Ice cream cones, fudgesicles, popsicles, push-ups, kool-aid….the sweet summer treats I loved as a kid. I also remember sporting a lovely kool aid mustache along with a popsicle stained t-shirt. Ah, such wonderful memories!
I haven’t sported the cool, red mustache in quite a few years, but I do love all those gorgeous, saturated colors of kid treats….don’t you? Rather than consuming colorful goodies, why don’t we make some? Look what I did with just some jars, 100% wool yarn, cold water, vinegar, and unsweetened kool aid….
Aren’t these yarns gorgeous? I’ve seen many different techniques on dying yarn and they all involve heat. Well, you can brew ice tea outside in the sun so how about “brewing” some colorful yarn in the sun? Here’s how!
Sun Dying Yarn With Kool-Aid
Step 1: You need a protein fiber based yarn. I used 100% wool that is not treated to be a superwash wool. You also need unsweetened Kool-Aid in your choice of colors. Optional: distilled white vinegar.
Step 2: Wind your yarn into an open hank (mine are about 20 yards of wool). Loosely tie your hanks in 3 places with a colorfast yarn or string.
Step 3: Place your tied yarn hanks in a basin of water for 15-20 minutes to soak. (You will notice that dry yarn floats so soaking the yarn first helps to ensure that the dye is evenly distributed throughout the yarn….just like you pre-soak t-shirts before tie-dying them)
Step 4: If you are dying mini skeins like myself, put 1 cup of cool water in a jar along with 1 unsweetened packet of Kool-Aid (it dissolves quickly). I added 1 Tbsp of white vinegar to each jar as well to help set the color but Kool Aid is fairly acidic so the vinegar may not be necessary. If you are dying larger hanks of yarn I would use one cup water, 1 packet Kool-Aid and 1 Tbsp vinegar for every 20 yards of yarn you are dying.
Step 5: Place your yarn hanks in the prepared jars of dye and set outside in a nice sunny spot. Leave for 2-4 hours (depending on how sunny and warm it is).
Step 6: You know your yarn is done with you lift it out and all the color is in the yarn with little or none left in the jar.
Step 7: These are the “dye” jars after the yarn hanks have been removed. See how there is very little color left in each one?
Step 8: Hang your yarn hanks up to dry.
Step 9: Twist your dried yarn into skeins!
This was so easy and fun! I wonder if it is possible to make some sun dyed yarn that is multi-colored? What do you think? Which color is your favorite? If you like these here are the flavors I used?
Natural-Nesters
so fun and easy and such a great idea!! I would love for you to link this up at the Naturally-Nifty party!!
Kadie
WOW!! They turned out so pretty!! The colors are so vibrant. I think the pink lemon aid and the Blue Raspberry Lemon aid are my favorites! I can’t wait to see the multi colored ones. Thanks for sharing with us at Link It Up Thursday.
withaspindle
excellent Job! I think I will do my undyed fiber that way!
Brooke @ Inside-Out Design
This is so awesome!!! I am definitely going to try this!
Diana Meredith Designs
Great idea! I’ve heard of dying yarn with Kool-Aid, but I haven’t seen this method before. I definitely want to try it! Thanks for sharing!
Randi~Dukes and Duchesses
Such beautiful colors … and what a fun way to get them!
Natural-Nesters
So glad that you linked this up!!!
Debra Kapellakis
Kool-Aid dyed yarn, dried in the sun, I love it! BRAVO!
The Lovely Mrs. P
Very cool! Thanks for linkin up! Hope to see you again Thursday!
Kim@madeinaday
SayNotSweetAnne
Holy cow. This is SO AWESOME! I love this project for kids, for parties, (for myself). I can’t believe how easy this is- does the yarn retain the Kool Aid smell? I’d love for you to link this up to Sweet Sharing Monday! http://saynotsweetanne.com/2012/sweet-sharing-monday-10/
Rose :: Fine Craft Guild .com
cant believe how bright these colors are! that is just amazing. makes me wonder about cool aid being a food stuff…. ahhh…
thank you for linking it up with us at our party, http://www.finecraftguild.com/party/
Carrie @ My Favorite Finds
That is very cool. I bet you could do multicolored if you used a rubber band to section it off, or cover the sections with a plastic bag to keep it separate. Sort of like when you tye dye. THanks for sharing this at our Handmade Tuesdays party.
Claiming Our Space
Shut the front door! This is too cool! Thanks so much for sharing on Tout It Tuesday! Hope to see you next week.
Betsy @ Romance on a Dime
Wow – very cool. The yarn looks great. This is a fantastic idea! Thanks so much for sharing this at Romance on a dime. I’m pinning this!
DebbieDoesCreations
That looks amazing! Thanks so much for sharing at Toot Your Horn Tuesday
Natural-Nesters
Yay! You were featured with this blog on our linky party at Natural-Nesters!! We just love this.. Thank you so much for sharing. Stop on over and grab your button!!! We love everything you do!
Gen
Congrats on the Tip Junkie feature!! I don’t know if you know about it… you don’t have the featured button on your featured page, just thought I’d give you a heads up if you didn’t: http://www.tipjunkie.com/13-kool-aid-inspired-crafts/ When I saw it I was like, Oh oh I know this girl!!
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