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Rebecca, you keep coming up with new and innovative ways to dye yarn! If someone that wants to dye yarn can’t find a technique that speaks to them, they need to watch more of your videos! This was interesting to say the least. And I was as surprised as you were at the end result, much more evenly divided between the two colors than I would have thought. Great idea!
Thank you! I love playing with new-to-me techniques. I almost didn't want to do the dyeing from the second end because I loved the first color so much.
I enjoy your videos of dyeing. The way you combine the colors helps me to know what colors work with each other. I'm terrible at knowing and you help! Thank you! 🙋
Absolutely beautiful. I contacted you after the knitcrate unboxing and I was wondering how grape koolaid would look and you shared a video that used grape koolaid to create a gradient yarn, and it was lovely. For whatever reason I held off dyeing, I had an image in my head I couldn't get rid of, and this is it. The transition between blue and green, it may sound silly but I wanted to make something beautiful for my daughter's first child and I hope I will be able to create something close to this. Thank you for sharing this...
I'm so glad this video inspired you! You could start with KoolAid and add more food coloring to get these colors, or go straight for the Wilton gel colors. Good luck with your project!
Loved what this technique produced! Gorgeous!! Thanks so much for completing the experiment because I thought the first time in the dye was Beautiful and would have been very happy with it but after rewinding and overdying with the green, Stupendous! Thanks for sharing! Happy Dyeing!
Thank you! It is more labor intensive than some of the other dyeing techniques (with the winding the balls) but It is sooo worth it when I got the final reveal.
I kept this one for personal stash. ;) I'm thinking of turning it into a cowl. I would love to do a hat, but I know that wouldn't take advantage of the whole gradient.
I tired this with acid dyes a few months ago. I wound the ball way too tight, and it thinned out my yarn. It still came out really neat, though! I used a dark green and chocolate brown. There were little flecks of white in it too. I'll have to try it again, but not so tight ;)
I'm still amazed by the color penetration I got here. I think that if I were to do this on a superwash yarn, I would end up with some more white in the center. (I'll probably try with DK before fingering weight, though!)
You absolutely should! This one doesn't really need any special equipment. If you don't have a niddy noddy you could always wind around a chair in the end. :)
Such fun, I notice you don't turn a ball totally over, like in this case the top was peeking out of the blue, are you averse to turning it over so the lesser submerged portion is now on the bottom? Like you said the last bit of blue is giving us a little trouble, but if you turned it over it would have better access to that top spot of blue? But in the green you did roll it slightly ... I always mean to ask this question, sometimes I would want to reach into the screen and pop it over as you let the final dye soak in. Great point using the 4 finger wind.
I think I wanted to maintain the variation on the outside of the ball. So I was content to pour some more dye on top but I didn't want to rotate the ball in the pot. I'm not sure why I decided to go that route, to be honest. Sometimes I let the yarn speak to me. ;)
Thank you for the 'experimental' quality of your videos. Love science. I have a sweater knitted with untreated, woolen spun, sport weight yarn that I'd like to die (about 400 grams). What dye would you suggest?
I'm so glad that you enjoy them! I truly try things for the first time on camera and I'm not always sure if things will work out as they do in my brain! If the sweater is wool, then commercial acid dyes would work GREAT. (Food coloring is wash fast, but can fade in sunlight. I have a lot of winter hats etc dyed with food coloring that have held up great over many years.)
This is a super easy one to try because there are no special tools required. even if you don't have a niddy noddy you can wind the skein on a back of a chair or something. I spell it Rebecca, but misspellings don't bother me. :)
Beautiful! I love watching ur videos even though I don’t plan on dying my own, you make it look so doable. I’m not sure if you’ll see this, but I need to dye some white yarn burnt orange to crochet an edging to a store bought top. What would you suggest?
Dharma fawn might be a good color to start if I'm remembering correctly... It's been a while since I swatched it. But that might be too Brown. Maybe mixed with another orange... Good luck.
Hi! Love your tutorials! I have 7 undyed banks Made of 100% nylon.There is a light-weight chunky central core wrapped with thread - the shiny thread. It is a chunky yarn. I would love to get it to soft multiple colors. What do you recommend to dye nylon in light weight chunky with shiny threads in it?? I'm worried the color won't hold and will fade, or it won't all look like it's from the same dye lot. Thank you for all you do!
I haven't dyed 100% nylon yet, so I'm not entirely sure what to recommend. If there is a particular hue you want then you could snip off a piece and experiment with that to see what colors will hold. The stellina (likely what the shiny silver is, but I'm not sure) will be fine unless you use too much dye then it might take up some of the color. Good luck!
Hi Rebecca! Do you use vinegar out of preference as opposed to a solid/powder citric acid? Is it because vinegar is easier to find, or are there benefits to using acetic acid? Thanks! 😊👩🏻🔬
Hi Hanna! I use vinegar because it is easier for me to get my hands on it. I happen to have some citric acid (I like to make my own fizzy bath balls) but I am so familiar with vinegar dyeing right now that I haven't made the switch. I plan to do some side by side comparisons at some point. Citric acid would take up less space, certainly. The chemistry of citric acid and acetic acid are slightly different, but I don't believe it makes much of a difference when we dye yarn.
Cotton can be great for dyeing, but you cannot dye cotton yarn with food coloring. ua-cam.com/video/NPcyRoWVfL4/v-deo.html I have another video on this showing that it doesn't work well coming out soon. There will be a LOT of cotton videos (1-2 per day) coming out this week that wll show a lot of different techniques and dyes that do work with cotton.
Great question! Colors breaking is when you have a color mixture (eg purple) and you see it separate (break) apart into the colors mixed to create it (so pink and blue.) This is because different molecules of dye absorb to fiber at different rates.
Interesting suggestion. Part of the limitation this time was the depth of the pot, there would be no way to submerge this ball unless I used a smaller pot. A larger pot + a pasta basket would help keep the ball submerged.
You can get Wilton icing colors on Amazon, but they are typically more expensive there than they are in person at a big box craft store (Acmoore, JoAnns, Michaels etc.) I think they are around $2.50 or so, but I will frequently stock up when I have a coupon.
Felting requires heat + agitation. Some yarns with a light twist (such as KnitPicks Palette) is "stickier" because there are some loose fibers that can grip each other easily. Even so, it can be pulled apart easily with a swift and a ball winder. The place where I see people have the most trouble with felting is when it comes to washing the yarn. Moving the yarn in and out of water, squeezing out excess water... there's a lot of place for agitation. This is why I usually show my washing steps to show how much I can do with no felting. :D Once I did get something that was a bit felted from washing, and I made sure to point that out. The yarn could still be reskeined and used, though.
When I am dyeing yarn not on camera I use a little less water since I can wash more yarn all at the same time, but yes it does use a bit of water. I try to save the water from the presoak to use that in the washes, too.
Are you a ChemKnits Patron? www.patreon.com/ChemKnits Don't forget to become a ChemKnits Patron before the end of the month to be eligible for all of the June Rewards! Rewards can include things like early access to new dyeing videos, ChemKnits Creations Etsy coupons, exclusive behind the scenes sneak peeks, shout outs, and more! New Patrons will get immediate access to the archives of videos. You have to become a Patron in May to be eligible for June shout outs and coupons.
Rebecca, you keep coming up with new and innovative ways to dye yarn! If someone that wants to dye yarn can’t find a technique that speaks to them, they need to watch more of your videos!
This was interesting to say the least. And I was as surprised as you were at the end result, much more evenly divided between the two colors than I would have thought. Great idea!
Thank you! I love playing with new-to-me techniques. I almost didn't want to do the dyeing from the second end because I loved the first color so much.
I am hooked...busy binge watching today!
YAY!
So pretty! I kept wanting v to roll the ball over though. :)
I enjoy your videos of dyeing. The way you combine the colors helps me to know what colors work with each other. I'm terrible at knowing and you help! Thank you! 🙋
I'm glad that I can help!
Absolutely beautiful. I contacted you after the knitcrate unboxing and I was wondering how grape koolaid would look and you shared a video that used grape koolaid to create a gradient yarn, and it was lovely. For whatever reason I held off dyeing, I had an image in my head I couldn't get rid of, and this is it. The transition between blue and green, it may sound silly but I wanted to make something beautiful for my daughter's first child and I hope I will be able to create something close to this.
Thank you for sharing this...
I'm so glad this video inspired you! You could start with KoolAid and add more food coloring to get these colors, or go straight for the Wilton gel colors. Good luck with your project!
Love it!!, I think I'm going to start dying my own yarn.
Horray!
It is easy and fun too!
This turned out beautifully, Rebecca!
Thank you, Sarah!
Loved what this technique produced! Gorgeous!! Thanks so much for completing the experiment because I thought the first time in the dye was Beautiful and would have been very happy with it but after rewinding and overdying with the green, Stupendous! Thanks for sharing! Happy Dyeing!
I almost stopped after the first one but I was committed to the video. ;) I'm glad I stuck with it.
Wow!! That yarn is stunning. Can’t wait to try this.
Thank you! It is more labor intensive than some of the other dyeing techniques (with the winding the balls) but It is sooo worth it when I got the final reveal.
I am sooo surprised at the coloring. Beautiful! Would love to see this with purple and green or pink and green. Great job.
Ooo, purple and green would be fun because the purples give a great blue to the inside.
I've been wanting to try this for a while now, turned out so lovely. Definetly have to try this soon!♡
I kept this one for personal stash. ;) I'm thinking of turning it into a cowl. I would love to do a hat, but I know that wouldn't take advantage of the whole gradient.
ChemKnits Tutorials ohhh a shawl would look absolutely gorgeous!
Thanks for sharing this! I love the results. Planning to try this!
You're so welcome!
Beautiful....Love the colors
Thank you!
Another gorgeous color!🤗😍
This one is a favorite of mine. I'm not sure what I'm going to turn this into still, though.
once again I enjoy to watch your video. I had done this before and my colours were not so brillant! thanks!
Thank you for watching!
I tired this with acid dyes a few months ago. I wound the ball way too tight, and it thinned out my yarn. It still came out really neat, though! I used a dark green and chocolate brown. There were little flecks of white in it too. I'll have to try it again, but not so tight ;)
I'm still amazed by the color penetration I got here. I think that if I were to do this on a superwash yarn, I would end up with some more white in the center. (I'll probably try with DK before fingering weight, though!)
Love these colors!
Thank you!
If someone had told me that I would willing watch yarn change colour I would have told them they were nuts
Rebecca another colorway I will need to try.
You absolutely should! This one doesn't really need any special equipment. If you don't have a niddy noddy you could always wind around a chair in the end. :)
It would be interesting when you are halfway through to dye both connected together without unwinding the aecons half.
OOOOOO this is an interesting idea!
it looks like the enchanted river in the philippines
Love it, love it , love it :) thankyou.
You're very welcome. And thank YOU!
Beautiful
Thanks, Kathleen!
some great tips here thanks so much
It is my pleasure!
You have to do this again with other colors...
I've done this with a few different variations. here's one:
ua-cam.com/video/nf485UYZNaQ/v-deo.html
Such fun, I notice you don't turn a ball totally over, like in this case the top was peeking out of the blue, are you averse to turning it over so the lesser submerged portion is now on the bottom? Like you said the last bit of blue is giving us a little trouble, but if you turned it over it would have better access to that top spot of blue? But in the green you did roll it slightly ... I always mean to ask this question, sometimes I would want to reach into the screen and pop it over as you let the final dye soak in. Great point using the 4 finger wind.
I think I wanted to maintain the variation on the outside of the ball. So I was content to pour some more dye on top but I didn't want to rotate the ball in the pot. I'm not sure why I decided to go that route, to be honest. Sometimes I let the yarn speak to me. ;)
I meant to add that I love the result and the process is intriguing. thanx so much for all your daring!
It is my pleasure. Thank YOU for asking so many questions and leaving comments. They make me think and help spark ideas for my next project.
You should try this with a purple dye and a black.
I would love that! I think I need to do this with some acid dyes sometime soon.
Thank you for the 'experimental' quality of your videos. Love science. I have a sweater knitted with untreated, woolen spun, sport weight yarn that I'd like to die (about 400 grams). What dye would you suggest?
I'm so glad that you enjoy them! I truly try things for the first time on camera and I'm not always sure if things will work out as they do in my brain! If the sweater is wool, then commercial acid dyes would work GREAT. (Food coloring is wash fast, but can fade in sunlight. I have a lot of winter hats etc dyed with food coloring that have held up great over many years.)
Do u think it would close to the same in the cake ball size instead of the ball....
That is beautiful yarn Rebekah! (sorry not sure how you spell your name LOL) Very beautiful and that one looks very easy to try.
This is a super easy one to try because there are no special tools required. even if you don't have a niddy noddy you can wind the skein on a back of a chair or something. I spell it Rebecca, but misspellings don't bother me. :)
Beautiful! I love watching ur videos even though I don’t plan on dying my own, you make it look so doable. I’m not sure if you’ll see this, but I need to dye some white yarn burnt orange to crochet an edging to a store bought top. What would you suggest?
Dharma fawn might be a good color to start if I'm remembering correctly... It's been a while since I swatched it. But that might be too Brown. Maybe mixed with another orange... Good luck.
Hi! Love your tutorials! I have 7 undyed banks Made of 100% nylon.There is a light-weight chunky central core wrapped with thread - the shiny thread. It is a chunky yarn. I would love to get it to soft multiple colors. What do you recommend to dye nylon in light weight chunky with shiny threads in it?? I'm worried the color won't hold and will fade, or it won't all look like it's from the same dye lot.
Thank you for all you do!
I haven't dyed 100% nylon yet, so I'm not entirely sure what to recommend. If there is a particular hue you want then you could snip off a piece and experiment with that to see what colors will hold. The stellina (likely what the shiny silver is, but I'm not sure) will be fine unless you use too much dye then it might take up some of the color. Good luck!
So why do you not roll the ball around in the dye bath so you get both the top and bottom to absorb color?
Great question! Sometimes I want to allow there to be some unevenness, but you could absolutely roll it around.
What would happen if you weighted down the ball of yarn?
Hi Rebecca!
Do you use vinegar out of preference as opposed to a solid/powder citric acid?
Is it because vinegar is easier to find, or are there benefits to using acetic acid?
Thanks! 😊👩🏻🔬
Hi Hanna! I use vinegar because it is easier for me to get my hands on it. I happen to have some citric acid (I like to make my own fizzy bath balls) but I am so familiar with vinegar dyeing right now that I haven't made the switch. I plan to do some side by side comparisons at some point. Citric acid would take up less space, certainly.
The chemistry of citric acid and acetic acid are slightly different, but I don't believe it makes much of a difference when we dye yarn.
Another big reason why some people chose citric acid is that they don't like the smell of vinegar.
would the liquid food colouring work as well? Also is cotton good for dyeing ? Cuz I am allergic to wool . Thanks
Cotton can be great for dyeing, but you cannot dye cotton yarn with food coloring. ua-cam.com/video/NPcyRoWVfL4/v-deo.html I have another video on this showing that it doesn't work well coming out soon. There will be a LOT of cotton videos (1-2 per day) coming out this week that wll show a lot of different techniques and dyes that do work with cotton.
What does it mean when the colour breaks?
Great question! Colors breaking is when you have a color mixture (eg purple) and you see it separate (break) apart into the colors mixed to create it (so pink and blue.) This is because different molecules of dye absorb to fiber at different rates.
What would happen if you you weighted down the ball of yarn?
Interesting suggestion. Part of the limitation this time was the depth of the pot, there would be no way to submerge this ball unless I used a smaller pot. A larger pot + a pasta basket would help keep the ball submerged.
What's the price of each colour..cud we get from Amazon..nd wats the durability
You can get Wilton icing colors on Amazon, but they are typically more expensive there than they are in person at a big box craft store (Acmoore, JoAnns, Michaels etc.) I think they are around $2.50 or so, but I will frequently stock up when I have a coupon.
tha yarn is not felting because the heat of the water?
Felting requires heat + agitation. Some yarns with a light twist (such as KnitPicks Palette) is "stickier" because there are some loose fibers that can grip each other easily. Even so, it can be pulled apart easily with a swift and a ball winder.
The place where I see people have the most trouble with felting is when it comes to washing the yarn. Moving the yarn in and out of water, squeezing out excess water... there's a lot of place for agitation. This is why I usually show my washing steps to show how much I can do with no felting. :D Once I did get something that was a bit felted from washing, and I made sure to point that out. The yarn could still be reskeined and used, though.
would the liquid food colouring work ? thanks
I love using liquid food coloring to dye yarn! Unfortunately it only works on protein based fibers (wool, alpaca, silk, etc)
How long will this colour stay after several washes??
It is permanently dyed...
You can put food coloring dyed yarn through the washing machine and the colors stay. ua-cam.com/video/oftsMXnzrug/v-deo.html
W♥♥W!👀
Clearly I need to do a lot more of this. ;)
How much water you wastes
When I am dyeing yarn not on camera I use a little less water since I can wash more yarn all at the same time, but yes it does use a bit of water. I try to save the water from the presoak to use that in the washes, too.