First try - 100% Wool Colorway

This was my first time dying 100% wool. I'm so proud that I'm showing the final, dry skein at the beginning of my post!  The yarn base was bare KnitPicks Palette fingering weight yarn (Affiliate Link). 

I dissolved 5 packets of Blue raspberry lemonade Kool-Aid and 5 packets of Kool-Aid lemonade into 1/2 cup of water. I then set up my color gradient as follows:

• 40 mL yellow Kool-Aid mix, 10 drops yellow food coloring, 5 drops NEON green
• 30 mL yellow Kool-Aid mix, 10 mL blue Kool-Aid mix, 10 drops yellow food coloring, 2 drop NEON blue food coloring, 1 drop green food coloring
• 25 mL yellow Kool-Aid mix, 15 mL blue Kool-Aid mix, 8 drops yellow food coloring, 4 drops NEON blue food coloring, 5 drops green food coloring
• 20 mL yellow Kool-Aid mix, 20 mL blue Kool-Aid mix, 6 drops yellow food coloring, 6 drops NEON blue food coloring, 10 drops green food coloring
• 15 mL yellow Kool-Aid mix, 25 mL blue Kool-Aid mix, 4 drops yellow food coloring, 8 drops NEON blue food coloring, 5 drops green food coloring
• 10 mL yellow Kool-Aid mix, 30 mL blue Kool-Aid mix, 2 drop yellow food coloring, 10 drops NEON blue food coloring, 1 drop green food coloring
• 40 mL blueKool-Aid mix, 10 drops NEON blue food coloring

I wrapped up the yarn, and microwaved for 1 min on high (it didn't seem to get as hot as the other yarns) three times, allowing it to cool between each zap.

I cannot wait to incorporate this into a pair of mittens for myself. I'm hoping that, mixed with black or navy, I will get a stained glass effect.

About the extra dye

I didn't wring the the wool out enough, so I was only able to deposit ~2 syringe-fulls of each dye (about 1/2-3/4 of what I made). I therefore decided to try dying something that was pre-knit. I had a square for my sampler afghan that I knit too loose and that I planned to unravel. This gives me an opportunity to examine this technique.

I rolled up the square, and deposited the remaining dye onto it. Microwaved 2x for 1 min on high.

Notice how much more faded the colors are in the pre-knit piece once it dried. The 100% wool retained the brightness, even once dry. The 20% wool (the pre-knit piece) did not.

Unraveling the pre-knit piece was fun. I may trust myself to dye a final project in the future.