In addition to having that naturally dyed skein brightening my stash, I had a skein that had the exact opposite effect on me. It was the result of a past food dye experiment that did not yield very impressive results. I thought the colors were too light and bland, and almost every time I saw that skein I would think "Someday I'll do something with you, poor little guy".
Lately I've been stockpiling used tea bags and freezing them. It took me a while to get a substantial number saved because I prefer loose leaf tea, but the other day I decided that it was finally time to put them to good use.
I followed pretty much the same exact method as I did last time, starting with soaking the yarn in a 1:3 white vinegar to water solution. The colors actually appear much darker here than when they are dry.
Then I added ~30 used tea bags (most of them were generic black teas) to boiling water and let them sit until the water was saturated.
The base yarn was Knit Picks Bare Merino DK, which really dyes well and has an excellent texture following the process, I love working with it.
I removed the tea bags and added my yarn...
...and ended up with this! I think it is a huge improvement, the colors are more rich and have a delicate gradient. The best part of this was, it took very little time and effort for such a wonderful effect. I'm very pleased with it.
Now that skein won't be pitied anymore and I'm already dreaming of what I'll knit with it!
Do you have any yarn in your stash that just doesn't appeal to you very much?
Gorgeous result! What will you knit with it?
ReplyDeleteWhat a difference that has made, did you have to "cook" it?
ReplyDeleteWOW! the result is amazing!! :) now i want to try that too!! I have some pink skeins i don't like, and don't want to use, maybe i should experiment! :)
ReplyDeleteI had no idea you could dye with used tea bags! So neat! Yes, I have some skeins of a gorgeous wool-bamboo mix I bought ages ago ... the fiber content and yarn feels wonderful, but I feel wishy washy about the colorway now (a muted greenish/beige mixture). I've often thought I should overdye it. I probably will eventually, but have too many other pretty distractions calling my name!
ReplyDeleteHmmmm, I need to try this - thanks for the tutorial.
ReplyDeleteWow. Huge change! I love the new look. I dyed some yarn a few months back with kool-aid. While it didn't turn out as I had envisioned, I liked the look. However, I think I'll leave the dying to the professionals since there are so many cool yarns available!
ReplyDeleteWow that is beautiful. I love that nice earthyness you have going on there.
ReplyDeleteThat is pretty! I had some really not pretty yarn in my stash and overdyed it a while ago as I couldn't bare to look at it, lol, I haven't knit it yet though as its still not a favourite.
ReplyDeleteWhat a magician thou are. I love the transformation. Wow. It's great for any season.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this would work on some really bright yarn I have in my stash?
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I have used tea to dye fabrics but never yarn. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteThat's an amazing transformation. I've used tea to dye fabric, but not yarn. I learned the hard way that you have to heat-set tea- and coffee-dyed cloth.
ReplyDeleteIt came out so pretty!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see what you'll make from it.
That's a gorgeous overdyeing job. I assume that the process works as-is because the tea contains enough acid of its own to be colorfast?
ReplyDeleteWow! That overdye is stunning!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great transformation! I think the layering of color is where skill really comes in with dyeing. I have an ectoplasm-green skein of beautiful cormo wool that was a horrible first dye attempt. I need to figure out how to salvage it!
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