* Alpaca Christine's Big Sister's Guide to Dyeing *

*PICTURE HEAVY POST*

If you have spent more than ten minutes with me, I really value my personal time. If I'm at home, I want to do what I want to do and though dyeing is fun, it can take time away from the important things. You know, knitting and sleeping. Another thing that I value is space. Now, I have a little bit more room than most people in one bedrooms, but every dyeing tutorial I've seen the person somehow has enough space to have forty different cups and enough space for all the yarn through all its stages plus they have like eight arms to prevent spillage!

I have a small kitchen. I don't have much room for laying out yarn or much time to kettle dye those damn things. Plus, I was born with two arms. Just two! I know, I was totally jipped. So, you don't have much space? You are in a rush for time? You haven't cracked the acid dye secrets? This is your big sister's guide to dyeing.

Now I'll show you two ways of dyeing. The first will be if you want to dye all one color. The second will be if you want a super awesome color way.

Things you need:
1) Oilcloth tablecloth (This is to prevent staining your table.)
2) Plastic cups (for the dye)
3) Gloves (I used to use rubber gloves, but they're difficult to do things with. I use silicone now.)
4) Yarn of animal fiber (i.e. alpaca, wool)*
5) Acid dyes*

* In the pictures, I'm using Catnipyarns.com's Prime Alpaca and/or Knit Pick's Bulky Naturals. As for dyes, I'm using Jacquard acid dyes.

Directions:

1. Cover your dyeing surface (I'm using my table) with the tablecloth. If this is your first time dyeing, I'd suggest putting something on your carpet to protect it as well.


2. Soak the yarn you will dye for at least thirty minutes, throw a little dishwasher soap in there as well. Tip: before I started dyeing large lots, I purchased 1 liter Gladware containers. I soaked the yarn in the containers. When I dye many skeins, I soak the skeins in my bathtub.


3. Lay a piece of plastic wrap down. I've found the oilcloth usually sticks pretty well to the plastic wrap, but otherwise you can just tape the edges down so they don't slide.


4. Now it's time to get your dye ready. I like to use cups with lines in them. To the line I'm pointing at, it's a little more than a cup. For a really rich color, I put about 1/4 teaspoon of dye for every cup. Sometimes I think it's a little too dark, so I just mix more water in it.


Tip: Chopsticks from take-out are great for mixing.



5. Squeeze as much of the water out of the skeins as you can. The more the better. Lay the skein out flat, spread it out a little. (I usually spread mine out more, but in the pictures you will see, I was dyeing two at once.)


6. Pour the dye out on the skein and press the dye into the yarn for maximum absorption.


7. Check for white spots unless you want them, then, check for them anyway.


8. Roll the yarn lengthwise. Be careful, if there's a lot of liquid left over, it may start to leak.


9. Place the skein so the plastic snake thing doesn't touch itself.
10. Put the skein in the microwave. Nuke it for 8 minutes.
11. Let the yarn cool. I put it on my porch. If you don't have a porch, just dump them out in the bathroom, make sure you take off the plastic.
12. Once the yarn is cool, rinse it with the same temperature water as the yarn is to prevent felting. Rinse until the water runs clear.
13. If it's a nice summer day and you have a porch, leave it out to dry-- just make sure it isn't directly in the sun. If you don't have a porch or if it's freezing, you can turn your bathroom (or a small room in your house with a door) into a "Quick Dry Room."

How to set up your Quick Dry Room:
1. Hang the yarn from a pole (I use my shower curtain rod).
2. Put a heater that will turn off if knocked over in the room. Turn it on medium heat.
3. Close the door and don't go in there too much. The heat helps it dry much faster. If you leave the house, I'd suggest turning off the heater.

And that is round 1 of how to dye skeins of yarn. I'll post the other way I dye a little later.