I had a vision for this one. I really did. I wanted something bright and sunny, with beautiful fades of pink, red and orange. That isn’t what I got. But I got to use the crockpot, so that’s a win!
Once again, I am using Fannie, a 100% Merino Superwash Wool for my base. And I’m also using food coloring for my dye.
To start, I immersion dyed the entire hank with yellow dye. I don’t have a picture of that, but all I did was fill the crockpot with water, yellow food coloring and citric acid. I turned on the heat for 30 minutes on high and let the food coloring exhaust. This left me with a lovely semi-tonal yellow base.
I twisted the wet yarn into a hank and put it back into the crockpot (Bonus! I used the same water.)
On one side of the hank, I dropped in three drops of red food coloring.
On the other side, I put in a few drops of pink food coloring. I put on the lid and let it set in the crockpot for 30 minutes (the temperature on high). The food coloring exhausted, the yarn cooled, and I hung it up to dry.
As you can see, there is no discernible difference between the pink or the red. I think all the color just blended into one color. The twisting also left the yarn with stripes of color. Not what I was going for, but sometimes serendipity just takes over.
Stay tuned for next week for a rainbow explosion!
Ready to make your unique colorway? Hop on over to Makers' Mercantile® and pick up your undyed yarn and supplies. We can’t wait to see what you make, so tag us on social media with #makersmercantile!
About Tara
Tara Warburton is the former graphic designer for Makers' Mercantile® and a fine artist. She specializes in watercolor and colored pencil illustrations. She lives with her two cats, who are not helpful when knitting.
