When it comes to dyeing wool I am usually quite content to work with natural dyes. There are enough plants and colour variations to keep a person entertained for a lifetime. However, every once in a while it’s a good idea to shake things up a bit so I gathered together some roving, beads and a package a raspberry Kool-Aid:
I used the microwave and the spinning wheel and made this:
Certainly a deviation from my normal spinning and dyeing techniques. I don’t know when blue became the official colour for raspberry flavour but it does make a nice dye. I mixed the Kool-Aid with water and put it and the wet wool in a microwave safe dish. I cooked it for two minutes on high, waited two minutes then cooked it for another two minutes, rinsed the wool and let it dry. I then spun two singles. I threaded the beads, about three hundred of them, on some sewing thread and spun the thread with one of the singles spacing the beads randomly along the length of wool. Finally I plied the single with the beads with the single without the beads and declared the project complete. Approximately 100 meters of worsted weight wool with beads spun into it. I don’t know what I will make with this. Maybe a hat?
