Breaking Wilton's Violet on Pendleton's Woolly Worms

I wanted to try larger batches (1-2 pounds) of the Pendleton Strips (selvedges or woolly worms).  I was curious to know how much dye was required to sufficiently color a pound (or two) of wool fiber in this form.

Rebecca at Chem Knits typically uses 1/2 tsp per 100 grams of wool yarn
          with 3 Tablespoons White Vinegar.

So I did some math conversions and came up with the following :

1 pound = 454 grams

2-1/4 tsp dye per 1 pound of wool fiber
3/4 cup  + 1-1/2 tsp Vinegar

I had to use the stove stop and a big pot as 1-pound of fiber is too much to fit into the slow cooker pot. Though it works great for smaller batches, and the yarn.

I wound up using 1 entire jar (1 oz) of Wilton's Violet for this big pot / batch.
I dissolved the gel in a mason jar of hot water.  (Wear gloves, or your hands will get pink!)

I pre-soaked the woolly worms in a separate bucket with warm water.
I had a big pot on the stove about 1/2 full of water set to simmer with the vinegar.

Once the water was hot enough, I turned down the heat, added the dye concentrate, and started to add the fiber -- NOT all at once, but in big handfuls. Then I'd wait for the color to change before adding the next chunk -- very similar to the dip dye process.  I was counting on the colors breaking so that I'd have some nice variation with the overall batch.    That way, I can pull worms out of the bag at random and know that all the colors will work together in a given rug.

It appears to be working beautifully!   I got a lovely variety of "broken" violet colors in this batch.

Here's what I started with -- 1-1/2 pounds of cream and gray woolly worm strips.

This is the light and dark mix of woolly worms I started with -- knowing that different shades would take the dye differently and leave me with a nice mix that would all go together.
This will make a lovely rug someday!

Here's  a direct comparison of the Pendleton Woolly Worms dyed 

with Delphinium Blue (left) and Violet (right).