Kool-Aid Dyeing with Kids

Have you ever done Kool-Aid dyeing? I have, and I loved the results, which you can read about over on About. It’s really quick and easy, and because Kool-Aid is safe to drink you don’t need any special equipment like you would if you used harsher dyes — just use a regular pot on the regular stove.

But what if you want to involve your kids in the really fun process of dyeing yarn? Palak over at Make it Handmade wanted to do just that, and she’s got some great tips for doing just that.

She used a slow cooker instead of a pot on the stove and dyed the yarn in two stages so some of it is a little darker than the rest, giving a subtle striping to finished knits made with it without any trouble at all. She also threw in an already knit hat to give it some color, which is just brilliant.

Have you ever dyed with kids? I don’t have a slow cooker but that’s such a great idea!

[Photo via Make it Handmade.]

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Using your yarn stash is important to me throughout the year, but as I start to feel the end of the year coming on I get more excited about using things I already have in the house. Maybe that’s because I don’t want to go to a store in the thick of holiday shopping times, or I like the idea of having a little space in my stash when the new year rolls around.

It’s super satisfying to use up all the little odd balls you’ve made over the year (or years), and I have several stash busting blankets I work on when it’s cold and will maybe finish someday.

If you’d like to start a stash busting project that’s perfect for using up odd balls, check out the Soukish pattern from Neisha Abdulla. This pattern is made for fingering weight/sock yarn, and it’s worked in a tube with allover color work.

This is great for a couple of reasons. You don’t really have to weave in your ends when you can hide them in a tube (this is one time you might even get by just tying a knot when you change colors!) and you can change colors whenever you run out of yarn and it will look good.

Of course the pattern is made with blocks where the designer changed colors, but you can change yours more or less often as you need to make it work for your stash. You can use blank charts to design your own color combinations, or even your own stitch patterns if you like. You can also adjust the length of the scarf as needed or turn it into a cowl based on the amount of yarn you have.

This project looks like a lot of fun and would be a great thing to have on hand to stitch up and then to wear during the cold, gloomy months.

You can get a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Neisha Abdulla]

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