Cake Dyeing

I've tried this once before and I really liked the effect.  So I decided to do it again and this take take pictures of the process. 

I'm using Greener Shades acid dyes and Knit Picks Bare. 

This is 1 skein of bulky and I think it will make an amazing hat for someone. 


Here's the cake warming up in my dye pot.  I use that paddle thing you can see on the stove to gently press it against the sides to remove the bubbles. 

Here's my dye.  I used 1% solution for 2oz of yarn.  That was more than I needed.  This was ~3/4 green and 1/4 black.   I then diluted it with water so that I had a good chance of even coverage.

The set up.

I used a syringe to  add the dye (mainly adding it to the water around the outside of the pot).  

Right after I added the dye.

I let it soak for a bit and then turned it over in the pot.

Then I added my citric acid premixed with water.  Then I used my paddle thing to press the yarn against the  side of the pot to help the dye permeate further into the cake.  It might look really dark on the  outside - but rest assured, most of the yarn isn't dyed. I took care not to squish it vertically because I want there to be white in the middle.

In the sink.

For this pic, I pulled the cake apart a bit and you can see what I mean.

I found that it took ALONG time last time for the yarn to dry in the cake.  So this time I pressed out as much water as I could and then started skeining it.  You can see that once I've removed the really dark outer layers, it looks really neat inside.  

This it the skein hanging to dry in the kitchen.There are probably 10 loops of really dark green, and then a really cool mottled effect on the rest of the yarn.  Dark bits where the yarn was on the top/bottom of the skein and lighter bits where it was closer to the inside and then while from the middle (horizontally) where the dye didn't reach.  

A close up..