Sun Dyeing

Since it is now almost 7am, I can no longer say "tonight" and must instead say "last night". Anyways, last night after dinner I did some basic hand painting on a skein of yarn. 150 yards of some Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool. Nothing special really, but here's a picture of it draining. It's currently drying.





Of course, I'm 99.9% positive that this method works. Been there, done that. Still a load of fun to play with colors, but otherwise no adventure.

Enter dyeing yarn using the power of the sun. Unlike the previous skein, which is heated in the microwave, this method leaves the containers of yarn out in bright sunlight to cook.

Earlier in the afternoon, I picked up a large jar from the store. Plastic I think, but the important thing was that it was clear and could be closed well enough I didn't have to worry about spills. So earlier in the wee hours this morning (no, I haven't slept yet) I put the last of my white wool (which has provided me with enough yarn for three 150 yd skeins) into the bottom of the jar. I then poured my leftover dye over it. Wasn't enough yarn to actually use up all the dye, but a good amount of it.

I also had a partial skein of wool/bamboo/nylon sock yarn from my fingerless gloves. I mixed up a packet of orange koolaid into a zipper bag, then chucked the sock yarn in. The sock yarn was a white/green/dark purple-blue colorway, so no clue what orange will do. Hopefully something drastic. It wasn't my favorite colorway.

Anyways, I then took the jar and the bag out into our backyard. I left it near the end of the yard where it ought to get plenty of sunlight once the sun is fully up. This was somewhere between 5 and 6, with enough light to see by but otherwise the sun isn't actually up yet.

I just checked it a little bit ago. It looks like the orange dye has already exhausted into the sock yarn. From what I've heard, superwash wool sucks up dye quickly. However, I'm going to leave it out there with the jar so it can get some heat. Yeah, the water I used was warm. But where's the fun with taking it in now?

No pictures unfortunately. My camera chose now to start acting up and claim low battery. Which means that they're just not fully charged anymore. I'll probably go see if any of my wii remotes needs a fresh battery change.

Off to bed I go. Now let's just hope that it doesn't rain!