Dyeing Yarn With Tulip Tie Dye Kits

this is the down and dirty... because there are 100's of videos and tutorials and everything...

you get this...

when you do this...
(YouTube video when I quit fighting with it)

 

 buy your dye and your yarn base

I use Lion Brand Sock Ease and Premier Home Cotton the most

and have used cotton and cotton/bamboo sock weight yarns as well.

I have only used Tulip Tie Die kits in different colors and kits.

Tulip Dye is recommended for cotton t-shirts.

It has done a gorgeous job dying wool/nylon sock blends and other fibers. 

Tulip Neon/Electric Lights dye doesn't like wool/nylon. 

The process is different and it doesn't take very well at all.

 soak yarn in water at least 30 minutes

if dye kit requires additive, add it before soaking yarn

plastic wrap protects the counter AND gives you a way to seal up your yarn

 I just sort of spray the color on for the splatter yarns... 

turn and do top and bottom... 

 roll up the yarn securely in plastic wrap. 

it has to stay wet for 8 hours. add more plastic if you need to.

I am microwaving my yarn logs.

Cotton for 2 minutes and wool blends for 90 seconds.

This is NOT in the instructions for Tulip Tie Die Kits.

using heat is actually a requirement for acid dying

 you can see here that splatters are just wrapped together

and you can maybe see here that patterns are wrapped to keep 

white parts separate. I just wrap the plastic from each side around the skein

and tuck it in so it looks a little like a donut, then wrap the whole thing in another sheet of plastic.

rinse yarn until water runs clear then hang somewhere with 

good ventilation to dry until COMPLETELY dry

I use a white cutting board under the yarn while rinsing so I can see the color of the water... 

ALL COLORS WILL CONTINUE TO BLEED INTO YARN UNTIL RINSED

outside works well for drying... and the yarn smells summery fresh, too!

(and sometimes the dye runs on the concrete a little and looks like your table sprung a leak)

You will know when we try acid dying (we're gonna use kool aid!) and when we try any other processes.