We Put the COOL in Kool-Aid Dyeing!!!!!

My advanced knitters are really fast learners, so I am constantly trying to find new stuff to teach them! This past week we tried Kool-Aid dyeing. I had never tried before so it seemed like a perfect time to do it. First, we wound the wool into loose skeins. Here is the wool and the kool-aid packet. I am trying Cherry.



Next step is to wet the wool first in plain water, letting the water completely soak into the wool. While the wool is soaking, pour the powdered drink mix into a microwave-safe container and stir. ** the amount of water does not matter, since all of the dye will absorb into the wool. We found that one packet of mix dyed about 1 oz of wool (maybe a bit more). Put the wet wool into the drink and push it down so that the wool is completely covered by the dye. Add more water to cover it.



Put the container into the microwave for 2 minutes on HIGH. Let it stand for approximately 10 minutes (or until it cools down a bit), then repeat again until all of the dye is gone from the water.


Before microwave



After microwaving 2 times. Notice how the dye has completely left the water. It's all in the wool!!!!



Grape drink. The neat thing is that the wool now smells like kool-aid. We found that the scent fades after a few days, but it made my classroom smell lovely for a few days!



Cherry yarn. I took this sample over to Stitches From the Heart so they could see what we were doing with their generous donation. Our next step is to knit up some toys to felt! This wool will be perfect for that. It started out a beige color and was pretty plain. Now with added color, it can have a whole new life! Today, the girls brought in some new colors to try. Orange and green. I can't wait!!!!!


Last week in Marine Biology (my other teaching job) we had a Crustacean Feast! The kids brought in different foods containing crustaceans and we had a huge feast after the test on Arthropods. Here is the feast table. Looks so good!



I tried so many variations of ceviche that day that I am now an unoffical expert.



Trays and trays of sushi! And shrimp cocktail! The kids brought food in during 5 of my classes! I can safely say I have had my fill of shrimp cocktail for the time being!



A giant lobster. This guy was cool, he even had barnacles growing on his exoskeleton. Another crustacean! The kids enjoyed pulling this lobster apart and seeing how his joints work. Who says science isn't fun??!!!?!?!


Hope you all have a great week. Next week I will post pics of our dyed yarn put to use. And my advanced kids are learning dpns. The beginners are each working on baby hats, so I will have another big donation for Stitches coming soon!