How to Paint Sock Yarn
Hand painting your own sock yarn is an inexpensive way to create unique variegated colorways. Your dye choices are limited only by the fiber content of your yarn. One hundred percent animal fiber sock yarn allows you the greatest freedom of choice, with acid dyes, all-natural dyes and even powdered drink mix imparting vibrant color. Plant fibers like cotton and bamboo require slightly more complicated procion dyes. After determining the fiber content of your sock yarn and choosing the appropriate dye, the painting process can begin.
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Things You'll Need
- Loose skeins of yarn
- Bucket
- Plastic turkey basters
- Wool wash
- Glass jars
- Large garbage bags
- Bathtub
Instructions
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Soak a loose skein of undyed yarn in a bucket or sink full of cool water with a capful of wool wash or dish liquid. The wool wash helps remove any leftover lanolin in the yarn and prepares it to accept dye. Depending on your dye type, you may also need to add a mordant to the water such as vinegar, alum, soda ash or cream of tartar. Read the dye label and mix the mordant accordingly.
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Empty the bucket and lay the yarn lengthwise on plastic garbage bags. For best results, work outdoors, where you won't make a mess in your house and the heat of the sun can help set the colors of your yarn.
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Mix the dye colors in individual glass jars according to label instructions. Place lids tightly on the jars and shake them until all dye particles are dissolved in the water.
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Use a separate turkey baster for each color. Pull just enough dye into the baster to coat a small section of the yarn.
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Hold the baster just above the yarn and squirt out only as much dye as you need to barely saturate the section on which you're working. For three colors, divide your yarn into three sections or repeat a single color several times in shorter stripes. Use a separate baster for each color and leave 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch of blank space between each color to allow the dye to bleed slightly.
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Cover the saturated yarn with another plastic garbage bag and allow it to heat in the sun for several hours.
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Carry the yarn, still wrapped in the garbage bags, indoors. Lay the yarn flat in the bathtub and turn on the shower to rinse it. When most of the dye has run down the drain, you can pick up the yarn and finish rinsing it under the faucet, squeezing the water through until it runs clear.
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Hang your skein of yarn in the sun or over the shower head to dry, then wind it into a ball and knit your socks.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit colors of yarn image by VisualEyez from Fotolia.com
