Dyeing to knit

Today I tried dyeing yarn with kool-aid. I bought 5 skeins of Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Fisherman (the same yarn I used for Bobblicious) and 42 packets of black cherry Kool-aid.

I'm planning to use the yarn to make the shrug that is on the cover of the 2006 spring/summer Knit It! magazine by Better Homes & Gardens. First you need to wind your yarn into a skein by winding it around the back of a chair, like so:

Then you need to soak the yarn in warm water until the yarn is fully saturated:

While the yarn is soaking, you put a little water in a large pot and dissolve the kool-aid packets in the water. (A good guideline is one packet per ounce of yarn, but I used a little more than that.) Add the yarn to the pot and then add water until the yarn is covered.

Bring water (and yarn) to a near-boil then turn off heat and cover for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once water is clear remove yarn and rinse. I came up with this:

So here's what I learned from this experience: Kool-aid doesn't stick to acrylic yarn at all, only animal fibers like wool. I used a wool blend so my yarn came out looking a little heathered.

It's also not as dark as I was hoping for, again because of the acrylic/wool blend. In any case, I love it. I can't wait to dye the other 4 balls of yarn. More info on dyeing yarn can be found here: http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall02/FEATdyedwool.html