hand-dyed by B and S

 

hats for the boys in mystery yarn dyed with Kool Aid

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I was pretty excited about trying the Kool Aid dyeing on my newly acquired white mystery yarn from the swap, so the boys and I rushed out yesterday to get Kool Aid. Each picked out a few packets of his favorite color and I promised to make hats for them with the yarn if they helped me dye it. We got home and immediately pulled out the instructions and all the supplies. We began with the little swatch that Monica had knit up and half a packet of cherry Kool Aid.

An hour or so of "is it done yet?", a rinse and a wash, and the swatch looked like this. Red! Good enough to proceed to the real thing. Next we weighed a whole hank (2 oz. on the dot) and tossed it in two packets of lemonade Kool Aid.

The lemonade didn't have much color in it, so we cooked the yarn a second time with two more packets. After three hours of "is it done yet?" and a night drying in the bathroom, everything looks like this. The boys are very pleased with "their" yarn.

Next up, dyeing a whole hank of cherry for S and finding a brighter yellow so we can get B's yarn to match his winter jacket. What fun!

This dyeing with Kool Aid thing is way too much fun. This week the boys helped me dye the big hanks for their hats.

Red for S.

Yellow for B.

Okay, now watch how the yarn sucks up all the color. This. Is. So. Cool!

This was the Crystal Lite orange, by the way. It ended up making a yellow that is PERFECT for B's jacket!

Ready to begin knitting....

From kool aid cakes to kool aid caps.

B's yellow yarn was first. (You didn't think that "Thing One" was going to wait, did you? Actually, we're still trying to perfect the color of S's yarn so it will better match his coat.) I made no gauge swatch and just guessed at the numbers. With a 1x1 rib on the bottom, I rationalized, it'd probably fit anyone! I added some white stripes to copy those on the jacket and volia: a perfect fit and a perfect match.

B said, "I love my hat. I'm going to wear it to keep my hair warm." This was in the house this morning while he was still in his pajamas. He pulled it on and padded off to play the Dora boardgame with his brother. In his hat.

I'll have to ask for the hat back again at some point, because it's not completely finished. It still needs a lining. Hubby's not convinced that wind won't blow through a knitted hat, so they need to be lined to get his stamp of approval. But that can wait. B's approval is enough for me today.

S's red hat, all knitted and also awaiting a lining before it can make its outdoor debut. For now it's just for tv watching and such.

For the sticklers out there, no the red doesn't match his jacket as well as B's matches his, but it's pretty good considering the meager Kool-Aid selection that is available in my local grocery stores. The final color is from overdyeing the cherry Kool-Aid skein with raspberry no-brand "On the Go" drink packets (you know, the nifty little tubes of powdered drink mix that are just the right size for a water bottle?!) . I used twice the number of packets as I would have with regular Kool-Aid and it did a good job knocking down some of that orangeiness in the cherry.

And finally, we have hats the boys love even more than their fuzzy blue Thing hats.

As it is Thanksgiving, I thought that I might redirect my crafty efforts to finishing up knitgifts for the two people I'm most thankful for. So it's time for those kool-aid caps to get their linings.

I pulled out some old gray turtleneck shirts that the boys had outgrown, lined up the hat along the bottom edge (so I don't have to make a hem on the lining), and cut out two panels.

The boys watched as I sewed them together - their first experience with the sewing machine and they loved it. Apparently it's machine enough for them. And now I've got two linings ready to be sewn into the hats. B let me slip the lining on him and take a picture without ever losing focus on the Lego building factory that is our dining room.

Yes, their tolerance for my try-ons and photo-taking is definitely something to be thankful for. The boys are thankful for Legos, of course.

Chuck E. Cheese Skee-Ball.

And each other.

Another year older means another winter coat. But luckily, the boys' favorite colors are still the same so the new coats match the kool aid caps I made last year.

And they still love them! B is going to bring his for show and tell. Awwww.