Updated: Feb 8, 2024 by Annette Browning

How NOT to Dye Yarn

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Yarn Dyeing Gone Wrong!

Learn How NOT to Dye Yarn so you don’t end up with Ugly Yarn.

Ever have one of those Grand Ideas where you just know it’s going to turn out super cool?? Yeah, well I had one of those this week.

I know how to dye pretty yarn and how to mix and match dye colors but then again, you never know how something will turn out until you try.

Well, this super cool and fun yarn dyeing experiment did not turn out the way I thought. At least, I figured out one way to dye ugly yarn, I mean really BUTT UGLY yarn.

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So the idea was to wind the skein into a ball and then dye it with all 3 primary colors in separate sections so that the yarn would end up with all the primary and all the secondary colors. Cool huh? I swear, Ms. Ruch, I paid attention in art class when you talked about the colorwheel!

All of my dyeing buddies are already sighing and shaking their heads…. Anyhoo, if you would like to duplicate my ugly yarn experiment, here’s what I did….

Yarn Dyeing Supplies:

– Wool Yarn s.a. Bare-Dye Your Own
– Jacquard Acid Dyes (I used Sky Blue, Yellow Sun and Cherry Red)
– Ball Winder (or roll it up in a ball by hand)
– Water
– Vinegar
– Dyeing Pots & Pans (no longer safe for food!)
– Stove

Wind up the Yarn

First, you need to turn the skein of yarn to be dyed into a center pull bump with the ball winder. You could also wind it into a ball by hand, but the pattern will be different.

Prepare the Yarn for Dyeing

Secure the end of the yarn so it doesn’t unravel. Hint: Make sure you mark the end or it’ll get lost and you’ll never find it again in that ball of yarn. Yes, I’ve done this lol.

I soaked my yarn ball in a warm water and vinegar solution for 2 hours (enough water to cover the ball and about 1/4 cup vinegar). While the yarn was soaking, I mixed up my dyestocks according to package directions.

Dyeing the Yarn

First, I dyed half of the ball of yarn with Yellow Sun. I filled my pot with enough of the water/dye solution to cover half of my yarn cake. Set the yarn in the solution and turn the heat to a medium. Lightly simmer for about 25 minutes until the water is clear.

I flipped the yarn over and repeated with the Cherry Red dye. So far, so good.

Third, I turned the ball perpendicular and dyed half of the cake with the Sky Blue dye.

To my surprise – altho it shouldn’t have been – the part with all 3 dyes turned Black. DUH!

Part of the yarn is actually quite pretty with a speckled yellow, orange and green. There’s also a lot of white since the dye did not penetrate all the way to the center of the yarn cake.

So, tell me about some of your failed experiments! Please, I’m dying to know lol!
And if you want to learn how to dye pretty yarn, I have those tutorials as well.
Enjoy!