my favorite colors! Thanks for sharing! Happy Dyeing!

[@ruthhinman7568]

I have been making speckle dyed skeins using tulip and other tie dye kits... thank you for this fantastic example!

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

You're very welcome, Ruth!

[@shymoment]

The yarn turned out so pretty

[@marieking-stevason1775]

I loved how the blue broke into purple, totally awesome! That's what my black looked like with the Wilton's black. That teal actually looks like a seafoam green which is cool! Great video, Rebecca! I hope you had an amazing New Year!! Happy Dying from Canada 🇨🇦 ❤️Marie

[@ThePhantazmya]

So pretty! I did put a skein of superwash in the washing machine once and it actually worked pretty well. I had a starchy yarn from a dye experiment and I couldn't get it clean by hand washing so I tied it up in a bunch of extra spots, but it in a lingerie bag and washed it like that. It came out soft with no tangles. So if you have a stubborn to clean superwash yarn I wouldn't be afraid to throw it in the washing machine as long as you tie it up well.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Thanks! I would definitely tie it up well. I put some of the yarn I dyed with acrylic paints though the washing machine in a lingere bag and that turned out okay. These stubborn to wash yarns bug me. I think I'm going to love acid dyes, though!

[@rosamunda4713]

Oh wow - that blue into purple is gorgeous! Now I am looking at my 3 sock blanks and trying to decide what to do with them! Only 3 and so many ideas!!

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I went and counted my blanks a little while ago. I was feeling "Oh no! I only have 4!" I should have purchased some more, but I forgot to place a few more orders of stuff in 2018.

[@rosamunda4713]

Did I miss any comments on vinegar or soda ash? Seemed to me you just used the dye straight from the bottle. Any acid source?? I did get the Wiltons new food color pack that you showed a few video's ago. I went to Michaels and used my 40% coupon and it was $24.95 there. I think I saw the kit at a Walmart for only 19.95. So obviously I saved some money with the coupon but the difference in price was interesting. I also got an Airbrush Magic Pen set for $3.99 at Home Goods or their sister store.It's a Whamo product. Can't tell yet of the pens are refillable.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I used the dye straight from the bottles one step! No vinegar or soda ash

[@MaureenTheKnitta]

The colors are gorgeous!

[@patriciavancurler7945]

Inspiring! Wonderful colors

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Thank you!

[@brigitteligons-reed6167]

Since I'm nervous about the heat process...I like this method. Loved the colors all my favorite. Do you think adding vinegar to the pre soak would have helped reduce the loss of dye & kept the black from breaking?

[@anniefecteau9910]

OMG I love the colours! This is my palette :)

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

This was a super fun one to do!

[@cathymiller224]

I Love it!!

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Thank you!

[@marlenejones6266]

Do you usually dye during naptime Rebecca? I like little ones very much but it is nice to watch your videos and not hear kids in the background as i have in others videos. I know its nice to dye with the kids but for us to learn we need to concentrate on you and the work. Thanks R. And my word this is gorgeous yarn. The colors take my breath away. What would happen of you used heat with this tie dye?

[@vickytucci]

Would you know if the run off rinsing water (before you add the soap) can be used as gray water to water the garden? Also, when using acid dyes?

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

With food coloring? Absolutely. With the tie dye... probably. I know that a lot of people tie dye outside and will spray off their dyed projects with a hose, so that has to be similar to collecting the rinse water for the garden. I'm always a bit extra careful about what I pour on my vegetable garden, but I have some grass that has seen some other dye stuff and seems to be doing okay. :) (The weeds there are SUPER happy!)

[@timelessmemories5150]

really one of your best

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Thank you so much, Linda!

[@suestevens7356]

Beautiful!

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Thank you!

[@mommyandmissy]

Like the colors. Thanks.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Thank you!

[@lyndarella1316]

Did you use any vinegar? Was the yarn wet? Love your shows

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I didn't use any vinegar at all in this one, just the tulip tie dye mix. I did presoak the yarn in tap water before hand, though.

[@mary-ruthflores4107]

Was there a mordant, like vinegar or citric acid used? This was so much fun, I didn’t know you could dye wool with dye for cotton!!

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Nope! I typically just use the tie dye on its own. I haven't seen a real improvement when I added vinegar to a presoak (but I haven't tried adding vinegar to the bottles.)

[@ThisnThat54]

I am so curious if you NEVER "pressed" the fibers. If you used more dye and some more gentle way of moving the yarn to get the dye to take all the yarn.

[@ThisnThat54]

Perhaps a fork.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I did something like that with the mio, where you can see the splotches from where I spread on the color. Is this the kind of thing you meant? :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZvOmGmlnd9ogdk

[@Rosecrochets]

Did you soak the yarn in anything other than water before you did this?

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

No, just water. You don't need vinegar with the one step tie dye kits.

[@gm8930]

I have yarn that has 75% of acrylic and 25% wool, will it take any color if I dyed it as I can't get any 100% wool yarn as it is expensive where I live?

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I started out dyeing 20% wool / 80 % acrylic yarn with food coloring. The acrylic won't take up any color, but you'll end up with a cool heathered look from where you see the wool fibers that were dyed. I really like dyeing these blends. Here are some of the early yarns I dyed with KoolAid www.chemknits.com/2010/01/dyeing-wool-ease-yarn-with-kool-aid-3.html I also have a video where I dyed some on the channel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWi5fJyMhJaAb7c I have dyed some wool/acrylic blends recently with Rit liquid dyes, and it worked pretty well with both the synthetic dyes and the ones meant for natural fibers.

[@hisalone7166]

Did you presoak the yarn in water and vinegar before applying the dye?

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Nope! Just water. I don't use vinegar when i use these tulip kits.

[@Freakiehippy30]

Do you think you will be dyeing any roving with the tulip dye by chance, as I maaaay have been influenced heavily by your videos and got 2 tulip kits for Christmas lol. Would love to see how it takes on some roving and how it handles the rinsing processes before I decide to dye it as roving or spin it first ;)

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Just wait for the next DPW episode. ;)

[@Freakiehippy30]

ChemKnits Tutorials whoo hoo!! =)

[@paulinetravis9994]

Would this work the same in the micwave, so we would not have to wait 24 hours or overnight

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

This is an excellent question. I will try this in an upcoming episode becuase I'm curious about this, too. The kit instructions have you waiting 24 hours without heat, but maybe the heat would speed things up a bit. I'll try to compare the two so we can see if it makes a difference or not. (Or maybe do 3. Steam set 1 and wash after it cools, Steam set 1 and wait 24 h, wait 24h without heating.)

[@paulinetravis9994]

ChemKnits Tutorials that all sounds good

[@MaureenTheKnitta]

Ooh I actually love this method myself! I pre soak my yarn in vinegar and microwave it after dyeing. I find less dye runs out of the yarn when washing and the colors are more vibrant

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Oh awesome! I love knowing someone who has tried it. :)

[@MaureenTheKnitta]

🙂. Hope I was of assistance!

[@davidhensley76]

Do you need a test-knitter to turn this into a pair of socks?

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Unfortunately this yarn is already spoken for. My Kickstarter backers are submitting photos to me when they've knit with their yarns so eventually I plan to do a slideshow showing off how the yarns turned out. Thank you for the offer, though!

[@limegreenlotus]

How do you dry the yarn after the dye treatments

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I gently squeeze out the water and hang it up to dry on a drying rack. These days I have a spin dryer that helps remove a lot of the water. A salad spinner can also help.

[@marlenefeder8035]

Was your yarn dry to start or pre-soaked???

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Yes, I presoaked it in plain tap water before adding the dye.

[@kassg4322]

Will this work with 100% cotton yarn?

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Yes! These tulip dyes are more intended for cotton than for wool so it would work great.

[@melaneemortensen3971]

What if a bit of heat was added to help it work and stick?

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

This is an excellent question. I am now designing an experiment to test this out. (I just gave some other thoughts about this on some of the other comments.) This is why I love it when you guys ask me questions, it inspires so many more videos!

[@marlenefeder8035]

A lab coat is even better than an apron

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

A dyers lap coat would be pretty awesome. I overheat easily so an apron will be a bit easier to work with, but otherwise I would 100% do a lab coat.

[@aprilhoy4010]

This project reminds me of a snake from a Tim Burton movie.

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

Hahaha! I don't know if I've seen enough Tim Burton movies to see the comparison myself, but it did make me giggle. :)

[@cm4107]

Nooooooooo! All that pretty blue being sent down the drain.. my heart hurts. 💔

[@ChemKnitsTutorials]

I was pretty bummed, too. One of these days I'll try to catch some colors from the rinse water. Excess rinsing is one negative to tie dye. :(