Dyeing yarn- anyone done it?

[coldcomfortHeart]

I bought some handspun yarn from a charity shop for a bargainous 50p. It's currently a weird mix of colours, all vaguely pastel-ly and not particularly nice. It smells and looks like wool, so would presumably dye ok.

But how should I go about it? It's all wound up in a cylinder sort of shape (yarn cake?), so if I went to dye it would I have to unravel it all and wind it into a skein? Or should I knit it up first and then dye?

If you're not completely sure of the fibre content you can figure it out by doing a burn test. When you burn a piece of the yarn, take note of how it smells, how the fibres react (do they melt or shrink away?) and what the ashes look like. That'll tell you what it is you're dealing with. (I probably don't need to remind you to be careful, and have something like an ashtray ready to drop your smouldering yarn into.)

As for how to dye, it depends what effect you want. If you want to dye it a strong colour, and all one colour, it will probably be easiest to knit it up first - it'll save you lots of time winding it into skeins. You also might find you like the colours once it's knit up, they can look surprisingly different. If you want to create a variegated yarn, you would need to wind it into skeins and then dip-dye parts of the skein.

Bear in mind that whatever you do, if the yarn is already different colours, this may well show through when you've finished, unless the current colours are very pale and you're planning to dye it a very strong, bold colour.

Thanks FaintingGoat, DS will enjoy helping with a burn test!

The colours are all very pale and there are areas where it hasn't been dyed, so hopefully it'd be ok. I was thinking all one, strong colour (some sort of rich brown) and it's just going to be cushion covers, not some elaborate wedding shawl or anything!

I'm glad to hear about the knitting up first, too, as I don't think I have the heart to undo the beautifully wound shape it's in.

Ah, sounds like your colours will be fine, I'd say knit then dye is the way to go. Pics when you're done please!

You might be waiting a long time- everyone keeps having babies and birthdays to knit/sew for and I'm even getting into Christmas mode (ugh) but once the yarn has been turned into a beautiful cushion i will indeed post some pics!

Well how inconsiderate of them! Just don't ask for pics of the cardigan I started three years ago

Try using an acid dye if you think it is wool. Have tried using a normal dylon dye with wool and it didnt take very well. After more research I found out acid dyes are better for wool

Thanks lizziebach, good to know