Overdye the Mitts

My latest project wasn’t wanted by anyone in my household due to it’s super saturated colors.  I was told that the turquoise blue wasn’t exactly a fall or winter color.  To save the project and make these mitts become wearable in the eyes of my family, I opted to over-dye them.

Aiming for a navy or charcoal color, a soak in the sink with some citric acid added was the first step.  The citric acid is supposed to help set the dye but I’ve read that you can also use vinegar.

I added some black and some orange dye to water in a large bowl.  Using my very limited knowledge of color theory, I added the orange because it’s directly across the color wheel from blue which should tone down or even neutralize the color.  Then I plopped those mitts right into the dye bath.

They required a little cooking time in the microwave to set the dye.  This is superwash wool so I wasn’t worried about felting but I do wonder how regular wool holds up in the very hot water.  I think I would worry about it felting up.

The direction say to cook the yarn until the water in the bath is clear.  My water was barely tinged orange so I considered them done and gave them a rinse.

The end result is a deep forest green and brown coloration.  Much more appropriate for the season I think!  Not the navy or charcoal color that I was aiming for but it is an improvement.The dyes are from Greener Shades that I found on knitpicks.com. I haven’t tried any other brand of dye but I’m happy with this one. It seems to take really well to the yarn and so far there hasn’t been any bleeding. Yay for that!