A quick little dye job on some alpaca woolen wristers. The natural color was a graphite gray. I decided to dye them blue for my oldest friend, Janna. The 2nd pair is for her husband, a musician who can play through the winter with these!
I used the crock pot to warm up a pot of water plus 1/4 cup vinegar with the wristers submerged, as the water warmed on low for a pre-soak.
Once the water was hot (after about 1 hour), I removed the wet wristers, squeezed out the vinegar water, and set them aside for a moment. Then I mixed 1/2 tsp of Wilton's icing (food grade) dye) in a cup of hot water from the pot. Stir that long enough to completely melt the dye. Add 2 T. vinegar and pour into the crockpot of hot water. Stir. Add the woolens and let simmer until the water turns clear. It took about 6 hours. Then I unplugged the crockpot and let the water cool to room temperature overnight. Then I rinsed the excess blue dye out over a few days.
The amount of wool was so minimal in the wristers, I might have been ok to use just 1/4 tsp of Wilton's blue dye. They came out very dark -- such a rich and deep blue. Almost black. I love the richness in that blue -- layers of color add complexity!
I still have to add some beading for her -- Glass Czech Beads, not the cheap painted ones where the color rubs off after a while. She will be pleased!
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