A Cherry Yarn

I needed something to do the other night when a friend was visiting, so I decided to dye yarn. After a quick rooting through the cupboards I came up with two packets of Walmart brand “cherry” drink mix, one “cherry” Kool Aid drink mix packet and one cherry burst or some other cleverly designed marketing name for a cherry flavored drink mix from Kool Aid. The yarn of choice was a skein of Reynold's Lopi in ecru that I scored at our local craft store for about $4 per skein.

Like so much of my life, I just kind of winged it. It's basically the procedure outlined in knitty's directions.

The process: Wind the ball into a hank. Soak the yarn in warmish water for at least 30 minutes. I think it ended up being about 45 minutes to an hour, because I started this before supper. Dump the powder in a glass mixing bowl and dilute with water to dissolve. Pour into the pot. Add yarn. Add more water to make sure yarn is covered. Heat it up until almost boiling. Shut off and let soak. As the yarn takes up the dye, the color in the water will disappear. Let it cool. Rinse. Wash with mild soap. I usually use the minions’ baby soap. Rinse again. Hang to dry. I usually hang it over a hanger with a grocery bag hooked on the ends so it will catch the water drips.

I then inhale the wonderful aroma of the yarn/drink mix combo. It's a strange, yet oddly comforting odor. I then re-skeined the product and begin the process of identifying what I’ll knit with it. I’m not a huge fan of the yarn itself, but it does felt nicely. I sure this yarn is destined to become a felted proejct.

Lesson of the Night: Putting freshly dyed yarn on a freshly cut lawn will guarantee that there are little flecks of green grass interspersed in the wooly goodness. And, that will tork you off.