K2D4 Episode 01: How to dye tonal yarn with Wiltons food color

[@jaguarrior]

With the pinks and reds, if you add the food coloring before the acid, they dissolve a lot better. I learned this after having trouble with some easter egg dye not wanting to cooperate with me. I put my yarn in dry for kettle dyed yarns too! It makes the dye take up in interesting ways sometimes. I love it when the color breaks too.

[@Yarn_Lab]

Thanks that's a great tip I'll be sure to try it out next time!

[@Razhali]

Next time bloom your dyes. Add your color dye to a small cup or jar with a very small circumference with about a tsp to a tbsp of water or solution/liquid. The smaller amount of solution and circumference helps to pound and blend the color smoothly into the solution. Once completely blended, pour the concentrate into your larger batch of solution and you will have perfectly a mixed and blended formula. I worded it in this way because blooming is used for cooking, baking, science and any recipe or formula where you need to mix something into a liquid. So, it doesnt have to just be about dyeing.

[@Yarn_Lab]

The only references I can find to 'bloom dyes' seems to be regarding soap and bathbomb making (where I believe keeping water content to a minimum is important). With baking bloom is specific to yeast I believe. And in all my many years in a Biochem lab we never 'bloomed' any solutions, while it may be easier to physically break up a solid in a small vessel with less liquid, a smaller volume of water will never increase solubility, rather the opposite. To encourage the dye to dissolve completely, heat and stirring are your best bet.

[@Razhali]

@@Yarn_Lab take it with a grain of salt. Blooming has always made my life easier so I thought I'd share it. Doesn't mean you need to use it or not.

[@LittlebeanandMe]

For a tonal skein, and dependent on your fiber content - you don't always have to soak. By not soaking, the yarn that touches the water first will take up the most dye, hence making it more tonal. Presoaking allows you to have a more even distribution of color. In more saturated colors, you should presoak unless you want a very high contrast tonal.

[@knitpurlsquirrelwithgrannydee]

Beautiful yarn! Love them all and would use them together in a project!

[@mytrueserenity5666]

Thanks for taking us along for this process! Did you ever knit the pattern you showed? I'm curious how the colors look in the finished work.

[@janekokoszko7525]

Have you considered using some of the water from the pot and mixing with the dye until all the elements are combined and then returning to the pot?

[@ooohlaa13]

dont understand your question but she's not answering anyway which is so annoyig

[@ooohlaa13]

wow this is so beautiful ... i thought for sure yarn would felt in the process, or do you have to use super wash if you want to dye? would cotton work with a similar soft gradient? I love the delicate color variation you so aptly finessed! thanx.

[@DixieGirl9876]

Turned out pretty!

[@mommyandmissy]

Like the colors

[@nothingtoseehere6545]

If you were to use vinegar, how much would you add to the water?

[@Yarn_Lab]

Some sources say 2 cups for 1 lb of yarn, so about a quarter cup for one skein. You don't need to be precise, I just pour a generous splash from the jug, if it's too little the dye won't set and you can always add more, too much just means extra vinegar smell to wash out.

[@LaurienaC]

With a superwash yarn, the dye strikes faster when acid has been added to either the soaking water or to the dyeing water. If you want to try to get a deeper colour, or a more even colour, add your dye to the water, then the yarn, bring it up to temperature, and then add the acid and keep it at temp for about 20 mins. I actually do this for pretty much all my immersion dyed yarns, since it lets th colour really penetrate. And I do some of mine without soaking the yarn first too... it just means the dye will strike differently and can give you some cool effects. I put together a blog of all the different types of food based dyeing I have done if you are ever interested in some other methods. If so, let me know and I can give you the link. Don't like to post it on other people's videos without permission :) And some of the Wilton paste will dissolve better if you use a separate cup or bowl and some boiling water.

[@stitcherscottage]

MissReena73 I'd like to know how to access your blog. Always looking for more techniques.

[@lissilyngsoe]

I'd like to access your blog. Thanks

[@ooohlaa13]

how can I get your blog Miss Reena73???

[@marlenejones6266]

please may i have the link to your videos? I need lots of info for dyeing yarns. I have done many already in my own ways but I love to learf what the experts do too

[@megcarr3126]

Have you had any issues with the colours running or fading with using the food colouring?

[@Yarn_Lab]

hello Meg, no issues so far, as long as you use acid and heat with the food colouring it will set the same way commercial dyes will (I've even done blacks and dark reds!) make sure the dye bath has cleared all the way and you should be set, or if you want to take your yarn out early, make sure you rinse it well to wash any unbonded dye off the yarn. I haven't put anything through the washer (just hand washing) but it shouldn't be a problem for colours bleeding. As for fading, normal use should be fine, but they will l sun bleach a little if left in direct sunlight for long (weeks-months) of time, however most commercially dyed yarns will do the same.

[@Razhali]

From what I learned, you should wash your yarn or wool out with cold water to wash out the dye that couldn't be absorbed. You can also try air drying it and then washing it out to make sure it has more time to absorb as much as possible. I also learned that if you're dyeing with vinegar and food coloring or koolaid and your using the microwave, heat in 30 sec intervals until the water is clear or white and non of the original color is existent in the remaining water. The wash in cold water and ring out, then hang to dry.

[@flordemariaholmes4808]

Where does one buy Citric acid? And much does it need?

[@Yarn_Lab]

You can find it at grocery stores if they have a good canning supplies section, bulk food stores for sure, craft stores that have a soap making section. Amazon too. It's pretty common for a lot of things. You don't need much, a spoon full in a dye bath is plenty. If you don't want to use citric acid, white vinegar works great as well although you may have to clean the yarn better after to get rid of the vinegar smell.

[@flordemariaholmes4808]

@@Yarn_Lab , thank you-I will look

[@mommyandmissy]

Thanks

[@elizabethmderue2966]

Plea she use plastic whisk. The sound is Hqorrid. Thanks

[@latitude1904]

Great video. one recommendation though: When doing a video, it may be better to use a plastic whisk. It's super hard to watch with all the scratching sounds

[@Yarn_Lab]

thanks i will definitely make that change in the future!

[@marlenejones6266]

Please dont scrape the pot on camera..its very jolting and hard on ears.

[@nelaaguilar824]

Your mixing noise is VERY annoying!