In my blog post a couple weeks ago, I talked about how I learned to dye my own tapestry yarn and how dyeing the yarn and learning to weave tapestry went hand in hand. I enjoy dyeing my own yarn so much. And I’ve branched out into making variegated yarns for tapestry and knitting, painting roving for spinning, and dyeing fleece that I blend as I spin.
Why dye your own yarn?
You can make any virtually color you want with synthetic dyes. Often the yarns we want to use for our fiber craft don’t come in just the color we have in mind, so we can make our own.
Investment in making just the right color probably helps us stay committed to a project and finish it!
You have a lovely yarn in an ugly color and you want to turn it into a color you love. Unless the color is very dark, you can make something you like more.
You want to make a range of values in one hue. Imagine the way you could grade color in a knitted color work sweater or how having a graded value scale of one hue could enhance a hooked rug or a tapestry.
You want to make a gradation between hues. Do you want your project to change color from yellow to orange? You can do that while matching the values if you dye your own yarn.
It gives you the ability to make small amounts of lots of colors instead of buying a full skein of every color. This is important for things like tapestry weaving, stranded color work knitting, rug hooking, or anything you might want a wide range of colors for but you don’t need a lot of each one. This can also make a project much cheaper since you can dye the yarn from that one skein into many different colors if you don’t need a lot of each one.
You live somewhere in the world where you can’t get the yarn variety you want for your projects. If you can get a base yarn, you can make the yarn you want.
Because dyeing is so much fun! I will admit it is a little addictive.
Is it less expensive to dye your own yarn than to buy commercial colors?
That depends on the base yarn you’re using and what your regular commercially dyed yarn costs. If you have time and not funds, it could be that dyeing your own yarn will save you money. I think this would be true if you either need very small amounts of yarn or very large amounts. For large format tapestries or other fiber projects that require a lot of yarn or fiber, cost of purchasing the materials can be significant. And if you’re weaving tiny tapestries and you want a lot of colors but you’re only using small amounts of yarn and don’t need a 100g skein in all those colors, then dyeing small amounts of yarn can also save you money.
The base yarn you use is probably the factor that makes or breaks it on cost. If you’re using a great yarn that doesn’t cost a lot such as Harrisville Koehler Singles or Crown Colony (these are tapestry yarn examples), then it probably is somewhat cheaper to dye your own colors. If you purchase the yarn you’re regularly using in white and dye it, of course there is no cost savings unless you are dividing those skeins into various colors. Some of the dye colors are quite expensive (violet, I’m looking at you!), but in these circumstances I think you might still save some money if you have the time to dye.
If you want to dye spinning fiber, fleece, or yarns for knitting, there are inexpensive base yarns or fiber that can be purchased and in these cases, you will save money over buying commercially produced products.
“In the end though, the advantage of dyeing your own yarn is largely in the absolute magic of making the colors yourself and the ability to make any color you want.”
Not sure you can do it?
I often hear people who have never tried any kind of dyeing doubt their abilities. I promise that acid wool dyes are simple. There is a series of steps you need to go through and yes, there is some math involved. It is also a bit messy and sometimes hot. But the rewards are great!
Common concerns and my thoughts
“I don’t have the space.” You can dye in your kitchen though I don’t recommend it. What you will need to dye elsewhere is space for one electric hot plate or other heat source, a few simple containers and tools, dyes and leveling compounds, citric acid, and time. A small patio or outdoor space is ideal but you could use a bathroom that had a vent fan also (if you’re using an electric hot plate).
“I don’t understand color theory.” There is no better way to learn about how colors interact than through dyeing your own fiber. Sure you might make some ugly yarn when you start, but the miracle of overdyeing can fix almost anything!
“I can’t stand messes.” Dyeing can be messy though you can control it. If you can cook a basic meal, you can dye. We’re just following a different kind of recipe. However, if you don’t like experimentation or figuring out puzzles, dyeing your own yarn might not be your thing.
“I can’t do math.” Well, neither can I. I would have failed Calculus 1 if it wasn’t for my roommate’s boyfriend. I got away with a C and never took another math class. The math for dyeing consists of multiplication, addition, and subtraction and I demonstrate all of it multiple times and provide a formula sheet that tells you what to do. And yes, I use a calculator for all of it.
“I don’t know what WOG or DOS mean.” Neither did I when I started! As in any new thing, there is some jargon and new terms involved but I’ll explain all of them and the great thing about an online class with me is that you can ask as many questions as you want and I’ll help you through it. WOG means weight of goods and simply refers to how heavy your yarn is. DOS stands for depth of shade and that is an indication of how light or dark a color is.
The video below is the trailer for the class… just a joyful look at coloring your own yarn.
Dyeing yarn and fiber in whatever color you want is magical. Rebecca Mezoff teaches acid wool dyeing in her online class, Dyeing with Acid Wool Dyes.
Simple procedures, reliable results.
“I have done a lot of dyeing but I have learned so much in this class! Understanding depth of shade (to be able to repeat colors), making dye stock solutions, learning the math based on weight of goods and amounts of dye to use, understanding how to add black or brown, it just goes on. As in all of Rebecca’s classes I’ve already gone back and re-watched her demonstrations. I’m really glad I signed up for this class and can highly recommend it.”
You can find more details about the class and a registration link on my website here:
https://rebeccamezoff.com/dyeing-with-acid-wool-dye
If you’d like to see some of the procedure, I did an episode of Change the Shed on July 20th, 2022 in which I dyed seven colors of yarn. The full episode is HERE. I also did a shortened excerpt of that episode and you can see that 14 minute version HERE.
And where would we be without a few images of beautiful yarn? The gallery below contains yarns I dyed, but you can find examples of student dyeing from June and July of this year on my website HERE.
