Gradient, Gradated or Ombre refers to a yarn that is dyed with a color gradually changing from lightest to darkest. This can be done with one dye color across the entire skein or it can also be one color gradating to a second color.

Blends of natural and acrylic fibers can take dye well, but will often have a different appearance. Plant or Animal Fibers? Animal fiber (or keratin fiber) such as wool, alpaca, cashmere and angora, takes most natural and man-made dyes well.

How to dye yarn with Kool-Aid and Wilton food coloring step-by-step

1. Prepare your yarn. Unwrap your yarn from the ball and loosely coil it into a large loop.
2. Soak the yarn. Before dyeing, soak yarn for at least 20 minutes.
3. Prepare the dye bath.
4. Heat it up.
5. Cooling time.
6. Rinse and dry.

Stock and Top Dyeing Stock dyeing refers to the dyeing of fibers, or stock, before it is spun into yarn. It is done by putting loose, un-spun fibers into large vats containing the dye bath, which is less than heated to proper temperature. Top is thus the select long fibers that are used to spin worsted yarn.

1. Step 1: soak the yarn. In your large bowl or bucket, fill it about 75% full with hot (not boiling!)
2. Step 2: prepare your dyes. While your yarn is soaking, prepare your dyes.
3. Step 3: paint your yarn. Cut your sponge in half or in quarters, depending on the number of dyes being used.
4. Step 4: heat it up.
5. Step 5: rinse.

Food coloring is great for dyeing yarn. It’s inexpensive, accessible and allows you to use existing pots and utensils since it’s food-safe. What’s more, the whole yarn dyeing process is incredibly easy and fun!

Well, yes you can. However, RIT Dyes are what is known as a Composite Dye, which means it has different dye types mixed together for various fibers. That is good if you don’t know the fiber content of your yarn but it won’t give you the bright, strong colors you get with fiber specific dyes.

The science of dyeing yarn As a rule of thumb, it’s relatively easy to dye animal fibers at home, but a whole lot more difficult to dye plant fibers. This is where the nerdy (we mean science) bit comes in.

Short answer – these are small-batch spun and dyed yarns, most often of exceptionally high quality, and we small producers can’t take advantage of cost savings available to large, commercial yarn producers. Furthermore, hand dyeing is time-intensive and labor adds significantly to the cost of the final skein.