I mostly dye wool based yarns because that is what I love to knit with. Wool absorbs color super easily, and is a great base to use with food coloring and a variety of commercial dyes. Cotton is a little trickier because food coloring won't work on cellulose based fibers, it needs protein fibers (wool, alpaca, silk, etc) for the colored molecules to bind. The ChemKnits Tutorials YouTube Channel had a few old cotton dyeing videos, but it had been a while since I took another look at cotton fibers.
I was surprised, pleasantly surprised, when the ChemKnits Patrons requested cotton and linen blends for their early access dyeing videos (the Dyepot PS Series.) When I realized that my viewers wanted to see more cotton, I thought it would be fun to dedicate a whole week to cotton dyeing videos, named "Cellulose Week."
I didn't create a new playlist for Cellulose Week, rather I added all of the new videos (9!) to the "Dyeing Cotton Yarns" Playlist. There are now demonstrations that feature Rit Liquid Dye, Dylon Hand Dye, Avocados, and multiple techniques with Tulip One Step Tie Dye. You can expand the list on the upper right hand corner of the embedded video to easily find these videos.
As for that video clip at the beginning of this roundup? My kids love playing ChemKnits with me, so it is always fun for me to create new shirts for them to wear. I dyed their shirts with some dry tulip one step tie dye powder, and the whole video is now available. Both boys love performing for the camera, and I think Lucky is a natural at coming up with things to say.
I am so excited to play with color more this summer. I have plans to do a week focused on indigo dyeing (using American Grown Indigo from Stony Creek Colors) very soon. I had to place an order for some more cotton yarn once I realized that my first vat is going to be best suited for cellulose fibers. However, I do have plans to toss some wool yarn in there, too, just to see what happens. I am so excited to share this adventure with you!
