Great dye jobs! Your little helpers must be very proud! Hmm... yellow Kool Aid. I used yellow and orange (just a smidge) to get a "more yellow yellow"--- Also, you want to remember, that the "Ice" flavors are pretty pale. I had a gf in Canada who sent me some Kool Aid b/c she thought the colors were brighter up there when she dyed wool. Just some thoughts. :)

What a good mom! The boys will always remember this project along with the Halloween costumes!

Looks like you had fun! My favorite part is the smell...there's nothing quite like hot fruity wool.

Uhhmm.... hot fruity wool. I've gotta try this! heh Your boys did a great job if they were still remotely interested after HOURS of waiting for their colors to be ready!!

I used Wilton icing dyes and got really bright colors. I bet you could get a great yellow with it.

What a great way to spend a fall afternoon! I'd bet if you use about 10 of those koolaid yellows, it would turn out superbright!

If you want a brighter Yellow try using Mango or Pinapple I have used both of these and they work great.

What a great way to spend a fall afternoon! I'd bet if you use about 10 of those koolaid yellows, it would turn out superbright!

I've always had to use more than the directions I found online said it took, too. At least double... sometimes triple or quadruple.

Looks like a good time! I've used the yellow Wilton gel food coloring to dye yarn and it came out great - a good strong yellow. It was a bit toward the "orangey" end of the yellow spectrum, but still definitely yellow.

Oh man. Now I want to play with dyes myself again!

Maybe try using more packets of the yellow Kool Aid on that hank.. OR try Flavoraid if its available. I used some Flavoraid green and it was definitely brighter than KA.

for the yellow: add a bit of orange OR use food coloring that you likely have in the pantry. Same process as the KA, but you'll need to add a bit of acid (vinegar works well). :)

Looks great!

Kool Aid yellows are pretty subdued. I finally caved and added food coloring to brighten and perk things up a bit.

I've had success using the lemonade but using 10-20 packets for a bright sunny yellow. Just keep adding until it dyes really bright.

This is one of my favorite things to do with the kids. I use a crockpot and basically mix the koolaid, water and vinegar and then put in the hank-o-yarn, cover and set to low. When the water is clear I remove the cover, turn off the heat and let it cool down and then rinse and dry. My latest batch I mixed yellow food coloring in with the red koolaid and got a bright corally orange!

Add a touch of Pineapple to the Lemonaid to get a brighter orange. The Pineapple alone produces an almost gold colour but when mixed leaves you with a vivid yellow.

Next up, dying with multiple colours and setting it in the microwave. A warning, it stinks in a way even a wet dog doesn't.

Did the boys feel like mad scientists? That's so cute they wanted to 'help' you dye 'their' yarn.

You can get a really really good, vibrant yellow with wilton dyes (they come in little pots for under $2, and they last a lot longer, too). I like using them better than koolaid because of that, and there's a better color range, too.

Wow, thanks for the tips folks. If there had been any other yellow at the store, I would have gotten it, but in the stores near me, there's just lemonade, raspberry, some green apple ice flavor, and watermelon cherry. The real cherry I found was from the "sugar free" Kool Aid and we just picked up some orange Crystal Lite - we'll see how that goes. We're just playing around, so whatever we get will be fine.

I haven't ever seen Wilton dyes and don't actually know where to look for food coloring. I peeked in the bakery aisle of my grocery store, but didn't see any. Am I looking in the wrong place? And if I use the dyes or food coloring, do I have to use vinegar? If so, how much? The reason I like the KoolAid dyeing is that it's so easy and I don't have to do anything, but essentially make the KoolAid (minus the sugar of course) and put in the yarn. Once we get into techniques that require getting plastic gloves, using other additives, buying a special pot, there's no way I'm gonna do all that! ;0)

I love to see how your kids are so involved with your life. Do you homeschool them? You all seem to have so much fun together...good stuff. :)

What about several packets of lemonade and a part of a packet of orange to brighten it up? Maybe that would get Gryffindor gold! Good luck and does it smell fruity? Part of the fun!

Oh yeah! I'm so glad that mystery yarn worked for you! Ahh, I should become a yarn personal shopper. Do you think it could be lucrative?

what I want to know is, when are the boys going to learn to knit their own yarn?

That red is great. I certainly didn't get that deep of a red when I used the cherry. I'll have to give that one another go some time.

About the yellow, though... I, too, found it to be too pale. So, I threw in some yellow food coloring (the liquid kind you get at the grocery store), since I was still in the process of dyeing the stuff when I realized how pale it was. I think there's better brightness potential in that food coloring than the lemon Kool-Aid. Hope that helps.

I've gotten bright yellows with both the Wilton's and using food coloring. Need to add vinegar.

Our grocery store keeps the food coloring in the spices section. Usually, near the different flavor extracts.

The Wilton's Icing, I've gotten at Walmart, JoAnn Fabrics and Micheals crafts. I bet A.C. Moore might have it as well. If any of those stores are in your area.