All was going well
I successfully took 7 extra large teeshirts and turned them into yarn using this tutorial. It went really well, I did a quick swatch after the first shirt and decided to reduce the width from 1.5″ to 1.25″ so that the rug would be a little thinner, but other than that it was smooth sailing. The next day I was going to dye it a lovely gradient of teal using food coloring and this tutorial.
The dye was lovely and as I pulled one skein after another from the crock pot, they were a little lighter than I’d hoped, but still quite pretty.
Until I went to rinse the yarn. I blame what happened next on my own hubris. I had told boyfriend about how I’ve become a pretty confident crafter and can generally tell what’s going to turn out well and what’s not. So I was suprised and dismayed when the yarn went from
this
to this
If I wash it again, all those specks of teal will probably also wash out. Since grey and white is also a nice color combo, I’m going to go ahead and crochet my rug, but it will not be the same.
Crafting lesson #129: Know your materials!
“Check the label on the shirts you want to dye. Do not use food coloring to dye cotton, acrylic or polyester because these fabrics won’t hold food coloring, and the color will come out when you rinse it or get it wet.”
-Sarah Metzker Erdemir, eHow Contributor
