Let it Snow... so we can Snow Dye More Fiber!

With winter season, and more importantly, snow,I wanted to share with you some snow dyeing experiments I did last winter.  I've already share with you the first video where I snow dyed yarn with rainbow KoolAid colors, but I also snow dyed roving with food coloring, roving with KoolAid and even silk hankies with KoolAid!

Previously (in the last two days), I created two snow dyeing videos, one with results that worked fantastically and one that was a bit of a flop.  Well I think it was a flop, because the fiber hasn't dried yet as I'm writing these notes.  Before it was over I wanted to take advantage of the snow so I set up some snow dyeing when I went to bed and would check in in the morning.  No intermediate photos or vidoes in these ones, these are short, and too the point.  Check them out!

Is handpainting fiber and yarn easier and faster than snow dyeing?  Absolutely!  But snow dyeing is SO MUCH FUN!  And it is an activity that you could get into with even young children. There is a lot of waiting involved, but the look of the snow changes so you can ask the kids to check for updates.  (My son is not quite 16 months old yet, so he is still too young, but by next winter I bet he'll LOVE painting the snow colors even if he can't understand that it is to dye yarn.

If I learned anything from this experiment, it is that dyeing with snow requires a lot of patience.  It can take a LONG time for snow to melt!

The final products?  Watch the videos to see where we ended up!

Snow Dyeing Wool Roving with Kool Aid

Video Contents (Skip ahead to the part you need!)
[0:00] Introduction and Materials
[1:50] Adding the snow on top of the fiber
[3:52] Adding KoolAid to the snow
[8:10] 1.5 h after adding dye
[10:21] All snow melted (overnight)
[13:25] Microwaving the fiber to set the color
[13:40] Washing the fiber
[15:04] Reveal of the dyed fiber and conclusions


Snow Dyeing Silk Hankies With KoolAid

Video Contents (Skip ahead to the part you need!)
[0:00] Introduction and presoaking 6 g of 100% silk hankies
[1:25] Adding snow on top of the silk hankies
[2:48] Adding KoolAid to the snow
[4:43] 1.5 h after adding dye
[5:13] All Snow melted (overnight). Prepping fiber to heat to set the dye.
[7:36] After microwaving
[8:23] Washing the silk hankies
[9:50] Final reveal and conclusions