In my last post I showed the results of my first Kool Aid experiments (using five skeins of superwash sock yarn). I promised to elaborate on a couple of things, so here we go...
Firstly, I want to show the before and after pics for the overdying that I did on the deeper red...
You may recall that this skein was initially dyed using 1 part Grape to 2 parts Cherry. The result was a pretty shade, but patchy coverage, with several undyed sections that did not look good.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_oAFJYt6Z4RvJCziose5qGrC7F3Z9Jzz-qUTQoyttbW6iP-549xDY-mocZZYSeslNYNkwi8Lhkj13TchypGJqhDCjcgfBeGkrcCnBR-AcwaCdA1fB3MZGpp9AxdIOqwkHnwQMLtst_bo/s320/Re-dyed_before_2.jpg)
So I overdyed it the following day using a madcap mixture of cherry, black cherry tropical punch and grape.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitFFkQ7qr0fGXtziTOla-b2yHKxisw54VyNDaKpqc0FIpY42KI-JbYDoIAnXA8AV_ILRh8tSlMXV3fzJcJ_2l3UJecyI7Bi63dNe19J95vB9GAa8cpXfPqvTW6ZfG8Q8tU8XCnGgqwLhg/s320/Re-dyed_5.jpg)
As it turns out, that was far more dye than I needed, and the skein did not soak it all up - but I did get a lovely rich red at the end of it - and all of the bare patches soaked up the red beautifully...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7g7Gl0ud4ClCJDz2zC0KLUZl_QW8B-7yfz-2ACYdlZIuMsF9AgjcQXoljiE5i5GXbfOhOAvTG2iUY-T8auhHu49Sv2if5ieNdyyKLLjoFub6cKyweDTYdY1pYYn5XuGwjEbwZdUpBSFE/s320/Re-dyed_4.jpg)
So moving on from sock yarn, I'd like to show what happened when I progressed to two beautiful 100g skeins of lace weight merino/silk (80% merino / 20% silk). Each skein has about 1200 yards - easily enough for a shawl, so I was looking for shawl-friendly colours.... or something less psychedelic than my sock yarns anyway.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWwjlicJwJgnrmsAMm9OUCEXTAAamw18ZR-p_uPcp6FcRmq9jdxR9rnJmlTomwoPB73woGlwrYl2KD1DN_io8mI8hju74eP8XVKrp-vRLBIO7RBCitUR8xQkoWMA1bMyQghSC_4YMv1x4/s320/Bluefaced_Undyed_Merino_Silk_Laceweight_1.jpg)
When these raw skeins arrived through the post, I was so taken with the beautful, silky texture of their undyed state that I was tempted not to risk dyeing them at all. But then.... you only live once, right?
So having become comfortable with Knitty's recommended microwave technique, I decided to go straight ahead with the first batch of laceweight. So I mixed up one part each of Black Cherry and Tropical Punch - with a little Grape thrown in also and bunged it in the microwave for 2 mins.
When I took it back out, I started to feel a little nervous. It occurred to me that the water and glass bowl felt far hotter than the max wash temperature would be for this yarn. So to minimise damage, I took the yarn straight out of the water and left it in the sink to cool, then rinsed it and hung it up to dry. At this point I was already noticing that the texture of the yarn had changed... it no longer seemed silky - more like "felty" (argh!) and the strands were sticking together somewhat.
As it dried it started to look like this... still a little on the felty side for my liking.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNlskOjEmCKD5qSZkKQ0VsRjfdCo_2fDKBz6AvrpzcF7yn4cC4RUbgwJC5QH4VzHn9Z5IAkFoYvu-QCuWzWGVZ_BbO0pvy57f9MfkRQjbOfiELD1mr3CX2B-d9dtZa_qtca4ic6-6UAuk/s320/Kool+Aid_Merino_Silk_Red_2.jpg)
After several days, it was fully dry and the colour was a sort of matte, pinkish red. I'm not sure how exactly to describe this colour - but it calls to mind the sort of dusky hue that you would find in a heritage range of wall paint, aimed at traditional dining rooms. It's really very pretty.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiodYjGlIKEbWpslbhfVOuaTXO4AVN7atoAWivh8ZRVeovfEGnIwFyt7rM6B1BagmLYjLXUdUddtghVtzwyYGUFB9P7eAMCzIuRFR02n_YwChMk3tTAPm-gu4m3cnUJj3g-BTcEdxTvoJM/s320/Kool+Aid_Merino_Silk_Red_3.jpg)
The really good news is that when I came to wind the ball, it was not felted after all - hoorah! It had simply changed texture slightly - effectively it had 'bloomed' and is still very soft.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil4s27n2nWLpMH1qMYjZ2COyNs28MOmXoqw9p3c6qZkVsetfj5Of1ksXfYf_NFSgBEkglYoU7jQVlIybzBe-Ej8bkhLqwIXHA32Ip14glW0TbYDcSbIlMbk0u0xvE_2eqxRGNmFv-8S0U/s320/Kool+Aid_Merino_Silk_Red_5.jpg)
For the second skein, I wanted a pale apple green, and managed to get exactly what I was after by using just one sachet of Lemon & Lime Kool Aid for the whole batch. This time I only gave the yarn one minute in the microwave, and I think it has retained more of the silky sheen than the other skein did. It has a slightly variegated finish, which is subtle enough to be very pleasing to me :-)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK4qoJLP5waK_9nfhx_eIuHvsmfTJ9iSKHDkqUblhau8i3oOcN6gGrn7Puls_hlyTfImpOqIGZ3x_RPxkfCaB7oh17_AYw7mhYNQokyZlurp9d_0PCVOAZ-5fJci0ms-vnGHJTPravBQo/s320/Kool+Aid_Merino_Silk_Green_4.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjb-4TZO_rgnkqInwtnDlx_kEPVQFrIKXb0suQgD6VgMAAnJ3SsXks_zm5EmZcyzjTR8esCr40IQJ5MJFpwmdWveW_tFbP9LMFXzMBPt4S5_M9uln0D8Jc53czgFJq3P3i4kez-hzHoGc/s320/Kool+Aid_Merino_Silk_Green_3.jpg)
Right now it is being wound via my swift and trusty nostepinne.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4kN20E57GVOJ0rzgdjqnWdiZyouqcDbkEWm24YE1GLFY9EfOY3XFn5gYRd_GX2v_zhT8471vlIi8b0jbFhezkC13IshRdEBGluYUtRdeTCdNyBTobsriSPPFyHz7Ihlw7Dnz5tjq9rz8/s320/Kool+Aid_Merino_Silk_Green_7.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj8d4a1g3SWHWjtVxnJE6Lh-4xJQJtXgzDqXAV2mxj0d3ZrqXYo6G_kVnTAj88k65KpfnFJMzW1G6E0pUm3D8yrrlM1qb3ctS-s-GNu3N-0idt4bpvHzcF_nzNrpVQMvc94mHdNnWZdj4/s320/Kool+Aid_Merino_Silk_Green_6.jpg)
So, finally.... I thought I would finish up with gratuitous yarn shots.