Dying Yarn With Drink Mix

One of the things that I find fun to do, is to play with color and dying. I had purchased a cone of ecru mohair yarn and decided that some of it needed to be dyed. I have dyes here that you can use on wool, but I wanted to use k**l aid this time. When I do use fiber dyes, I get them locally from FancyFibers . But, back to the drink mix. I love the color of the flavor, Blue Moon Lemonade. It is a gorgeous light teal color. But, for this yarn, I was wanting something a little more subdued. One time My Mom's Work told me, that if I want the color darkened just add a little grape. So, I did just that.
I added some grape.

After I had skeined the yarn, I then soaked the yarn in a mixture of a squirt of dish soap and water for an hour. I removed the yarn from the water, gently squeezed out some of the water and placed the yarn into the pickle jar. I filled the jar with water and then I mixed the drink mix mixture with water and the vinegar and poured it into the jar. Then I gently mixed it all together.

I used about 5 bags of Blue Moon, a touch of grape and about 1/4 cup of white vinegar, to about 600 yards of the mohair. Then because we have LOTS of sun in Texas, I placed my concoction in the sun.

The great thing about dying with drink mix is, that the color will exhaust(disappear into the fiber) and leave the water pretty much clear. So, when that happens you know you are done.


By using the drink mix, you can use your kitchen utensils and the dye is non-toxic.

When I was done, I rinsed it out and hung it to dry. The different colors did strike at different times, so the yarn is not solid. But, the way it looks is lovely and gorgeous. I would do this again.

I am now knitting a shawl with this yarn and it is looking lovely, although I have had it to the "frog pond" several times, rip it, rip it. I had this shawl project with me on my trip to NY and a gal on the plane leaned across the aisle to tell me how gorgeous the yarn was. :) Made my day.

I will admit there is a little lemonade scent in the yarn, but it isn't strong and is enjoyable, actually. By the time it is done and washed again, it will look wonderful. Maybe I will do cherry next time and dream of cherry pies.