What got me thinking
Last year, I discovered that a farm near my home-town of Quebec City was selling yarn from their flock. I really wanted to try it but couldn’t justify the purchase since I didn’t have a project in mind and I also had way too much yarn already. Not that I always make sure to have a project when buying yarn! As you might know, buying yarn is a completely different hobby than actually knitting and crocheting. Unfortunately, my husband doesn’t quite understand the nuance in this. So I try to be as conscious as I can when bringing more yarn in our full apartment.
While browsing the farm’s website, I saw the option for natural undyed yarn and thought here is the opportunity. I could make this purchase as a new technique to learn: I would dye it myself! Adding to cart, placing the order, waiting a bit and then the yarn comes.
Choosing my path
As an overthinker and a bit of a perfectionist, I started to over analyze every step of the activity. I thought about all different kinds of dyes, all the materials needed, the technique to use… What a big project I had embarked on! I ended up putting the new yarn in the closet and trying to forget about it because I was getting too anxious.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I remembered that project. I remembered that I really wanted to knit with that natural yarn from a local farm and started to think about how I was going to go about dyeing it.
To avoid having to buy tons of supplies, like pots and pans, I figured that natural dyes were best. I saw some people do amazing things with onion skins and liked the color, but we don’t use that many onions and I just don’t have the patience to collect the skins for a year. Yellow is my favorite color so I tried to find a way to dye my yarn with kitchen items to achieve a nice tint.
And the winner was… Turmeric! I bought way too much turmeric for the amount of yarn I had, but really had no idea how much I would need. I headed home and started researching (aka-googling) turmeric yarn dye recipes. The internet is great but when it comes to turmeric dyeing, I have to say that most people are winging it. The articles and videos all had the same ideas but some steps differed. Some used vinegar, some didn’t. Some pre-soaked overnight, some barely wet the yarn.
Approximative how-to guide
Following in my predecessor’s footsteps, here are the approximative steps I followed.
First, I tied the skeins in 3-4 places each to avoid tangling.
Then, I put the skeins in big pots filled with lukewarm water and a bit of vinegar. As I send, all of this is approximative. I put the pots on the stove at minimum temperature. Now, I didn’t want to over-heat my yarn and have it felt! I kept the temperature so that the pot wasn’t burning hot and I could touch it with my bare hands.
After a bit, I thought I should have my turmeric dissolved. So in another pan (dyeing takes a lot of pots!!) I put water and 2 tablespoons of turmeric. My plan was to dye 2 skeins at a time. I put on medium heat and stirred. The stirring wasn’t THAT essential since it didn’t boil and wasn’t going to stick but it felt nice. IMPORTANT: if you want to follow my steps, 1 tablespoon of turmeric for one skein of yarn is way too much. I got a nice color and result but there was some residue in the pot and on the yarn even after being washed twice.
Once I felt that the yarn had soaked long enough and the turmeric looked dissolved (it wasn’t completely as mentioned), i took the yarn out of the vinegar water, let it drain a bit and put it in the turmeric pot.
I let the yarn soak in the turmeric pot for about 20 minutes.
I then strained it and let warm water run to rinse it. I rinsed until the water was clear and put on a towel.
To let it dry, I used my drying clothes rack. I made sure to place a towel under it because the dripping is pretty intense! Being worried that the drying wouldn’t be proper if I didn’t fuss over the yarn, I kept flipping it so the water would drip from a different side. The drying took about 3-4 hours.
The next day, I went to put the yarn away and realized it was a bit grainy. The yarn felt sandy and some turmeric grains were falling every time I was handling the yarn. To rectify, I gave the yarn a bath. I put in a big plastic bin, filled with warm water and a bit of Eucalan soap. I let it sit for about 5 minutes and started rising again in running water. It was long but the yarn does feel better. Not all of the powder has gone, but the color does not rub off when I am knitting.
What would I do differently?
If I were to dye some yarn again, I wouldn’t start the project at 7pm after a day of work. I would set up on a Saturday morning when I have all the time in the world and don,t feel tired. Dyeing may not seem like it but it is a very physical process and I was sore the next day.
It is important to take your time not to hurt yourself.
I would also dye smaller amounts, not that six skeins is a lot, but mainly because my kitchen and my pots aren’t big enough for more.
I really recommend trying your hand at dyeing with turmeric. It is cheap, easy, safe and lots of fun!
