The finished yarns dyed in the Sock Blank Special 2 #ChemKnitsDyeAlong Livestreams.
What a fantastic adventure! Earlier this year, I scheduled a week of sock blank dyeing videos to explore many different techniques for applying dye to these pre-knit, and crochet, pieces of fabric. During the Sock Blank Special 2 weeks, I released 10 different dyeing videos: 5 edited prefilmed videos and 5 dyeing livestreams. What I didn't expect was that the SBS2 week would continue over another week with multiple unraveling livestreams so you could see what these yarns looked like with the blanks unraveled.
Phew! I dyed 21 blanks during the livestreams. That is a LOT of yarn, and a lot of videos. I have a playlist that organizes all of the SBS2 videos in roughly chronological order. This is a little confusing because there were some sneak peek episodes where I unraveled blanks for the edited videos. I placed these unraveling videos after the relevant edited video in the playlist. (The livestream unravelings are all at the end.) I always like to film a recap video after a livestream so you can see the finished dry yarn and hear some concluding thoughts, and there is a recap for each of the livestreams. For this special week, I also felt the need to film an overall summary so you could see not only the dried blanks but the finished unraveled yarns. Therefore, I made a summary slideshow so you could see pictures of the dyeing, finished dry blank, and unraveled yarn. The yarns are arranged according to the livestream where they were dyed, so this should help you find the specific replay in case you want to learn more about the technique.
Want to learn more about all of these yarns? Check out the Sock Blank Special 2 #ChemKnitsDyeAlong Playlist or watch below. (I know that there is a LOT of footage to go through. Some of my followers say that they watch livestream replays on 2x speed to get to the action parts of the dyeing.)
Thank you, everyone, who joined me in this journey. So many of you joined in on the fun and dyed your own homemade sock blanks. Thank you for sharing your pictures in the Facebook group for ChemKnits fans, ChemKnits Lab. I still have a few homemade sock blanks left in my stash, not to mention at least 10 stroll sock blanks from KnitPicks. (Affiliate Link)
If you want to support ChemKnits on a more personal level and contribute to fun dyeing specials like the Sock Blank Special 2, check out the ChemKnits Patreon. Patrons can receive exclusive behind the scenes sneak peek videos, early access to new dyeing videos, coupons, and more.
It is almost time for the Sock Blank Special Dye Along to begin! I am so pumped to kick off the #ChemKnitsDyeAlong next Sunday night at 7:15 PM EST. Each day we will have at least one new knit (or crochet) blank dyeing episode PLUS a dyeing livestream. This weekend, I'll update the Sock Blank Special 2 Schedule with links for the specific livestreams. If you can't make a stream, don't worry, the replay will be available as soon as YouTube can process it.
Do you want to learn more about the Sock Blank Special 2 week? In the following video, I chatted about different types of blanks that I have created for the dye along and what kind of techniques we'll try out over the next week.
How you can participate? Over the last few weeks, many of you have been collection your own sock blanks to dye along with me. These blanks are a combination of homemade blanks, commercial double stranded sock blanks (KnitPicks Affiliate Link), and reclaimed sweaters to dye and unravel. Share you pictures on social media with the hashtag #ChemKnitsDyeAlong and feel free to tag me as needed. You can also join the ChemKnits Lab Facebook Group, a group for ChemKnits Fans where labmates are already sharing their own sock blank dyeing projects.
I am so excited to see what kinds of yarn we all create. Now I have to be off to make some more of my own sock blanks so I can dye a big variety in the dye along.
Are you ready to dye along with me in the Sock Blank Special 2? I have talked about the materials and equipment you will need for the #ChemKnitsDyeAlong, and now it is finally time to talk more about the schedule for the week. I plan to host livestreams at a variety of times of day so as many of you will have a chance of joining me live as possible. Don't worry if you can't catch me live, the livestream archives will be available to replay later.
In all of the livestreams, I will dye a combination of KnitPicks Stroll Sock Blanks and DIY blanks made out of various yarn weights, fiber types, and number of strands. The Stroll Sock Blanks are double stranded, so when we unravel the yarn we will get two identical 50 g skeins of yarn. The homemade blanks will feature both single stranded and doublestranded blanks.
ChemKnits Dye Along; Sock Blank Special Schedule
With each episode/livestream in the schedule, I have indicated if you will need any special materials to dye along with me. Make sure you refer to the General Materials list just after the schedule for things that will be used in most of the episodes. This list might be tweeked as we get closer to the Sock Blank Special.
LIVESTREAM: Sunday 2/25/18 7:15 PM EST - #ChemKnitsDyeAlong Kickoff! A chat to get excited about the week ahead of us. I might work on making some blanks (via knitting machine or crocheting) or unravel some dyed blanks.
Special Materials needed: Sock Blanks! Finish getting your sock blanks together to dye along with me this week.
Monday 2/26/18 8:30 AM EST - Dyepot Weekly #28 comes out a day early! This isn't a livestream, but I am moving up this week's Dyepot Weekly episode 24 hours so it can help kick off our week of fun. Want a sneak peek? Check out the livestream where I unraveled this blank.
Materials Needed: Squeeze bottles for applying the dye (Jacquard acid dyes) to the homemade double stranded sock blank.
LIVESTREAM: Monday 2/26/18 8:00 PM EST - Random Patterns! Tonight we are going for true random patterns. We will tie dye, randomly dip, and more.
Materials needed: Utensils to apply dye to the fiber (brushes, squeeze bottles, or syringes), a dish basen or dye safe bowl, rubber bands.
LIVESTREAM:Tuesday 2/27/18 9:00 AM EST - Stripes, Stripes, and More Stripes! We will dye multiple homemade and commercial sock blanks in a variety of striping patterns.
Materials Needed: KoolAid Packets, Snow (as a substitute, try either crushed ice or ice cubes!)
LIVESTREAM:Wednesday 2/28/18 Noon EST - Stamping and Stenciling Sock Blanks
Special Materials: Guar Gum (a thickening agent), Wilton Gel Icing Colors (they are already thick to begin with!), foam brushes, squeeze bottles, stencils, stamps, and cookie cutters
Thursday 3/1/18 Morning TBD - A New Sock Blank Special Episode!
LIVESTREAM:Friday 3/2/18 10:30 AM EST - Sprinkles, Speckles, and More!
Special Materials: Sprinkles (Sugar Sprinkles or nonpareils), KoolAid packets (or similar drink mix)
Friday 3/2/18 Afternoon/Evening TBD - Ice Dyeing a Sock Blank
Materials Needed: ice cubes (multiple trays worth, I filled up a whole dish basen with cubes), KoolAid packet (or powdered citric acid), liquid food coloring.
In addition to the above scheduled events, I might add some additional unraveling streams as our dyed blanks finish drying. General Materials Needed for the Dye Along
I covered this in the where to buy and how to make sock blanks post, but I wanted to recap the other materials you should have on hand. Please refer to the materials list in the "Where to Buy Sock Blanks" post for other items you should consider having on hand. If you plan to use acid dyes, make sure you use dedicated non-food equiptment and utensils for dyeing.
Yarn: In all of the videos, I will dye yarn that is in either a knit or crochet blank (read more about). All of the yarns will be predominantly protein based fibers (wool, alpaca, silk, etc.) I will use a mixture of homemade blanks (see how I make them in the videos at the end of this post) and commercial blanks (KnitPicks Stroll Sock Blanks)
Dye: This dye along will feature either food safe (i.e. food coloring) or commercial acid dyes. The overall techniques will work for either type of dye. If you plan to use commercial acid dyes, make sure you are using dedicated dyeing equipment and utensils.
Acid: Either white vinegar or citric acid
Heat: I will either use a microwave (with food coloring dyed yarns) or a pot on the stove. My dyepot has a steamer basket which I use for yarns handpainted with commercial acid dyes.
Miscallenous: plastic wrap, gloves, measuring cups and spoons, tongs, heat safe dishes, container for presoaking the blanks, cups for mixing dyes
Other Resources
I have two playlists on the ChemKnits Tutorials YouTube channel that features the dyeing of preknit blanks. There is the original Sock Blank Special playlist from videos and livestreams that took place in December 2017. All of these videos feature KnitPicks Stroll Sock Blanks. These blanks dye and unravel SO BEAUTIFULLY and they are a dream to use. I just orderd a bulk 20 pack of these blanks, which means that I plan to do some sock blank dyeing videos even after the dye along is over! (Maybe Sock Blank Special 3?)
I know that purchasing sock blanks can be expensive, so I am also going to use homemade sock blanks. I have another playlist that features videos of making and dyeing homemade knit blanks. I use a Singer hand crank knitting machine for all of my homemade knit blanks. I find that this machine works well for worsted (and thinner) single stranded blanks and fingering weight double stranded blanks. The machine struggles to make double stranded worsted and DK blanks, but I was able to complete them. I worried that I might strip the gears, so proceed with caution that you could damage your machine.
I have two young children and I work out of my home. The livestream schedule depends on my kids being healthy and able to attend school. If one of them is home from school sick, then I will need to shift the schedule above and potentially delay some of the livestreams. Thankfully, I am pre-filming many different techniques so you can still dye along even if I have to push back some of the livestreams.
Share Your Own Projects!
Tag your pictures with #ChemKnitsDyeAlong on Instagram and Twitter. I will have a post on the ChemKnits Facebook Page where you can share your finished dyed sock blanks, the unraveled yarn, and items that you made our of your dyed sock blanks. I can't wait to see what you create! You are also welcome to come and join the ChemKnits Lab Group to chat more about ideas and all types of dyeing projects. The group is filled with hundreds of ChemKnits fans and we are having a lot of fun. Watch How to Make and Dye Homemade Sock Blanks!
I cannot wait to dye along with you during this Sock Blank Special. I have tried to take many of the requests from the last Sock Blank Special and incorporate them into the events for this special week. Are you ready to dye along with me?
This post contains some affiliate links to Amazon and KnitPicks. All thoughts, opinions, and product selections are my own and I was not approached to promote any of the products.
The week of February 26, 2018 I'm going to host a DYE ALONG! I will do MULTIPLE livestreams to give everyone an opportunity to join in. The theme? SOCK BLANK SPECIAL 2!! I will demonstrate a variety of dyeing techniques on homemade and commercially knit blanks in a series of livestreams and pre-filmed videos.
In this article, I will share many places to purchase sock blanks, tools for you to make your own sock blanks, and materials that are helpful to have on hand so you can dye along with me.
The Sock Blank Special Dye Along schedule will be released in the middle of February, however I wanted to share the general plan now to give you a chance to get your hands on some sock blanks for the dye along. I will release a number of pre-filmed sock blank dyeing videos in addition to multiple livestreams. The livestreams will take place at a range of times (morning, lunchtime, and evening) to give as many people as possible the chance to tune in. What is a sock blank?
A sock blank is a knit piece of fabric that you can dye and then unravel to use in a knitting or crochet project. These make it really easy to create gradient yarns and other unique asymmetric colorways. When a sock blank is knit with two strands of yarn, aka a double knit sock blank, you can use this to create identical or symmetrical colorways. A single knit sock blank is knit with one strand of yarn.
Where to Buy Sock Blanks
You have two main choices, purchase commercial blanks OR create your own. You could hand knit a blank, but that would take a long time. If you want to create your own custom blanks (single or double stranded), I recommend getting an inexpensive hand crank knitting machine. I will talk more about this in the next section.
Here are some choices for purchasing your own sock blanks:
KnitPicks - Stroll Fingering (75% superwash merino / 25% nylon) is one of my favorite yarns to dye, and KnitPicks offers a double knit sock blank with Stroll Fingering as the base. You can purchase an individual blank that contains two 50 g balls of yarn knit together (462 yards total) for $19.99 or you can buy a 20 pack of sock blanks for $339.80 with the bulk discount (Affiliate Links)
Wool2Dye4 - Wool2Dye4 offers three different sock blank options that you can purchase as a 5 pack. They offer a double knit blank (i.e. two strands of yarn knit together so you can make identical socks) in their Platinum Sock line (75% superwash merino, 25% nylon). You can buy a single knit blank as Sparkle Blanks (with 5% stellina for some sparkle) or a single knit blank in Platinum Sock Yarn. (In the single knit blanks there is only one strand of yarn knit at a time, so you can make a really stunning gradient or striped yarn but you will not get two identical skeins of yarn when you unravel the blank.) Prices for the 5 packs run from $68 - $71.
Dharma Trading - Their single strand Super Sock Blanks are made out of 75% superwash merino / 25% nylon. Prices start at $18.55 and will go down to $15.90 if you order 20 or more.
ACME Fibers - For an additional $6-$6.50 CAD, you can order any of ACME's bare sock yarns as a double stranded or a single stranded sock blank. They offer a wide variety of fingering weight and sock yarns that you could get as a custom blank WITHOUT having to wind it yourself! This final cost per sock blank will range from about $20 - $27 CAD depending on the yarn base you choose. ACME Fibers is a Canadian company, and I'm not sure whether they offer international shipping.
Etsy - You can purchase undyed sock blanks on Etsy for a variety of prices (I've seen anywhere from $14 - $22 USD.)
Make Your Own Blanks for Dyeing
There aren't many options for purchasing commercially knit blanks for dyeing. All of them are fingering weight yarns and most of them have the same, or very similar, fiber content in a superwash wool / nylon blend. If you purchase a hand crank knitting machine, you can create your own knit blanks using whatever yarn weight and fiber content you desire.
Before you make your own blank, it can help to think about what you might want to make out of the yarn. Do you want to make socks or mittens? Consider making a double stranded blank so you can get identical pairs. Are you making a hat or a cowl? how do you want the colors spaced? Will you want stripes? These questions can help you decide how you want to dye your blank, but also the type of yarn you want to use in your blank. Most commercially wound blanks use either a single strand or double strands of sock yarn. With a hand crank knitting machine, you can create your own blanks in almost any yarn type. Double stranded lace? Go for it! You have your pick of bare yarns to choose from. The knitting machines that I own (shown below) are intended for worsted weight yarn. These also work well on fingering weight and double stranded fingering weight yarn. However, creating a double stranded worsted weight blank was really hard on the machine so I do NOT recommend trying that. (I have not yet tried DK or sport weight.)
I use a Singer hand crank knitting machine to make my own blanks. This plastic machine is designed for children, but it works well enough to make imperfect tubes that I can use for dyeing yarn. (You can also create flat blanks with the machine but I tend to do tubes because they are faster to crank out.)
I have a few videos that feature my singer knitting machines:
I'll probably do a livestream at the beginning of the Sock Blank Special Dye Along where I will make a double stranded blank. Maybe I'll even make a flat one!
Materials for the Sock Blank Special Dye Along
In addition to pre knit (or crochet!) blanks, there are some other materials that you need to dye along with us.
DYE - In the Sock Blank Special Dye Along, I will use mostly food coloring or Kool-Aid in the live streams. However, all of the techniques I will do in the dye along will translate nicely to commercial acid dyes. I will talk more specifically about the materials I will use in each livestream when I release the final schedule. YARN - There are many suggestions on where you can purchase sock blanks or how to make your own above. I wanted to give a few reminders about the fiber content in this section. Since we are using either food coloring or acid dyes, we need to have yarn that is made out of protein based fibers such as a wool or silk. Most commercial sock blanks are wool/nylon blends and these dye beautifully. I have had great success with 50% wool 50% viscose (a cellulose fiber). Wool/acrylic blends can work, but the resulting colors will be more muted. If you are going to make your own sock blanks, I recommend picking yarns that have high % of wool. ACID - I mostly use white vinegar (acetic acid), but you can also use powder citric acid to help the dye bind to the yarn. The amount of citric acid found in a KoolAid packet is sufficient for dyeing yarn so if you are using KoolAid then you don't need any additional acid.
HEAT - In the dye along, I will either use a microwave or a pot on the stove to set the colors. In the microwave, I usually will wrap the yarn in plastic wrap and then steam it, however you can do kettle dyed yarns in the microwave. On the stove top, I will either have the yarn completely submerged in the dyebath or use a steamer basket to steam the yarn after it has been handpainted. EQUIPMENT - The following are equipment pieces that I regularly use when I am dyeing yarn. If you are planning on using commercial acid dyes, please make sure that you use dedicated pots, utensils, and other equipment that you don't use for food.
A dishpan or large bowl for presoaking yarns and washing the yarns at the end (so I don't have to lay them directly in the sink)
A microwave safe plate(s)
Slotted Spoons (to press fiber down in a pot)
Measuring cups and spoons
Plastic cups for mixing dyes
paper towels for cleaning up messes
Plastic wrap for steaming and/or microwaving
Tongs (helpful for removing hot yarn from a pot)
OTHER TOOLS - You can apply dye to knit fabric in many different ways. Sometimes I will just pour out of cups, other times I will use some foam brushes or squeeze bottles to hand paint the blanks. The following tools are completely optional, but might make an appearance during the Sock Blank Special Dye Along. When I release the final schedule, I will create some specific materials lists.
Foam Craft Brushes (or maybe a sponge) to dab dye onto the blanks
Needle nose squeeze bottles - these are great for creating thin lines of color on your sock blanks during hand painting.
Syringes for applying dye to yarn (as an alternative to squeeze bottles. These are also useful for measuring out dye volumes.)
Sock Blank Special - In December 2017, I had a Sock Blank Special week where I released multiple videos featuring different ways to dye sock blanks. These videos feature techniques like spray painting for graffiti effects, dip dyeing for gradients, and hand painting stripes and random patterns. We also unraveled some of these blanks in livestreams.
In addition to the sock blank special, I have dyed a number of homemade blanks:
So what can you expect to see in the Sock Blank Special 2? I plan to take some requests on the techniques we explore, but here are some of the suggestions that might make an appearance:
Stripes (with blanks that I can unravel since the last time I had to send the backer a completed blank)
Write a love letter on a blank
Stamping/stenciling
A crochet blank
Space Dyeing a blank
Is there anything that you would like to see? Please let me know in the comments! I look forward to another week focusing on dyeing pre-knit blanks. Hopefully you will get your hands on some blanks so you can dye along with me in the week of February 26, 2018.
This post contains some affiliate links to Amazon and KnitPicks. All thoughts, opinions, and product selections are my own and I was not approached to promote any of the products.
