Dye Yarn with Kool Aid

Would you like to learn really easy methods for hand dyeing yarn with Kool-aid? In this tutorial, I’ll teach you three different techniques to get three different looks.

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Materials:

Knit Picks Stroll Fingering Weight Yarn
Kool-aid (6 packs per 100 grams of yarn)
Tongs
Plastic Wrap
Colander
Yarn Swift (for Drying)
Zip Tie or Shower Curtain Ring

Step 1:

Place the zip tie looped around the yarn to keep it from getting tangled or out of sorts. Soak the yarn in normal tap water for a minimum of 30 minutes. I like to use a casserole dish for this because it’s not too deep, but the water will cover all of the yarn.

Step 2:

Heat 8 cups of normal tap water on the stove on high heat until it boils. Add your kool-aid. On the first hank, I did 6 Pink Lemonades. Stir until well dissolved.

Step 3:

Wring out your yarn from the tap water it was soaking in and add it to your pot of kool-aid. Turn the heat down to 1 or low. Let it sit in the hot water until all of the kool-aid color is absorbed. This took about 5 minutes or so.

Step 4:

Once all the color is exhausted, carefully remove the yarn from the pot and put in a colander in the sick to cool. Rinse the yarn with warm water. Add a little bit of dish soap to the colander with your hand and wash the yarn. Rinse again until the yarn runs clear.

Step 5:

Hang the yarn to dry. I like to use my yarn swift for this because it can hold a lot of yarn and it’s easy to store away when I’m not using it.

If you’re happy with your color at this point, that’s it! If you’d like to add some speckles to a colored yarn base, continue on!

ADD Speckles:

Step 1:

Lay out some plastic wrap on your counters to protect them from any color staining. Lay your wet yarn on top of the plastic wrap and spread out a bit.

If you aren’t speckling yarn that you just dyed solid, you’ll need to do the pre-soaking process with the tap water for a minimum of 30 minutes.

Step 2:

Add 1 package of kool-aid in a contrasting color to a tea strainer. Gently shake the tea strainer over the yarn to make speckled spots. Once it’s all gone, flip the yarn over and do it again with another package of kool-aid.

Kool-aid in a tea strainer for speckling

Step 3:

Wrap the yarn up with the plastic wrap on your counters and place in a microwavable safe bowl. Microwave on high in 2 minute increments until it’s pipping hot. I microwaved mine for about 4 minutes total.

Step 4:

Wait for the plastic wrap to cool down completely before handing. Rinse and wash the yarn again to make sure there is no residue.

Hang to dry.

Variegated Yarn with Multiple Colors:

Step 1:

Repeat steps 1 and 2 like normal yarn dyeing, but instead of adding 6 packages of kool-aid, only add 3 of your first color. Dissolve completely.

Step 2:

Dip dye ⅓ of your yarn in the dye pot holding the rest out of the water until all of the first color is exhausted. This should only take a few minutes because it’s not much color and it’s not much yarn.

Step 3:

Add 3 packages of the next kool-aid color and dissolve completely. Turn the yarn so you will dip some of the yarn you already dyed into the dye pot along with the next third of your bare yarn. Hold the rest of the yarn out of the water until all of the second color is exhausted.

Step 4:

Repeat the process for your third kool-aid color, turning the yarn again to get the rest of the bare yarn while still holding the rest of the yarn out of the pot. Once all the color is exhausted, gently wring it out and move it to the sink for washing like normal.