Dyeing with the Kids

We had loads of fun this week.  I decided it was finally time to try dying unspun fiber.  I waited until the littlest one's nap time, and got a pound of Navajo churro fleece to soaking in my big pot.  I wrapped the wool together like a package with a piece of scrap yarn, hoping to make it easier to manage.  It really didn't.  So I got it out and put in the rack from my boiling water canner (it has handles!).  That helped a lot.

Next we got the wool out and let the excess water drain off.  I should have done a better job on this step, but the kids were SO EXCITED to start with the colors!

The big one was in charge of the blue, I was in charge of the green, and the little one was in charge of the yellow.  Each color was three packs of sugar free Kool Aid.  I am very glad right now that I use only food dyes, because at one point or another both kids decided to taste the dye stock.  To add to the fun and excitement, we used a nasal aspirator (I couldn't find the turkey baster) to spray the dye onto the wool.

Yes, the rack is sitting in my wok in that picture.  It was just the right size, and I needed something to catch run off!  Then into the pot it went to heat set.

It simmered and simmered until all the dye was sucked up into the wool.  Now, there's one thing about this wool that I didn't mention before -- I used a cold water scour on it, so the lanolin was still in.  Navajo churro sheep don't produce a lot of lanolin, but this means that the more lanolin any given part of the fleece had in it, the less dye it took up.  I'm hoping to get a cool heathered yarn when I card it all together and spin it.

Loads of fun and excitement for all ages!  And now I have green wool.  And a rusty canning rack.  It turns out that the thing wasn't meant to withstand as much acid as I just put it through.  But hey, next time, I'll rinse it better.  We still had a great time!

Mmm, lanolin

If you are a cloth diaper mama, you will probably have at least heard of lanolizing.  It is the process by which lanolin is reapplied to a knitted or crocheted item (having been washed off in the scouring stage, before the wool was even yarn).  It's usually done to wool diaper covers to improve their waterproof properties, and to keep them from getting stinky (the ammonia in urine reacts with the lanolin to make soap!).  But I must tell you, lanolin rich wool gear is not just for cloth diaper bottoms!  A lanolized hat will repel water.  Lanolized mittens will keep the snow out better.  Lanolin is, all around, great stuff!

So for those of you who don't know, here's the process:  First you put a small amount of HOT water into your basin (don't use your sink, the lanolin can clog up your pipes).  Mix in about an inch of lanolin, depending how many woolies you need to do.  You can find 100% lanolin with breastfeeding supplies at most stores.  Just get whatever's cheap - brand makes a difference to nursing moms, but for our purposes, as long as it's 100% it'll work fine.  Once the lanolin is melted into the water (this will take some stirring), mix in a bit of your favorite wool wash or baby shampoo.  Slowly add cool water until your water is just lukewarm.  Slowly submerge your finished item into the water.  As the water continues to cool, the lanolin will adhere to the wool (as well as the inside of the basin, frankly).  I usually let mine soak for about half an hour.  Squeeze out the excess water and dry flat as usual.  Ta-dah!  Lanolized, water resistant winter gear.