Nancy Reagan would be so disappointed

I caved. Apparently, I am peer pressure's slave.

Yesterday, while the kids clambered about the living room like it was their own personal jungle gym (which, let's face it, it is), I got out one of my hanks of merino sock yarn, a big ceramic bowl, a big pot and the steamer basket (which I poured vinegar/water over but then never used again), four cups, two forks, one spoon, a pair of tongs, 15 packets of Kool-aid (four different flavors), three basting brushes (how did we get so many? two natural bristles, one synthetic), one mushroom-cleaning brush (synthetic bristles), and a shload of plastic wrap. Oh, and a shallow microwaveable dish.

Mixed up my dyes, soaked my yarn in hot water and vinegar, then laid it out on a couple lengths of plastic wrap, and began "painting" my yarn.

Notes for next time: synthetic-bristled brushes are useless, stick with natural bristles. Forget using grape Kool-aid for the purple, it's much too dull, even with a packet of Tropical Punch added to pink it up a bit. Lemon-Lime makes a nice green, but not as nice as when some "leaf green" Wilton gel food color is added. Orange Kool-aid is surprisingly effective at producing a good orange. Strawberry Kool-aid is more red than pink.

So, what are the results? Well, here, see for yourself:


I'm overall pretty pleased with it. The green I wish was a bit stronger. I'm wondering if I couldn't soak it in hot vinegared water again and just re-dye the green parts without screwing up the rest of the yarn. Even if I just leave it alone, I'm pretty pleased with it. I'd forgotten how much fun dyeing yarn can be.

And erm, Caz apparently had forgotten just how quickly I can destroy the kitchen with the yarn-dyeing as well. Whups.