In the Dye Pot: Kettle-Dyed Sock Yarn

Since I finished a new pair of socks, I felt like I had depleted my stash of dyed sock yarn.   So -- out with the colors ...  I looked over my already mixed Procion dye stocks in the basement wet studio and chose several old blues (Strong Blue, Turquoise, Sky Blue) and decided to use them up in a no-dye-left-behind stance.

 

I also mixed up a batch of Black Cherry.  

Using Dharma's instructions for Procion Dye on wool (no soda ash, as it can destroy the protein fibers).   I sized it for roughly 1/2 pound of fiber, or 2 balls of merino wool yarn, each at 100 grams. [Actually, this is what I SHOULD HAVE DONE.  I miscalculated, and thought my 2 balls of yarn required a double batch ofdye.  That's why it came out darker than expected, without the flecks of white for a nice gradient.]

Pre-soak the balls of yarn in room-temp water for about 30 minutes.

In the Dye Pot,
1-1/2 T salt
1/3 cup white vinegar
Enough water to cover / submerge the balls of yarn.
Heat this until it gets just ready to simmer.

For the dye concentrates, I mixed up
1 tsp dye powder with
about 2 cups warm water.
1 put that in a plastic bottle with a tight-fitting cap, so I could shake it up until the dye powder was completely dissolved.

Once the dye pot was hot enough (just ready to simmer, not boil), I added the dye concentrate -- not usually the entire bottle (except for the teal). Stir that up.
Then add the balls of yarn.

Then I let them simmer on the stove for about 1 hour.  I am amazed at how the Procion dye nearly exhausts with this technique -- I see that a lot with the food coloring, but usually not with the Procion on cotton.