Last weekend was Maple Open House Weekend. We went to the Howrigan Family Farms in Fairfield where they still gather sap with horses. No, not those Howrigans in Fairfield who also gather sap with horses. These. Seriously, there are at least two sets of Howrigans in Fairfield who gather sap with horses. Is that only weird to me? Not only did we eat sugar on snow (Note: please learn from our friend Ruby here and tie your hair back before you attempt to eat something super sticky like sugar on snow on a windy day), drink warm syrup from shot glasses, eat tons of baked goods, but they also fed us cheeseburgers just for being there watching them work. They were ridiculously nice, warm, and welcoming. We bought some Grade B syrup for our coffee shop for maple lattes and maple smoothies.
We went home with an incredible sugar high. Since nothing says sugar high like Kool-Aid, we decided to try dying yarn with Kool-Aid.
I have worked very hard not to become interested in dying or spinning yarn during the past. So while this venture was a step-forward for Craftiness, it was definitely a step back for Self-Control.
The whole process was so incredibly fun and easy and low-impact, that I can no longer remember why I resisted for so long. I followed a tutorial at Knit Pick. I used Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool which is a naturally off-whitish undyed yarn. It might have even been the Oatmeal one. This was all that I had on hand and I knew I wasn't safe to drive with the sugar high I was sporting.
It really is this easy. I circled the yarn around some chairs and made it into one long loop. This was probably the most difficult step because my evil and loved cat Gritty Kitty got completely tangled in the yarn, and I was afraid I was going to lose an arm trying to untangle her.
I got the yarn wet in not-too-hot water. I mixed up the Kool-Aid with water in emptied salsa jars. I didn't measure anything. I lightly squeezed out the water from the yarn and put the two ends into the jars.
I microwaved them for two minutes. Looked at them for a while. Let them sit for a while. And repeated it two more times. Seriously, could my microwave BE any higher?
When I lifted some of the yarn out of the Kool-Aid at this point, I could tell that the Kool-Aid was more clear than colored and declared it done.
I rinsed the yarn in the sink and washed it with a little dishwashing detergent because that's what I had sitting right there. I let it dry hanging elegantly from the shower rod. By the next morning it was dry.
I immediately made a hat. I couldn't resist. It did a really cool striping of the two colors after a while for a while. My little guy claimed it for his own and has been wearing it ever since.
The next day after my sugar hangover had been cured by a heavy dose of bacon and a super hot latte laced with hair of the dog (mmmm...maple latte), I tried Kool-Aid dying some cotton yarn. Not only did the cotton yarn smell like it was seconds away from combusting and the Kool-Aid explode all over my microwave, but it did not look like a lovely purposefully dyed yarn. It looked like someone spilled Kool-Aid all over some string. I did not photograph the episode so you'll just have to trust me that I am telling you the truth. I read afterward that cotton yarn needs a little more umph than the flavorful gentleness of Kool-Aid. Dying this yarn was so terribly satisfying and quick and easy and I cannot wait to try it again. Luckily, Alison errand-upped us some white wool so we can give it another whirl.
As a side note, thank you to Kyla Hartigan and Ben Maddox for the pictures as I was too busy downing maple syrup by the cupful to take any myself.
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