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If you’ve got a microwave, then use it wisely! I’ve never liked the things for cooking – I like the texture of food that an oven gives you, personally. Yet sweetheart Tom went on a mission to find a freebie working microwave for me to dye with – and he turned up with one in less than a week! It’s tiny yet powerful, doesn’t have a rotating function and needed a bloomin’ good clean, but I was more than happy. If you are like us and a tad skint, folk chuck stuff like this out all the time in favour of a newer/better/bigger model, so keep your eyes open for whatever’s going.

Microwaves work a treat, whether you’re dyeing wool or cotton. They cut down the time from around an hour to less than 10 minutes, and are strangely less messy, as you don’t need large containers of water. The only thing they’re rubbish at is even, one-colour dyeing – you’ll need your big pot or sink for that one, as yarn/fabric needs space to move and a good stir to get an even colour.

But if you like sticking something in, not quite knowing how it will turn out and want the element of surprise, then this is a good way to go. Just don’t go expecting self-patterning yarns like you can buy in the shops… you may well get a pattern of sorts or you could get something else entirely 😉

Get yer gear ready

Apart from the above mentioned microwave, you’ll need a few other bits too.

– Small squeezy plastic bottles, preferably with snap-shut lids and only a small hole for the liquid to come out – I got a few of mine from Hobbycraft, although they’re a tad small and cost money. You can use washed out Bodyshop bottles or similar.

– Easy acid dyes and a drop of plain old white vinegar. These dyes are available from Kemtex and Omega and aren’t too expensive. A small pot of 25g (about 1 fl oz) goes a fair way. Any vinegar will do; the cheaper, the better. Wool (and other protein fibres) need heat and acid to take effect. These dyes already have the acid component, which saves a lot of aggro. The vinegar is just needed to help the process along a little and you don’t need much.

Note – the Easy Acid dyes produce more subtle colours than the regular acid dyes

– Microwave cooking bags. I bought 10 for 99p in Morrisons, although if you rinse them out after dyeing they can be reused over and over.

– Plastic gloves. I hate wearing them and always end up with stained fingers.

– Waste plastic bags for working on to protect your worktop.

Preparation

If your skein isn’t already tied, do so with some waste yarn in at least 2 places; don’t tie it too tight, else it will stop the dye penetrating in those places.

You will need to soak the wool first, otherwise you’ll end up with badly blotchy results and the colours will look nasty. If you can, soak it for a couple of hours in the bath first. A quick rinse out under the tap isn’t enough – the properties of wool are such that it’s fairly water repellent, so you gotta make sure it’s wet through. A drop of washing up liquid helps. And I always add a dribble of vinegar to the soak, too.

And yer off!

For this demo skein, I used purple, grey and burgundy on 100g of chunky wool yarn which was already a dusky pink. This how it looked just before cooking.

After 5 or 10 minutes, run the hot water tap until it’s at its hottest, and fill the sink sufficiently to cover the yarn. Empty the bag of its yarn and allow the wool to soak for a while. There are 2 golden rules to remember with wool to stop it felting:-

a) Try to avoid shocking the fibres with a sudden temperature change – this will open the scales and it’ll be ready to cling to another bit of fibre.

b) Avoid too much agitation after a temperature change or when the wool is in hot water. Too much movement will help those little scales join up…

Support

As always, if you have a question about this technique or need some help with it, leave a comment below! I’m afraid I’m unable to offer help via email or private message, but you’re welcome to post in our forum.

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