An Adventure With Wool and Kool Aid

I'd been hearing rumors for awhile that you can dye yarn with Kool-Aid. So, when I found Kool-Aid on Mangers Special at the Kroger, I stocked up.

Black Cherry, Grape, Fruit Punch, and Strawberry

 A few weeks later an opportunity came up in one of my swap groups on Ravelry. It's an open-round-robin style swap where someone posts and item and the first person to claim it, gets it. Then if you claim, you are the next person to post something. Well, a fellow Raveler posted this lovely Cascade 220 Sport yarn in beige.

It was perfect for my experimentation. A neutral color, free, and wool. Which I'm told is essential for Kool-Aid dyeing to work.

So, armed with my Kool-Aid and yarn, I braved the world of Google and landed on knitty.com's tutorial on Kool-Aid dyeing. And while doubtful, I followed the instructions. I spent Friday night with a pizza in the oven and this on my stovetop:

Since I was nervous about how it would turn out, I chose the Strawberry Kool-Aid. (Don't ask why that is my line of thinking, it just was. Probably because I like to actually drink the Fruit Punch.)

I let it boil, then cool. I then drained it using my handy dandy colander, which also let me have a first glimpse of what the final color might be:

But, I also know that color changes as it dries, so I diligently hung it in the bathroom, then my bedroom for TWO WHOLE DAYS. Curse the humidity here, in Utah it would have been a couple of hours....
Then this morning I took this:

And wound them into these:

(Don't mind the financial books under the yarn. We all know where my passions and hobbies lie.)

Not too bad for my first ever try. There are a few light spots in both skeins. They are more obvious in the skein on the left though.

Now, to decide what this yarn is to become. I'm thinking another Honey Cowl perhaps? (I've already made three this year, one is in the Etsy Shop!) 

I feel like I'm ready and rarin' to go for my yarn dyeing workshop later this month with the ladies at the Yarn Haven. We're going to be doing sock yarn, which I cannot wait to try out!!!