I have been kind of lazy in blogging and cosmetics shopping lately and this is my excuse. Hand dyeing pastel yarns! My new addiction.

When I’m not shopping I spend most of my time absorbed in my knitting world. It’s like a cosmetic lover is addicted to shopping for new products and using them and with a knitter it’s being addicted to collecting beautiful yarns and hoarding. I find knitting very rewarding for myself because I can make something and actually use or wear it. Knitted items can be wonderful gifts too.

Lulu wearing a knitted sweater from one of my hand dyed hanks.

I have been knitting for over 10 years now and still to this day it is likely one of my top hobbies. It’s very relaxing and something I can do while I watch tv or on the go. Lately, I have started to knit for my Blythe dolls. Knitting quick and small projects is especially rewarding.  If you are knitter, you will know that sometimes yarn can be costly. A lot of times, I can never find the perfect shade I want. With doll clothes, there are small projects that does not take very much yarn, so it’s not like I want to knit 20 sweaters for my doll of the same color it gets boring. I am a big fan of multi color and color changing yarns. Lately, I have been on the hunt for pastel shades and to my surprise it is almost impossible!!! Almost no one sells commercial pastel shades. Maybe very few baby yarns come in pastels. Why? Pastel shades are so lovely. That’s what got me into thinking of trying my hand on dyeing my own yarns after searching hours in etsy to find  mint & lilac shades with no results or that they were way over priced!.

I spend a day or so to do some research to see how easy or difficult it was for someone to learn dyeing yarns and it is not hard at all. I am a beginner so of course I started with the easy stuff. Kool-aid and food coloring. Super friendly non-toxic and no risk with chemical products.  Did you know, Kool-aid is actually not that easy to find. I guess after so many years, not that many people drink this stuff any more. I don’t that’s for sure. 
Dyeing you own yarn is actually quite inexpensive using these methods. Very little investments for wonderful results. I prefer using food coloring over Kool-aid. It’s easy to work with vs. inhaling Kool-aid powder by accident. All you need is food coloring & white vinegar! Some jars to mix them in to get the colors you want. There are many tutorials online on how to dye using food coloring. I recommend this site, it’s really useful and where I pretty much learn what I needed and began experimenting.  I made almost all mine with a 4 pack of neon food coloring. haha I couldn’t find any yellow food coloring. I’m still on the hunt for the primary colors to work with. But even with the neon shades I was able to blend pastel shades I wanted. I can say, I am extremely happy with my results.
All the ones I made were from some 100% merino wool undyed yarn. I also had some 100% wool in grey lying around. I just over-dyed them and got some very vibrant colors. It’s super full and addicting, I can’t wait to make more, once I knit up all the ones I’ve made so far.
I mention a little earlier that I knitted sweaters for my Blythe dolls. I sell some of them in my etsy shop. If you love Blythe and want a sweater send me a message or check out my shop.

Do you have some crafting hobbies you like to do in your spare time?