Recycling and dyeing yarn, part 2 - thanks to Cassie (and to my faster internet connection today...I'd wanted to post more dyeing links but the interwebz were too slow).
THIS is the original picture that inspired me to start yanking apart cheapo sweaters - isn't that wrap pretty? Here's the free pattern! And THIS is the original tutorial I read about how to do it.

Knitty has another fantastic tutorial about how to create gorgeous handpainted yarns using plain old food coloring. I love the idea of saving yourself literally hundreds of dollars (if you think I'm joking, check out the prices of, say, a hank of handpainted 100% cahsmere or merino yarn) by spending maybe $10, MAX, on a sweater and several bottles of food coloring. I have found MANY cashmere sweaters at Goodwill - if they aren't my size or style, I simply tear them apart, dye the yarn, and then have loads of gorgeous cashmere yarn to knit with.

You can also dye yarn with easter egg dyes. This is extremely economical if you stalk the local grocery stores the day after Easter. You'll find all their excess dye on sale for as low as 10 cents per package ( no joke). Stock up and have fun dyeing!

This post is for 2 of my awesome friends, who are brand new knitters. I love knitting, and I love recycling/upcycling/repurposing. Which is why I think taking a $1.99 Goodwill sweater and turning it into hanks and hanks and hanks of yarn is TOO fun.


When I started knitting, this was a GREAT way to build stash without spending money. (Wait...it still is!). IT's especially freeing if you're playing with DYEING. I have had some fairly disastrous natural dyeing attempts, and it is very comforting to know I didn't ruin/felt/uglify some expensive nice yarn. Just an old sweater that needed a new purpose.

So, here is an excellent blog post about how to take apart a sweater and turn it into an intergalactic megaton of yarn. I personally find Gap sweaters to be great to tear apart. They tend to have awesome fun yarns, and are easy to take apart.


and here is a great Knitty article about how to use koolaid to dye yarn! I never drink Kool Aid, but I DO enjoy Kool-Aid dyeing. So you can turn a solid colored sweater into MANY colored skeins of yarn!

Here is a picture of the hot pink solar-dyed roving! It is up for sale on etsy now.

So, we had some leftover wool and silk that we had soaked, but not dyed yesterday. Today is about 90 degrees and blazing hot, so i decided to try a little solar dyeing. i used 2 big black canning pots. The left one has some grey wool, the right one has white wool and some silk spinning hankies. I put some hot water and a splash of vinegar in each pot.


Next i added some jacquard acid dyes - chestnut, burgundy, aztec gold and spruce in the left pot. Salmon, bright yellow, hot pink and some vermillion in the right. i shook the pots a little just to get the color slightly dispersed.


Next i raded my basement for a few big boxes, and my kitchen for a big roll of aluminum foil and some double-sided tape, to make a sorta really sad white trash/ghetto solar oven. I had help, as you can see.
Then i put the lids on each pot, and wrapped them each in a plastic garbage bag.

Then i hauled the boxes and plastic-wrapped pots out onto my hot hot hot driveway, in the hot hot hot sun. (No worries - the neighbors already think i am insane. this should not alarm them too much more). I guess I'll let them sit for a day or two and see what happens!

Yesterday, a couple of us local fiber-geeks got together and had some fun with silk, wool roving, and some jacquard acid dyes. Shown above is an AMAZING gorgeous silk "cap", dyed by Jill. I cannot wait to see how that spins up!!




the proceedings were carefully monitored by this little fellow. :) he wanted to make sure we didn't get *too* wild and crazy with the fun!!

Terri also played us a cd and video from her son's band, My First Earthquake. Very cool, fun band. suppose we can get them to tour the Midwest?!