I suppose I should eventually get a gallery for finished items, but I'll need to do some wrestling with the technology as I simply dont understand some of the directions. (I guess complete unfamiliarity with html does not help).
Anyway - this is not really a finished item yet, but its my first attempt at Kool-Aid dying. Actually it might be my only attempt as it made the entire house smell like fruit drink (not really surprising).
I bought some undyed knit-picks wool and did the dying in 2 stages - first the orange, then the pink. The orange was with 3 packets of some orange-coloured flavour and the pink was one packet of strawberry? cherry? - something red.
Each colour took about 4 mins in the microwave and leaked surprisingly little when I rinsed it out after the colouring step.
I dont yet know what this is destined to become - I have 220 yards so maybe a tiny shrug or something.
2 comments:
I have been reading about food in the "Victorian House" by Judith Flanders. Your dying wool with synthetic fruit drinks is a kind of retro reversal of the Victorian order.
Before the Food Adulteration Bill became law in 1860 it was normal to colour foods with poisonous dyes (most dyes being poisonous - note - the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland). Poisonous colouring agents (eg red lead oxide) were added commonly to pickles, preserved meats and fish - and - heaven forfend - TEA! However the public seemed unimpressed with protective health measures: when Cross and Blackwell changed its recipe in 1855, sales slumped; notables of the day wrote '....for my part, I like my anchovies red and my pickles green....'.
For my part, I am not attracted to the idea of drinking KoolAid (is it a drink?) - and as for dying with it - hmmm - does it come in turquoise...?
Having seen its properties as a permanent dye I would not drink it either. You could probably create a turquoise by mixing lime and blueberry flavours or something!
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