Dyeing in a crock pot is a simple procedure.  It does take more time than either dyeing on the stove-top or in the microwave, but you don’t have to stand over it either and can go and do something else while waiting.  I like the gradual heating the crock provides and I like being able to interrupt or prolong the process without doing any damage to the yarn.

Of course, none of this is carved in stone.  I basically experimented until I arrived at a series of steps that would yield a good result.  I encourage you to do likewise and see what works for you.

You will need the following things:

A crock pot
Yarn to dye
Dye
White vinegar (or citric acid)
A stainless steel or wooden spoon
A couple of good sized glass bowls
Plastic or rubber gloves (not always necessary - but if you have to stick your hands into, say a blue dye bath, you’re going to want them covered!)

Your yarn has to be a protein fiber - that is it must have come from an animal originally.  Wool, alpaca, cashmere. mohair - all of those will dye beautifully using this method.  Cottons or linens (plant fibers) require different treatment and different dyes. 

The first step is to weigh your yarn.  This is a French yarn with the label “Chabotté”.  I had never heard of it before and couldn’t track it down on the web but it was inexpensive, wool and the light cream color made it a good candidate for the dye pot.  It’s a sport/DK weight yarn and is washable.  All together there are about 400 yards (385 meters).

My experience has been that one “unit” of dye per ounce of yarn will give me the kind of color saturation I’m looking for.  The unit, of course depends on the type of dye you’re using.  As I only use food-safe dyes, my choices are usually between Kool-aid (1 packet per ounce), Easter egg dye tablets (1 tablet per ounce) or icing dyes (1/4 tsp per ounce).  In the above photo, you can see that the scale reads 5.4 oz. for the three balls of yarn.  Since I’m using icing dye this time, that means roughly 1 1/4 tsp of dye for the lot.

A good rule of thumb is to dye no more ounces of yarn than your crock has quarts - at least that’s what I’ve found works well for me.  In other words, since I’m using a 5 quart crock, I would not want to dye much more than 5 oz. of yarn at any one time.  Yes, I am a little over this time - but only a very little :) Quantities under that weight are fine but much more than that and the yarn gets crowded and may take the dye unevenly even leaving some bare spots where the dye couldn’t reach the yarn.

Now you need to wind your yarn into a skein.  If you’re fortunate, your yarn may already be in a skein (many yarns are sold that way) but if it has been wound into a ball, you’ll have to rewind it.  You can do this on a swift (as pictured above) or you can use the backs of a couple of kitchen chairs placed in reasonable proximity - or even the hands and arms of a willing victim assistant :) Cut a several yard length of the yarn to use for tying the skein off.





The skein will need to be tied off in several places to keep the yarn from tangling in the crock.  Trust me, there’s nothing more frustrating than going through the process, getting a glorious color and then having to spend a day untangling 400 yards of yarn that wasn’t secured properly.  Very annoying!  I used to use cotton string for this until I found out that in some cases, it was actually blocking the dye from getting to the yarn.  Now I always cut a length of the yarn I’m dyeing and use that.  I do this while the yarn is still on the swift as I find it convenient to have the swift hold it for me.  Tie your yarn in 4 - 6 places - not too tightly.





In your sink (or a large bowl) run a good quantity of water as near to room temperature as you can manage and set your skeined and tied yarn in the water to soak.  Squeeze gently to get all the wool wet but don’t agitate vigorously, twist, stretch or otherwise manhandle the yarn because it could felt and that’s probably not what you’re going for right now :) This is less of a concern with washable wool - but still, it should be handled gently.  Let the yarn soak for about an hour.  Your goal here is to make sure all the yarn is thoroughly wetted so that it can easily absorb the dye.  You can wash the yarn at this point if you wish.  If the yarn is new I don’t generally bother because it will be washed after being dyed anyways.  However, if the yarn is dirty or dusty or has been frogged from another project, you may wish to clean it up a bit first.





While your yarn is soaking, prepare your dye solution.  For this batch, I used Wilton’s Icing Dye (note:  this dye contains sugars and corn syrups so be sure to wash your yarn carefully and thoroughly when the dyeing is done).  I filled the cup with boiling water and added about 3/4 tsp of pink, about 1/4 tsp orange and a few drops of brown dye to the water to dissolve.





Remove your yarn from the sink or the bowl and squeeze the excess water out of it.  You want it to be wet - but not dripping :) Pour your dye solution into another bowl and add water - around 3 to 4 quarts.  There isn’t a precise measurement here - all you want is to have enough dye bath to cover the yarn in the crock.  The amount of water you add to the dye solution has no bearing on how intense your final color will be since that is determined by how much actual dye you use. 

At this point, add your vinegar too - about 1/2 c.  The acid is what makes the dye fast so that the color doesn’t wash out.  It doesn’t have to be vinegar - the tannic acid in tea also works (though I have only done that once and it was by accident!).  I have also read that Kool-aid (if that’s what you’re using for a dye) has enough citric acid in it that the addition of vinegar is unnecessary.  I always add it though because I’m chicken :) In any case, acid is a necessary component and white (distilled) vinegar is easy to find and quite inexpensive (about $2/gallon in your local supermarket).  Make sure that everything is well mixed and dissolved and that there are no solids left in the dye bath.  If there are, either mash them with your spoon until they are dissolved or remove them.  Then pour your dye bath into the crock pot.

Place the yarn into the dye bath, stir gently to bring all of the yarn into contact with the dye, cover the crock and set it to high.

Go away for a while :) I generally let things run until the dye has exhausted - that is, until the yarn has absorbed all the color and the liquid left in the crock is clear (or, perhaps, slightly milky looking).  Depending on the yarn and the dye, this can take anywhere from one to six hours.

My crock pot is deep green and it can be difficult to see whether the dye has all been absorbed - so I keep a white plastic measuring spoon handy to test the solution with.

When you’re scooping out nothing but clear liquid (all color has been absorbed), turn the crock pot off and leave everything to come to room temperature.

After the yarn has cooled, wash it (I usually use a combination shampoo/conditioner for this) and rinse, rinse, rinse.  Make sure to handle the yarn gently and to keep the water a uniform temperature so that you’re not thermally shocking the yarn.  Agitation and/or thermal shock can result in felting.

You should rinse several times (carefully) to make sure that all the cleanser is cleared from the yarn and to make sure that any “loose” color is washed away.  Don’t run water directly on your yarn; just use your bowl.  Fill it with clean, clear water, dunk your yarn (squeezing gently) and change your water as often as you need to until it remains clear.





Squeeze the excess water out of your yarn and place it on a clean dry towel.  Roll it up and press to extract as much moisture as possible out of the yarn.  Hang to dry.





When the yarn is dry, wind it or re-skein it.  I also like to make a swatch so that I have it to refer to when I’m considering new projects.  The swatch also shows me how the yarn looks knitted up.

Enjoy your crock pot dyeing adventure!