It is common knowledge that if you spill Kool-Aid on your clothes it stains. I like to use this color-changing characteristic for my benefit. I can often find Kool-Aid packages for a good deal making it more cost-effective than buying fabric dye. Also, my kids have so much fun helping me to choose which flavor — err, that is to say, color — to use. It’s hard to top the ability to describe your sweater color to your friend as Sharkleberry Fin. A fun little bonus: The Kool-Aid dyed wool keeps the scent for the first little bit. I also really like to see just what color it comes out to be.
Supplies
The supplies needed for this project are a scale, hot water, cold water, wool, a stir stick, two jars, a drying rack and a towel
The first step is to measure out 1 ounce of wool and put in in a jar. Add cold water until it covers the wool. If the wool floats you will need to submerge it with the stir stick. Once it is immersed in cold water allow it to sit for 5 minutes.
While the wool fiber is soaking take your other jar and fill half the jar with hot water. Be sure it is not so hot that it will break your jar. Add the Kool-Aid packet to the hot water and stir. Once the 5 minutes has elapsed, take the wool out of the cold water gently squeezing the water out as your remove it. Place it directly in the hot water/Kool-Aid mixture. Pour in more hot water until the wool is covered.
Kool-Aid and Wool in Jar
Allow the wool to sit in the Kool-Aid for an hour or more.
Drying Rack
After the hour you can see that the color has been mostly absorbed by the wool and the water is almost white.
Drying Fiber
Pull the wool out of the water squeezing gently to get out the excess water and place it on a drying rack. You could just use a towel but would have to flip it regularly to expose the wet areas. If you fluff it up it will dry faster. The most dense areas will have less color absorbed in. If you do not like this try to separate them when putting them in the Kool-Aid. I actually really like the varied coloring. I feel like it adds character to my yarn. Often, this becomes unnoticeable after the carding process as I am preparing to spin it.
Fluffy Dry Alpaca Wool
After it is dry it becomes fluffy and you can see the true color. Sharkleberry Fin didn’t disappoint me. It made a nice soft pink for me to use. Experiment with your own flavors/colors and let us know what you like best.
