Dyeing Yarn With Koolaid
February 23, 2006
I’ve been thinking about doing this for awhile with some cotton blend yarn that I got on sale. I thought it would be fun to try it out on. I’ve come up with an awesome idea for a pattern of a mesh grocery/market type of bag. Has anyone tried dyeing yarn with Kool-Aid? Any tips?
Link:Dyeing Yarn With Kool-Aid
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Strings and Yarn 
My mom has dyed a number of things with kool-aid and jello. The jello colors seem to come out better, if memory serves. But give her a call – evenings are best – and see what she has to say.
I have indeed done some dyeing with kool-aid and jello. The kool-aid that is without sugar is simply food dye and works quite well. I used the web site you referenced along with a couple of others. I was dying silk at the time and it came out quite beautifully. The colors were fairly muted but lovely. I did play with some of the chemicals I had on hand for setting the color – vinegar is one of them.
If you want to see what I did you can stop by, Jodie, as it would be fun to see you also.
Mama! There you are! We’ve been trying and trying to see you – be warned, we’ll probably try to stop in this weekend. Not that you’ll be around. Again. But we still love you.
In chemistry class in high school, I tried dying some cotton yarn with red cabbage. It didn’t work so well! I boiled and soaked it forever, but it ended up such a pale shade of blue you could hardly tell it had been dyed. Maybe I needed to add something besides just the cabbage!
I definetly want to get some real advice from somebody who has done it before. I looked at my yarn and its 80% cotton and 20% merino wool, so I think it’ll take to the dye okay.
Jennifer, I hadn’t thought of trying to use natural dyes. I think it’s alot harder, but may be worth looking into. Although, I think I’ll stay away from the cabbage.
Yeah it smelled pretty bad when I was making it. :)
I did the Jello last night and it didn’t smell bad at all. It also didn’t come out quite as dark as I would like. I’m wondering if I should process it again, or just accept it’s lighter color. Does dyeing yarn twice totally screw it up?