Dyeing wool

I was given a pile of Earth Palette wool dyes (thanks, Teena) some time ago and finally decided to try them out. The dyes are in a granulated format and have to be mixed with hot water. You then soak the wool (fleece, yarn or fabric) in the dye mix, wrap in plastic for 24 hours or until the liquor you squeeze out of the dyed matter runs clear. Easy.

On Wednesday I mixed up yellow, blue and brilliant red and tried the dyes on some commercial yarns which I wound into skeins. One yarn was pure wool, the other (the one with bobbles) was an unknown fibre or fibre mix. I unwrapped them this morning.


I wanted a space dyed effect so did one batch with blue and red, and one with blue and yellow. I think the latter is more successful. I am not happy with the red - I think it is too pink.

I also think these dyes are not really suitable for spacedyeing. You have to squeeze the dye into the yarn. If you don't, it just sits on top, unlike Procion dyes which move into the material to be dyed. However, if you want to dye just one colour, I think they would work well, and they are certainly very easy to use.