Kinky Ring of Fire

Eat, Knit and Dye

I’m going to be honest. I had no plan for this. I just let my whims take me where it wanted to go. After all, it’s just yarn, and if I make a disaster, that’s okay. It can always be overdyed. Plus, it gives me another chance to work with Kinky Yarn

I have to say, I’m obsessed with this yarn. I love the coil that it comes in, it feels so substantial. And at 200 grams of 100% Superwash Wool, it’s no wonder why. And it looks so cool when knitted or crocheted up. Seriously, you have got to check out this yarn!

First, I filled up a bowl of water, and let the Kinky coil sit in it for 24 hours. I wanted to make sure it was as saturated as possible. It’s kind of amazing how much air is in the fibers, so I pressed down on it several times to make sure all the air bubbles had escaped.

After 24 hours, I set up a pot with some water and 1/8 tsp of Jacquard Fire Red Acid Dye, and no acid. Since acid and heat is what makes the dye set, I was curious to see how it would affect the color absorption. Again, I let the pot sit for 24 hours. Plenty of time to get supersaturated, and besides, it was bedtime.

While the yarn marinated, I thought about what to do next. For some reason, my 6th grade science fair popped into my mind. One of my classmates did a project on Capillary Action, which is where water absorbs upwards. So hey, I learned something and was able to use it!

Back to the yarn! I added 1 tbsp of citric acid to the water and brought the water up to near simmering. The dye didn’t exhaust fully, so I soaked up the rest of it with an extra hank of random yarn and let the Kinky cool to room temperature.

I rooted around in my dye collection and brought out some jars of left-over dye that would be perfect for this experiment. First, I filled up the bottom centimeter of the pan with leftover highly concentrated blue dye. The Kinky was rewrapped into a very loose coil and placed on top of the blue dye. I let the yarn sit for a few hours. Again, the dye didn’t exhaust, but I poured the leftover back into the jar. 

I felt the yarn might be a little plain, so I refilled the bottom of the pan with a centimeter of leftover highly concentrated orange dye. I flipped the coil over and let the other edge sit in the orange mixture for a few more hours.

Finally, I rinsed out the excess dye. The coil was placed in some fresh water and a 1 tbsp of citric acid and brought to just below simmering. No dye came floating out and this ensured that everything was heat set. The coil was then set out to dry.

I have to admit; the outside doesn’t look all that exciting. Although I think Jacquard Fire Red is the most perfect red there is, the yarn lacked the color punch I crave.

That is until I saw inside! The Capillary Action worked, and the orange and blue absorbed in to create a delightful color explosion. Unfortunately, this only happened on the yarn that was on the outside of the wrapped coil, but I think if I wrapped it looser next time, I would get it all the way through.

This was a fun experiment, and I did learn some things through it. I still love working with Kinky Yarn and look forward to dyeing it again in the future! Just as a reminder, if you want the Kinky Yarn to retain its texture, don’t cake it until you are ready to use it. I winded it into a cake so you could see what it looks like.

Stay tuned for next week for a Crazy Quilt Gradient!

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.

Tara Warburton's Frost Fairy

Kinky Candy Gradient

Eat, Knit and Dye

Remember how last week’s dye experiment had so much dye left over? I used it up on this project. I don’t like to dump unused dye down the drain because first off, its money that is just being washed away. Second, I don’t want the dye getting into the water supply and harming marine life. (Did you know the Puget Sound in Seattle has so much caffeine in it from our wastewaters? It’s true, look it up!)

I frequently have glass jars of unexhausted dyes that I use on yarns to make mystery colorways. I’ll have to write a post on that in the future, but for now, I have two pots of dye using Jacquard Acid Dyes in colors Turquoise and Hot Fuchsia. I’ve done a bunch of gradients before, but I wanted to see how it would work in pots.

This week’s yarn of choice is Kinky Yarn, a 100% Superwash Wool that comes in a nifty tube, which is just perfect for dyeing gradients because you don’t have to make your own. The coil of yarn was soaked in water for 2 hours before starting. I unrolled half of the coil and started dipping it into the dye bath.

I draped the yarn over the edge of the pot, made sure the coil was nowhere near the flame, and let the dye (finally!) exhaust.

The pink end was pulled out of the hot water and cooled to the point I could touch it. Then other end was uncoiled, and I repeated the same dipping into the Turquoise. I made sure the Fuchsia and Turquoise overlapped to create lovely shades of purple.

Once I was happy with the overlap, I let the coil hang out in the dye bath until the dye had exhausted.

Using this method, I highly suspected that there was unexhausted dye inside the coil, so I put it all (and the Twisted Skein from last week) into the water and let it heat for another 15 minutes until the water was completely clear. The yarn was rinsed, patted dry with a towel and hung up to dry.

I’m pleased with how this yarn turned out. I should note the Hot Fuchsia is so intensely bright that it blew out on my camera. I’m okay with the near glowing brightness. I do wish there was more of a gradient overlap. I think this isn’t my favorite way of getting smooth color changes. But I’m glad I tried it because now I know!

To keep the kinky texture, the yarn should be kept in its tube form. You can knit directly from this tube. However, I wanted to show you how the yarn looks as a cake, so I wound it up.  (Pictures below are not to scale.)

Stay tuned for next week when it’s October and I show you some Halloween inspired yarn!

We also have several other tutorials on how to dye Kinky Yarn!

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.

Tara Warburton's Frost Fairy
Kinky Yarn Pinwheel Dye

Pinwheel

A fun technique that utilizes the color wheel! All you need is a coil of Kinky Yarn and 3 colors of Jacquard acid dyes. Learn how to create your own neon rainbow so you can cast on a bright and colorful project.

Kinky Yarn Pinwheel Dye


MATERIALS
Kinky Yarn 100% Superwash Wool
200 grams / 133 meters / 147 yards

TOOLS
Deep bowl
​Citric Acid
Jacquard Acid Dyes
Squirt Bottles
Plastic Wrap
Towels
Old Towel
Gloves

Technique

Kinky Yarn Pinwheel Dye


Soak your Kinky Yarn in 4 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of citric acid.  Use your hand to push all the coil down into the water to make sure it is fully submerged.  

You may wish to wear gloves during this point.  The acid is not strong, but it can sting if you have a paper cut.

Optional: Have cat inspect your work. 

After the 30 minutes has gone by, gently squeeze out the excess water and use an old towel to press out even more.

Kinky Yarn Pinwheel Dye


Cover you work surface in plastic wrap.

Snap on your gloves and mix up your Jacquard Acid dyes.  (Don't worry, they don't have acid in them. They need the weak acid like citric acid or white vinegar to set the pigment.) Additionally, you will want to put on a mask for this step. The dye is a fine pigment powder and you don't want to breathe it.

I mixed 1/8 teaspoon of dye and 4 ounces of warm water into dedicated squirt bottles.  Dyes used:
Jacquard Hot Fuchsia
Jacquard Turquoise
Jacquard Sun Yellow

Remember, acid dye is not food safe, so keep your tools separate from your eating utensils.

Kinky Yarn Pinwheel Dye


Using the squirt bottles, apply color in triangular wedges, making sure the different colors don't touch.  I know once the colors touch they will start mixing and I want to control when that happens.

Kinky Yarn Pinwheel Dye


Carefully start overlapping the different colors of dye.   Also, remember that Kinky Yarn is a bulky weight and the dye will have a lot of fiber to work through.  You will want to make sure you get dye on the edges of the coil.

Kinky Yarn Pinwheel Dye

Be sure to check the inside of the coils for dye saturation as well.   I know that the inside coils are tighter, and less dye is filtering down the coils.  But because the the inner coils will also have shorter runs of color, I like that it will have a larger undyed portion.  I think it will balance out of the look. 

Kinky Yarn Pinwheel Dye


The color gradients have pretty hard edges at this point.  If you like that style, move on to the next step.  I wanted a bit more of a smooth face, so I took the remaining 1 ounce of mixed dye and added 3 ounces of water.  Using the diluted dye, I went over where the colors mixed and the gradient smoothed out.

At this point, the Kinky Yarn coil is super saturated with water, and instead of absorbing, is just becoming a puddle.  Gentle pick up your yarn and over the sink, squeeze out as much water as you can while retaining the coil shape. 

Kinky Yarn Pinwheel Dye


You'll also notice that the bottom of your Kinky Yarn coil doesn't have a lot of dye saturation.  Using a towel, wipe up any dye on the plastic wrap, and flip over your coil.  Then repeat the same process to dye this portion of your coil.

Kinky Yarn Pinwheel Dye


Wrap up your coil in plastic wrap.  Add extra if you think its not water tight.  Place it on a dye dedicated plate and microwave it for 4 minutes.  Using tongs, check to see if the water is clear at the bottom of the wrap.  If its not, microwave it for another 3 minutes.

Remove from microwave and allow to cool.   You will need to uncoil the yarn to make sure all of it cools to room temperature.

Kinky Yarn Pinwheel Dye


Gently wash with clear dish soap the coil.  This will dislodge any dye that didn't adhere and wash out the citric acid.   Rinse and squeeze out as much water as you can.

Kinky Yarn Pinwheel Dye


Layout your yarn on an old towel (and squeal with joy over the pretty colors) and pat dry to remove even more excess water.

Kinky Yarn Pinwheel Dye


Hang your Kinky Yarn up to dry.  

Kinky Yarn Pinwheel Dye


Admire your beautiful and one of a kind Kinky Yarn!

Kinky Yarn Dyed with Sharpie

Sharpie Dyeing

Kinky Yarn

Ready to make something unique? Karin and Kyle are here to walk you through a video tutorial on how to dye your Kinky Yarn coil with Sharpie Markers and some rubbing alcohol.  Grab some popcorn and enjoy the show!

Kinky Yarn Dyed with Sharpie


MATERIALS
Kinky Yarn 100% Superwash Wool
200 grams / 133 meters / 147 yards

TOOLS
Deep bowl
Sharpie Markers
Rubbing Alcohol
White vinegar
Salt
Bowl
Gloves 

Technique

We have created two videos showing the Sharpie Marker Dyeing Method.  The first is just the facts, the second is a much longer and more detailed video.

Tutorial # 1 - Just the Facts
Tutorial # 2 - Longer and More Detailed Version

Kinky Projects

Kinky Projects

https://www.makersmercantile.com/shop/Yarn/Kinky-Yarn/p/Kinky-Yarn-Dyeing-Technique-Easter-Egg-Dye-Tablets-x40083340.htm

Easter Egg

Kinky Yarn

Easter Egg Dye isn't only for eggs! Use those brightly colored dye tables to dye your Kinky Yarn coil. It's almost as much fun as finding a chocolate bunny.  Almost. And sure to create a fun and unique colorway.

Kinky Yarn Easter Egg Dye


MATERIALS
Kinky Yarn 100% Superwash Wool
200 grams / 133 meters / 147 yards

TOOLS
Deep bowl
Easter Egg Dye
Pill Cutter
32oz White vinegar
Towels
Old Towel
Gloves (optional)

Technique

Kinky Yarn Easter Egg Dye Technique


Open Easter Egg dye packets on dry surface. We used 3 packets of PAAS deluxe, which contained 9 different tablets.

Kinky Yarn Easter Egg Dye Technique


Uncoil the Kinky Yarn and divide it into sections equal to the number of dye tablets. We attempted to arrange the dye tablets in rainbow order using the colors of the tablets. Turns out the colors are not all accurate in tablet form. If you’d like the rainbow to be in correct order, test each color by touching a tablet to a moist white paper towel. You’ll then see the color of the dye, instead of just the color of the tablet.

Kinky Yarn Easter Egg Dye Technique


Use a pill cutter to divide tablets in half. Alternatively, use a sharp knife and cutting board. Be careful not to cut yourself and watch for flying dye pill bits!

Kinky Yarn Easter Egg Dye Technique


Lay out the pill pieces onto the coil of yarn, and put them into the coil by slipping them through a stitch. At this point, these pill bits can shuffle around, so handle your Kinky Yarn carefully.

Kinky Yarn Easter Egg Dye Technique
Kinky Yarn Easter Egg Dye Technique


Fill a large container with cold water, and add 1/4th of the vinegar. Stir to combine.

Carefully submerge Kinky Yarn into bath. We laid it in starting with one end and slowly laying the coil in until it was all in the water/vinegar mixture.
IMPORTANT: Do not move yarn now. Allow the tablets to dissolve.

Kinky Yarn Easter Egg Dye Technique


Allow the dye to dissolve. The water will become dark with dye (ours turned blue/green). Once you think the tablets have all dissolved, sit container in a bath or kitchen sink, and turn on the cold water. Allow the water to overflow until water runs clear. You may want to pour out all the current water and allow the container to fill up again.

Once the water runs clear, squeeze all water out of the Kinky Yarn. Roll in an absorbent towel (We used an old one in case any dye transferred), then hang to dry.

https://www.makersmercantile.com/shop/Yarn/Kinky-Yarn/p/Kinky-Yarn-Dyeing-Technique-Easter-Egg-Dye-Tablets-x40083340.htm


Admire your beautiful and one of a kind Kinky Yarn!

Speckled Hat

Speckled Hat

Fling Cowl

Kinky Yarn

Each Kinky Yarn project is two projects in one. First, the fiber is dyed, and then it is knitted (or crocheted, or woven... the possibilities are endless! In this project, Kyle experimented with dyeing the yarn in its coil.

The Fling Cowl uses an easy knit/purl stitch that allows the color shifts to shine through. This project requires knitting knowledge including cast on, knit/purl, working in the round, and bind off; all on circular needles. Follow the links below to download the pattern and tutorial, and gather the supplies needed to make your own version of this cowl. 

Supplies Needed:

Kinky Techniques

Kinky Techniques

Experimenting is part of the fun! Check out some of the different ways we have dyed Kinky Yarn!


Sharpie Marker Dyeing

  • Just the Facts
  • Longer, Bantier Version

Speckled Yarn Dyeing


Kinky Gradient