You may not even know about these, but way back at the beginning of this blog, almost 3 years ago, I did a couple of kool-aid yarn dyeing tutorials. They were specifically how-tos for getting particular kinds of variegation (as opposed to dyeing basics) – part 1 being three blending colors, part 2 longer stripes of random-order solids. (I’ve just gone back and edited these old posts a little, changing some bad advice I’d given and some minor details, but not anything major.)
So, after 3 years and countless skeins of dyeing experience have now passed, I want to do a couple of new dyeing tutorials for you! (For the basics of dyeing, if you’re new to it, see the link list in my first tutorial, since this post is only meant for this particular variegation method, not for kool-aid dyeing in general.)
I recently dyed up a skein of bulky yarn (Imperial Stock Ranch Lopi) with 5 different colors in my crock pot, for a spotty, kettle dyed kind of look, as you can see above. Dyeing in a crock pot is different from dyeing in a pot on the stove because the water is more still, so the dye tends to stick to the yarn where it falls more, and colors tend to blend together less. This makes a variegated yarn with more defined colors, instead of just a few colors which are blended together. My specific flavors used were: Lemon Lime, Orange, Strawberry, Berry Blue, and Lemonade.
To get this look, you’ll need a crock pot (I got mine at my local Goodwill outlet for around $5), wool yarn (or a blend with other animal fibers like alpaca, angora, cashmere – a small percentage, like 15% or less, of something man made, like nylon or rayon, would be ok) in hank form, several colors of kool-aid, a large spoon, a colander, and vinegar is optional since kool-aid already has acid, but I usually use a little anyway because I feel like it might help with colorfastness.
So, start by filling the crock pot with water (and a little vinegar if you want) and submerging the yarn in there. Let it soak a bit, then turn on the heat and put the lid on – the yarn should soak for at least 15 minutes or so (longer is fine) before dyeing, and the lid should fog up to show that it’s hot. (My vintage pot only has two settings – medium and high – so I usually use medium and it works well.)
Now you can add your first colors – this is all up to you, but I’ll just tell you exactly how I made this particular yarn. First, I covered one half of the yarn in the pot with orange, and the other half with green (lemon lime), sprinkled directly from the packet into the pot. Orange and green are complimentary colors (edit: no they’re not! what was I thinking?! but they don’t always blend well, which I what I meant), which means you need to be careful about putting them together, but it doesn’t have to be avoided completely – green with some orange makes an olive green color, and orange with a little green makes a darker orange. So, I tried not to overlap them at all on purpose, but I knew that if they bled into each other a little, it would be fine.
Cover with the lid and let it sit until the dye fully absorbs into the yarn, so the water looks clear and the yarn is colored. Now use your spoon to turn the yarn over, so all the undyed yarn from the bottom is now on top. I tried to keep it arranged the way it was, just flipped, so that the bottom layer stayed orange on one side and green on the other side. I poured blue on the half that had green below, and red on the side that had orange below. This was because green and blue blend well, as do red and orange (blue+orange or red+green, not so much) and the top colors were likely to do some blending with the bottom colors. Red and blue were chosen to add next to each other for the same reason, to make some purple when they touch and blend.
Cover and let the dye absorb again, then use your spoon to turn the yarn around and search for white spots. I used my last color, yellow (lemonade), which would blend well with all of the other colors, especially since lemonade kool-aid is really light and subtle, to fill in any white spots I could find. When I found white, I’d arrange the yarn with the spoon so as much white as possible was on top, sprinkle on some lemonade, and cover to let it dye. Then I kept repeating the white investigation and dyeing until the yellow packet was all used up. (As you can see, the powder sits on the water surface a little before sinking to the yarn – if it doesn’t sink down right away, you can push it down with the spoon, but this might mix the colors more than you want.)
Once the dyeing is complete, turn off the heat, and let it sit in the water to cool for awhile (until cooled to room temperature is best, but not totally necessary). Now scoop the skein out with the spoon, into the colander in the sink, and let it cool all the way to room temperature there. Rinse a bit, with water of the same temperature, and squeeze the water out as much as you can, without twisting. Roll up in a towel to dry more, shake it out, then hang to dry (in the shower, or on a hanger in a doorway, or on a coat rack, etc) overnight or until totally dry. Ball up and knit!
A note about my yarn, and the colors I used… red bleeds like crazy, way more than any other color, so even though I used exactly equal amounts of the 5 colors, the red really took over the skein. (The photo below shows how much red there is.) So, if you are using the same (or similar) colors as me, and want more even variegation of the colors, I think it would be wise to use about half a packet of red instead of a whole packet.
But, that said, I still love this yarn, and knitting with hand-dyed variegated yarn (that you dyed yourself!) is unbelievably fun and satisfying, an experience I think every knitter should try! With yarn like this, every stitch is different from the last!
Oh yeah, I should show you, this is the same method I used to dye these yarns (and more):
Fun! Yay! And I’d love to see your yarns dyed using this how-to! (you could link to photos in the comments, or add them to the leethal flickr group!)
Lee Does Stuff 
i totally want to do this!
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LOVE this! Reminds me of how I used to tye dye on the stove…duh! I can use a crock pot for my scrap fabric dyeing. Thanks!
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Cool! I wonder how this would work with Easter egg dyes…
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I have some bare sock yarn and some leftover awesome local worsted weight that is natural and undyed sitting at home and now I can't wait to get some Kool Aid and my crock pot out and get started — I think my kids are going to enjoy it too! Thanks for the tutorial!
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This is AWESOME, i can't wait to try it!
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ok I have a question, and it might be a super dumb question, but how do you keep the yarn from getting all tangled up? I dyed some sock yarn before, and it turned out a big messy tangled blob that I didn't want to even think about untangling :-(So you just undo the hank, plop it in the water and pull it back out kind of unfussled (just made that word up)?? I hope that makes some sense.
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Great, thank you! Can't wait to try it!
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If you tie it in 3 or 4 (or more depending on loop size) places, in a figure 8, that'll keep it in order. I mentioned that briefly in my part 1 dyeing tutorial, but never got into much detail – this tutorial on knitty goes into great detail with photos of winding and tying: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring07/FEATdyeyour…She ties it in a more extreme multiple figure 8's way – I just go in and out once, for a single 8 shape, and it works fine.If you're using a skein of yarn that already came in hank form, it's probably tied in 1 or 2 places already, so all you need to do is add a couple more ties and it's ready to go!
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You can totally dye yarn with Easter egg dyes – I always go shopping the week after Easter to pick up some super-discounted dye!You just have to add a bunch of vinegar (same for food coloring) since there's no acid, so it won't absorb into the yarn on its own. (I don't measure my vinegar, but for a skein of yarn I probably add about 1-2 cups.)As for this specific dyeing method – the effect has a lot to do with sprinkling the kool-aid powder directly onto the yarn, so to get the same look, it would have to be powder easter egg dye…. sometimes it's in powder form, sometimes in little pellets; i don't know which is more common… so yeah, the powder should work the same way!
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Oh sweet, I may be scouring the VV boutique (Value Village for all you west-coasters!) for a new crock pot to do some dyeing this weekend!
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Thanks, Lee! This is SUPER helpful!
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Oh how fun! I'll be on the lookout for a crock-pot now. And I'll be linking. Thanks so much for this!
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Great Tutorial! Thanks for sharing!
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FYI: The Fisherman's Wool from LionBrand is a great yarn to use. I use my 40% off coupon at Michael's to get a good deal.
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Do you have to unwind the entire skein to do this?
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Very interesting I think I'd like to give this a try
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I've tried this before, but I can never get Kool Aid to set completely. The first time I wash the item I've knitted, it bleeds all over and looks like a muddy mess. What am I doing wrong?
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Lee, these yarns are just beautiful! What a great idea – dying with Kool Aid! Brilliant! I am thinking I will use the yarns for Saori Weaving because both your technique for dying and the weaving style have elements of surprise. I think they will compliment each other! Thanks so much for the great tutorial!
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heck ya! Coloring without the ''mess''. Great Idea! Reminds me of when I dyed my hair red in highschool 😉
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okay, sorry to be super nit-picky, but is this more of a staining technique? how color fast is this yarn since you didn't use soda ash?the yarn is stunning and i can't wait to try this myself, if it works this way it would be great because my crock pot would still be food ready afterward!
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Awesome tutorial! I hope it's o.k. to share your great idea on my blog today…full credit acknowledged to you! Fantastic post! Thanks for sharing! I found you via a link on Craftzine! Awesome! Can't wait to try this!!
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I love this! I think I'll have my knitting group bring over their crock pots one night and we'll have a dye party!
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hello! Thanks for sharing this technique for dyeing with Koolaid; I'll have to try it soon.One question: are these colours FAST? will the colour bleed when I need to wash the garment? Thanks !
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Thank you for the nice tutorial, and plan to use this for dyeing venture.
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THANK YOU for this tut!!! I LOVE IT!!! I definitely have added this to my TO DO list!!!!
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How do you recommend washing yarn once it's dyed like this? These are really awesome and I'd like to try it!
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Awesome! I was just wondering about the subject of kool-aid yarn dying. Not that I need another obsession. 🙂
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Hi there! This looks SOOOO cool!I have a question — I am allergic to wool and cannot knit with it at all. Would this work with cotton or cotton/acrylic yarn? Thanks in advance!
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If you do it correctly – letting the dye absorb completely, letting the yarn cool, etc – it is colorfast and the dye will not bleed. I've seen colors bleed like crazy with fiber/yarn I've bought from professional dyers, but I've never seen my kool-aid dyed fiber bleed!
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It's acid dyeing, and if you do it correctly it does not bleed or fade. I wouldn't recommend keeping your kool-aid dyed yarn sitting in direct sunlight for years, but I wouldn't recommend that for any yarn ;)I have yarn I dyed 3 years ago (knit into wearables) that I've worn a ton, washed, etc, that still looks as bright as the day I dyed it. I have never seen my dyed yarn bleed, and I cannot say the same for dyed fiber/yarn that I've purchased from professional dyers.That's one of the (many) great things about dyeing with non-toxic food dyes – you can still use all the pots/utensils/etc for food when you're done!
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Are you letting the dye absorb completely into the yarn (so the water is clear)? Are you letting the yarn cool to room temperature before washing?If yes, then I have no idea… I've never had any of my dyed yarn bleed afterward. I'd have to see your process to try to figure out what the problem is…
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Thanks for linking! Glad you like it!!
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Thanks! Can't take credit for the idea 😉 but I've spent years trying to figure out fun ways to get different kinds of variegation and color effects, fun stuff!I'd love to see how that weaving project turns out, sounds awesome!!
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Of course you can share! Thanks!!
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Sounds awesome! Now I want to have a dye party!!
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Just as you'd normally wash wool – hand wash, cool water, no agitation so it doesn't felt at all. The dye is colorfast, so it shouldn't bleed or anything, just treat it kindly as you would any nice yarn 🙂
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Unfortunately, this kind of acid dyeing only works on animal fibers – it won't absorb into plant fibers (like cotton, bamboo, hemp, etc) or man-made fibers (acrylic, rayon, nylon, etc). It will work on angora, cashmere, alpaca, or any other animal fibers if you're ok with any of those.
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I love this! Thank you for so meticuously explaining what you were doing and with photos too! One quick question — do you use the crockpot that you cook food in as well? (I can't imagine why not, so my question is a bit dumb, but I still feel compelled to ask…). Thank you!
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How cool!!!!
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Thanks I am now sharing this with friends
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This looks looks like real fun -unfortunately, I don't thimk kool-aid is readily available in uk supermarkets, but will definitely try to get hold of some!
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Just wondering if fabric could be done this way? Just love your presentation of this project thanks so much.
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Great presentation!!!! Just wondering ….do you think this would work with muslin fabric?
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acid dyes like kool-aid will only work on animal fibers, and I believe muslin is cotton (plant fiber), so no.. but it would work on wool fabric (or other animal fiber).
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My crock pot is kind of old and gross-ish – i bought it just for dyeing so that's its only use. But, this process is totally non-toxic and food-safe, so you can definitely use your food crock pot to dye with kool-aid, no problem!
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I just stumbled across your amazing tutorial and have to tell you that I was given the same crock pot as an engagement gift in 1979! I still use it for cooking but would be keen to try the wool dyeing one day. Thanks!
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I am literally going to go do this RIGHT NOW!!! I have Kool-Aid all ready to go!!! Thank you for the awesome tutorial!
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Oops… my name was spelled wrong… that's what you get from trying to nurse and type at the same time…
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does it bleed later?
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This is SO awesome! Its so weird (and great) that the colors don't just all bleed together and make brown. Thanks for sharing! I can't wait to try this!
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