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Tres Chic Veronique

 

Kool Aid dyeing

I've looked at the Scarf Style/Wrap Style knit-along, and I can't find a single completed wrap. I don't understand: this book came out in July or August, right? I know there are many out there who mock the poncho, but come on! This book is more than just ponchos. I am dying to make the Evelyn Clark shawl (in fact, I have the yarn for it...). Anyway, I was actually looking for pics of the Brioche Capelet by Nancy Marchant (who also designed the brioche sweater in IK Spring 05). This capelet is adorable, and I want to knit it NOW.
So, I dropped the Rebecca Apricot Jacket, the gauntlets, Mermaid and the mystery shawl, and looked through my stash to find appropriate yarn. Although the capelet is knit on US 5 needles, the yarn is actually worsted weight. In fact, this dutch yarn, which is hard to find (only 3 online stores carry it, 2 of which are in Canada), should be knit on a US 9 needle for stockinette. I swatched with all sorts of yarns from my stash and then I found it: Knit Picks' Andean Silk. I had purchased 10 balls in cream, thinking they would make a beautiful Angelina. Well, move over, Angelina! The Brioche Capelet takes only 300 yds of each color, so I have 4 skeins left over. Perfect for an upcoming yarn swap...
Since the focal point of the Brioche Capelet is the contrast of the 2 colors, I decided to use some of that Kool Aid I've been saving.
After much debating, I finally chose: red (3 packets of Cherry and 2.5 packets of Jamaica) and orange (5 packets of Tamarindo--brown--, 2 packets of Orange, 1 packet of Pina/Pineapple, one packet of Mango and half a packet of Jamaica).

  • I let the yarn soak in cold water for 20 minutes and squished out all the air bubbles, then heated it to almost boiling.
  • I dissolved the Kool Aid in a mug with boiling water and added the concentrated mix to the pot (it turns out this was not the smartest thing to do because the color is not perfectly distributed. I couldn't figure out how to lift boiling hot yarn out of my pot to add the dye).
  • I let the dye simmer, but not boil, for about 20 minutes, then let it cool for about an hour. For the orange dye, I could definitely tell when the yarn had absorbed all the dye: the water turned milky white. Just a little note: my fingers also absorbed dye, even though I didn't boil them.
  • Then I rinsed the yarn, still in the pot, with warm water and hung it to dry over my bathtub overnight. It wasn't completely dry this morning (damn rainy weather!) but I hope to wind it and start knitting tonight...

Here is a photo tutorial:

By Veronique
On Tuesday, October 25, 2005
At 10/25/2005 05:44:00 PM