Kool Experiment
So I’ve spent a lot of my time on Ravelry looking at yarn that people have dyed with Kool Aid so I decided to try it myself! It’s definitely a good option for people like me who want to try hand dyeing but don’t want to have to play with dangerous ingredients and buy separate pots and tools to handle them. I got 8 packets of unsweetened Kool Aid powder from my neighborhood grocery store for a little over $2 and I’m happy with the results so I’ll definitely try this again!
Google tells me that you need animal fiber yarns because plant based and synthetic yarns won’t take up the dye so I used some leftover wool yarn, Lion Brand Fishermen’s Wool in Oatmeal.
The steps I followed were to wind the yarn into a loose hank around the backs of two chairs. I tied it loosely with acrylic scrap yarn so it wouldn’t tangle and I tied the ends of the yarn together so it would be easy to wind it into a ball later. Then I had to soak the yarn in room temperature water with a splash of vinegar. Allegedly vinegar isn’t necessary to get the yarn to soak up the Kool Aid dye due to its citric acid content but I figured better safe than sorry.
The dyes I got were (clockwise from the top left) Lemonade, Orange, Cherry, and Sharkleberry Fin.
I taped a trash bag to my kitchen counter and wore gloves along with an apron while dyeing the yarn because Kool Aid does stain. You also should try to avoid inhaling too much of the powder during the process. I used a spoon, a straw, and a brush as my dyeing tools along with my fingers. I didn’t have much of a plan of attack. I just knew that I wanted some semisolid parts and a speckled area. The brush I used wasn’t the best for this task because it didn’t soak up much dye and would have taken forever so at a few points, I just pour dye on the yarn right out of the container. After I felt satisfied with the colors, I squished the yarn with my (gloved) hands to work the dye through. Then I picked up the yarn and put it in a microwave safe dish. I zapped it for 2 minutes. I just used the Express Cook setting so I can’t say anything about the temperature. I let it rest for maybe 5 minutes while I cleaned up before zapping it again for 2 minutes. I knew the dye had been exhausted because the water in the dish was a cloudy white. The photo below shows the yarn after its first round in the microwave.
I left the yarn on my counter for about an hour so it could cool down because several tutorials on microwave dyeing had warned against putting warm yarn in cold water since that causes felting. I washed it with a little detergent in cold water and rinsed until the bubbles were gone. The colors didn’t run at all in the washing process. The first rinse got rid of the cloudy leftover water from the dye process. I hung it up to dry overnight, pictured below.
This morning, the yarn was dry and I wound it into a ball. I really like the way the colors turned out. I initially wasn’t a fan of how the orange looked but it has grown on me. It’s important to note that the lemonade dye is not very strong so if you want it to show up, you’ll probably have to use a lot of powder. Also the yarn still has the fruity Kool Aid smell but I’ve read that it should go away over time. Looking forward to making maybe a hat or mittens with this yarn!