Dyeing With Food Coloring

I decided to try dying some of my homespun wool with food coloring. I have ordered some Jaquard Acid Dyes from Knit Picks, but am too impatient to wait for them! I have read about dyeing wool yarn with food coloring, Easter egg dyes and Koolaid. I have not been able to find out how color fast these dyes are, so I decided to try it myself.

I had three 100 yard skeins of wool three ply handspun yarn that I decided to play with. I got a Pyrex 9x9 cake pan, some large class bowls, a couple packages of food coloring from the dollar store, vinegar, cling wrap, a wooden spoon, a colander, and my microwave. The food coloring that I used is the kind that comes in a little box with four small bottles, a red, yellow, green and blue.  Because everything was food grade, I was not concerned about using special utensils. I started by soaking three skeins of yarn in a large bowl with enough water to cover and a cup of vinegar. I soaked the yarn for about 15 minutes, squeezing it a bit to ensure that it was completely wet and there were no air bubbles.

I took a skein of yarn, squeezed the vinegar water out if it and placed it in the Pyrex cakepan. I added just enough water to the pan to cover the yarn. I didn't want too much extra water because I wanted to use several colors and didn't want them to all mix. Then I dropped food coloring onto the yarn. For the first skein I used several drops of each color in different areas of the pan. I covered the pan with the cling wrap and microwaved it on high power for two  minutes. I did not want the yarn to overheat or to boil. I removed it from the microwave. The colors were not moving much so I poked at the yarn with the wooden spoon, pushing it down and around a bit to get the dye moving. I let the skein cool for a few minutes and replaced it in the microwave for two more minutes. I repeated this process four times. When I checked the dye bath, all the color was exhausted and the water was clear. I carefully dumped the yarn into the colander, drained it, placed it in a bowl and rinsed it several times in plain water until the water was clear. I then hung the skein to dry

I did the same thing to the other two skeins of yarn, using different colors each time. I tested the dyebath by dipping a small piece if paper towel into the liquid to check the color. I dyed one skein with blue and green and let them mix up a bit, but maintained some areas of each color. The third skein I just started adding color until I got something I liked. I stirred it around to mix the colors more completely, then dropped more color on certain areas to create a mottled effect.

After the yarn was dry I reskeined it. I thought it was beautiful! Very nice results. About a week later I decided to see how colorfast the dye was in water. I washed the skeins with warm water and Eukalan Wool Wash. Unfortunately, some of the color came out in the wash water. I tried to soak the yarn in vinegar and rewash it and it continued to give up color. I am disappointed by this, because I don't dare use the yarn for clothing or anything that may get wet, like a hat, mittens, etc. I am still trying to figure out how to use it. Any suggestion are appreciated.

Meanwhile, my Jaquard dyes have arrived. I have been spinning a yarn of 25% silk and 75% wool. I can't wait to dye that with the Jaquard dyes. The different fibers will take up the dye differently and create something lovely!