Month: September 2009

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First yarn dyeing attempt using Kool Aid! – Part 2

So it’s done! We had a beautifully sunny day on Saturday so it was the perfect opportunity to do the dyeing as I didn’t want to completely destroy my kitchen by doing it inside. I set up a dyeing area outside in our garden, laying a bin bag over the table and then covering that with cling film. Here’s the steps I took:

  • Laid the yarn carefully on top of a sink full of tepid water which had a couple drops of washing up liquid in it.
  • Left the yarn to sink to the bottom by itself (about 30 minutes)
  • While the yarn was soaking I prepared the dye by mixing 1 packet of kool-aid per 8oz
  • Once the yarn was soaked through I carefully pressed down on it to get rid of any final bubbles that were trapped within the yarn.
  • Lifted the yarn out of the sink, carefully and gently squeezing the yarn to get rid of some of the water
  • Laid the yarn in a circle on the table
  • Created a very basic guide to help me space the colours properly
  • Took the first colour and poured it wedge-style onto the chosen sections of the circle.
  • Gently rub the mixture through the yarn, lifting and making sure the underneath is coated as well
  • To finish each colour I took the spray gun section of a normal squirty bottle and had it’s end in the measuring jug holding the juice, this way I could carefully and accurately get the remaining spots of white with the colour
  • Work through the rest of the colours in the same way
  • Wrap the yarn in the cling film, folding it over itself so the yarn is separated in layers from the other sections of the yarn (so colour doesn’t mix)
  • Put the whole thing in a microwavable bowl and in the microwave on high for 2 minutes, then rest for 2 minutes and then put it on high for another 2 minutes. You should find the water in the bowl is clear at this point, if not then after a 2 minute rest pop it on high for another 2 minutes.
  • Leave it to cool COMPLETELY. I found this bit very hard to do, I really wanted to unwrap my yarn and see it but if you do there is a chance you’ll felt your yarn and then it will be ruining, so leave it til it’s cooled
  • Fill the sink with water that is the same temperature as your cooled yarn and carefully push your yarn around in it a bit
  • Pull the yarn out, gently sqeezing it and then hang it up to dry

And ta-da… the finished product…



The full process has been put on my flickr here

And on Ravelry you’ll find me as Lacuna 🙂

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First yarn dyeing attempt using Kool Aid!

So I’ve done it, I’ve just bought some undyed yarn and some kool aid online and both packages should be at my door before the end of next week! I saw so many peoples drool-worthy yarn made with kool aid that I couldn’t hold out any longer. It looks pretty straightforward and there are good tutorials out there for it, not to mention Ravelry and the dye-based groups on there.

So I should have started out simple, but no, I saw a yarn with such beautiful colours (pink, purple, light brown, a bit of grey and a bit of bluey-green) and so loaded up with 7 packages of kool aid and some lovely looking merino sock yarn.

Picture courtesy of Violet Green

Socrates Merino Sock Yarn from Violet Green

I bought the Socrates Merino Sock Yarn from Violet Green and the Kool Aid from KoolaidWorld. I ordered 2 of grape, ice blue raspberry, pink lemonade, and 1 of orange. I am a bit worried as (and it figures even after all the research I did) I just found another article that says to get a vibrant purple (which I want) it is better to use a red + blue instead of just grape… well it’s too late now, I’ve made my order so we’ll see what happens with the grape!

Now I just sit and wait for my deliveries!

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Recovering my classic mini’s interior

I have a 1992 original mini (lovingly referred to hereafter as ‘Jensen’) which deserved a makeover of his interior. After searching around for interior suppliers for classic mini’s I ran across Classic Core, a mini specialist company in Norfolk. I’m actually located down in Bournemouth, Dorset but they do delivery so it wasn’t a problem. They don’t currently post many prices on their website so I don’t want to say an exact value to what I paid, however I will say that they are very fair and affordable and well worth the quality they provided. If you contact them directly they will give you a cost in nearly no time at all.

I was very impressed with the excellent response time that their customer service replied to me with my many questions, and then again impressed at their turnaround time to deliver my covers to me. I ordered front and rear seat covers, a full set of door cards, the rear wheel-arch covers and also a handbrake and gear shift gaiter. I chose to have mine in a creamy/white colour with blue piping and it looks perfect if I do say so myself, I’m very pleased with the job they’ve done.

Changing the seat covers isn’t very difficult at all, and they even sent me a couple sheets of paper with step-by-step instructions. Here’s a couple of pictures showing the process:

Before/After (although only one front seat done at time of pictures):
Front seats before
Back seats after


Back seats before
Front seats after

More pictures can be seen on my flickr

The other front seat has been put in since, but only one door card due to working late and lots of rain! I will post more pictures once I have got the front door cards in.