A Wool Dyeing Adventure

On Friday I got the dyes I ordered from Dharma Trading Company. I went out and got the last things on my list of supplies that I needed and then Friday evening I dyed my first 4 ounces of corriedale wool roving.

Here are some of the supplies: jars of acid dye, plastic cups for mixing, measuring cups, a spray bottle of white vinegar, some squirt bottles from the beauty supply store, wool soaking in a cleansing solution of synthrapol and water. Not pictured: a stock pot with lid and a steamer basket, a salad spinner, a colander, a drop cloth, newspaper, and saran wrap.



I mixed up 3 colors of dye - purple, turquoise and dark grey. I put a cup of water into each of 3 plastic cups, added less than 1/4 teaspoon of dye powder, and then stirred with a coffee stirrer. Then I poured the dye into the squirt bottles.

I left the wool soak in the synthrapol solution for about an hour while I got everything else ready. The synthrapol is supposed to clean the wool and make the dye be able to adhere to it better I think.

I took the wool out of the solution and put it in the salad spinner and spun out a bit of the water. Then I laid it out on the kitchen table which I had already covered with a plastic drop cloth and a line of newspaper for absorbing spills. I put the wool on top of a strip of saran wrap.



Then the kids and I used the squirt bottles to put the dye onto the wool in sections. We doused the top and then I used saran wrap to cover and flip the wool over so we could douse the other side. Then I sprayed the wool generously with the vinegar to activate the dye (like what you do with Easter egg coloring).



I wrapped the saran wrap over the wool and rolled it up from one end to the other. I think I used too much water this time because I had a lot of it leak out. Next time I will use less.

I covered the bottom of the stock pot with probably 1/2 inch or so of water, placed the steamer basket on the bottom and put the pot on the stovetop. I placed the wool wrapped in saran wrap onto the basket and put the lid on and turned on the heat to low. I let the wool steam for probably around 30 minutes and then removed the heat.



I took the steamer basket out of the pot and placed it on the counter until the wool was cooled off enough that I could unroll it.



Then I left it sit unwrapped so that it would cool to room temperature.



Once cooled, I placed the wool in a dishpan of like-temperatured water to rinse out any excess dye. I had surprisingly little dye bleed into the water. Once rinsed, I put the yarn back into the salad spinner and spun out as much of the water as I could.



Then I hung up the wool on a plastic hanger so that it could dry. Here is the finished product photographed the next day when it was dry:



I think it came out really pretty. I was worried that too much handling of the wool while it was wet would cause it to felt and clump together but it seems to be ok. Now I just have to see how well it drafts out when I spin it on the spinning wheel. Can't wait to see what the finished yarn will look like!