For some reason I have this really strong urge to dye sock yarn...I think I'm maybe inspired by Peakwool's garage and all the nice coloured yarns in there.

Anyway, does anyone know of a good starter kit that comes with everything you need? Kool Aid or otherwise, I'm not too fussed. Just overwhelmed with the idea of having to buy everything separately and not knowing what I'm doing. (I'm lazy so would prefer to order it from t'internet)

I found this one (http://www.dtcrafts.co.uk/dyesFixers/koolAid/koolAidGroovySockKit.html) - reasonable price I think. 100g of yarn would be nearly £5 and the dye sachets are around 50p each. Alternatively pop into the Wool Baa and they will sort you out:D

Or if you think you want to do a fair bit of dying then this (http://www.woollyworkshop.co.uk/acatalog/Kits_to_Dye_For.html) might be a good choice. Pricier, but a nice starter kit.

You need to decide whether you want to use food dye or can't-eat-it dye. I had one of the Landscape dye (http://www.winghamwoolwork.co.uk/landscape_dyes.htm) starter kits, you get six colours for £13.50 (no wool) and although 15g doesn't sound a lot 3g will make a good clear colour on 100g of yarn.

The Landscape Dyes are lovely, and very easy to work with, if you want more subtle, natural colours i'd suggest those.

If you want bold brash colours, go for the Kool Aid, I use both and I use the same method of dyeing with both, ie throw wet wool in dye pan with water and dye and leave it there till I remember to go back :lol:

You can use a bit of white vinegar to help the dye transfer over to the wool and leave the dye bath clear too, so your not throwing chemicals down the drain :)

Oooh thanks for that you lot. I'll have a good look at them all and decide. Beansforyou, if you just chuck the wool in a pan with water and chuck the dye in, is that for dying it a solid colour? I assume that's not the way you do it if you want lots of colours on it.

Yes thats for a solid colour, if I wanted it the same colour but different hues, i'd put the yarn in bit by bit and leave it a while before bits, so the dye gets weaker as it goes in.

If I want totally different colours I put the yarn out on the side (on long sellophane!) and paint it with the dye, there is alot of trial and error I find lol.

I've dyed a three colour yarn with the "chuck it in the pot and heat it" method. If you search for "low immersion dyeing" or "rainbow dyeing" you should find out more than you want to know, in a nutshell you want a fast takeup of dye and not much water so that the dye stays where you put it rather than mixing together. You can swoosh it around a bit near the end so that any white bits pick up some colour.

If you want a more certain result then you need to paint the dye onto the yarn like Beans said (search for "hand painting yarn"). It's not as messy as you might think, if you cover the surface with a bin bag before you start it stops you dyeing your table. You can then roll it in cling film and steam it or microwave it or roll it in foil and bake it.

The thing you need to think about is how the colour overlaps will pan out. If you had red and blue and yellow then you'd get orange and purple and green too. If it's in a pan you have little control over what you get but when you're painting you can plan to avoid unwanted mixes.

You can also start with coloured yarn and then you avoid the dreaded white bits entirely.

Thank you...I've read about it a bit today and think I'm going to try painting the dye onto the yarn, and also try Beans' method of putting it in a pan with a single colour bit by bit. I like the kinda variegated-solid-one-colour effect. I finally went with the one lisah suggested as I thought I can't really go wrong with Kool Aid for a first attempt...maybe I'll have a look at the other kind of dyes if I get on with the Kool Aids first. You'll be bombarded with pictures when I finally attempt it by the way!

Another way i've done it before is in a big jar.

You fill the jar quite tightly say 1/3 full with your yarn or fibre, then pour in one colour of dye bath up until you can see the yarn has taken as much of it as it can, then stuff more wool in tightly and then pour in the next colour, then so on and so on till it's full.

The I set the jar in a pan of boiling water for a few hours, with the lid open, then rinse it out.

You get some interesting colour blending this way