Someone (I forget who) posted that they wished they saw more instructions for crafts, so I'm pitching one in. This is for dying yarn. Before you get started: 1) Make sure what you're dying is natural fibers, they dye the best. There's no guarantees with synthetics. 2) Cover your workspace with plastic. Grocery and garbage bags work well. 3) Wear rubber gloves. Even though the dye is washable, it minimizes what you get on your skin. 4) Wear clothes that you don't mind getting dirty. It will happen, I don't care how careful you are! 5) Keep a microwave handy - this is heat set, so it prevents/reduces the dye from washing out. Pics below are in the order of my instructions, I've attatched them.... First, soak your yarn in a vinegar/water mix for about 10 munites. I use 1 part vinegar to three parts water. While this is soaking, prepare your dyes. You can use sugar-free Kool Aid, food colouring, Wilton dyes, etc. With Kool Aid I usually disolve 1 packet into 1 cup water. Make sure that dyes are super concentrated for awesome colours! With the other dyes, use enough to make 1 cup of water nice and dark. (My rule of thumb, is to mix 1 part vinegar to three parts water then mix in the dyes, to better set it.) Soak the yarn in your dyes, preferably going from lightest to darkest colours. Expunge any excess dye. Place in a microwavable dish, cover with either plastic or a paper towel, and nuke for 2-3 minutes. Hang to dry. After a few hours, when it's good and dry (to prevend molding from dampness) rewrap into a new skein. Then knit or crochet your heart out.
Thanks so much for posting this great info on hand dying. I've just started learning to spin my own wool into yarn so this will be the next step
