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Dye your own gradient rainbow yarn!
Is there anything more pleasurable to the eyes than an ombre rainbow gradient? To a knitter, lovely variegated yarn with subtle color overlap is divine! This tutorial shows how to dye rainbow gradient yarn at home in your own kitchen at an affordable cost.

Buy hand-dyed yarns at www.lovelybylee.com

When sharing your hand-dyed yarn, please tag me! I would love to share your photos. Please tag, @lovelybylee and #lovelybylee when using social media.

Posted by Lovely by Lee • Published 22nd January 2021 • See Lovely by Lee's 7 projects »

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Rainbow

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mmotse03 favorited Rainbow Gradient Yarn - Dye At Home! 23 Mar 05:18
Lovely by Lee published her project Rainbow Gradient Yarn - Dye At Home! 22 Jan 09:00

Step 1
Gather materials and put on rubber gloves to begin.
Step 2
Soak yarn in sink (tap water is fine) with 1/2 gallon water mixed with 1 cup distilled white vinegar. Allow yarn to sit in the water/vinegar mixture for approximately 10 minutes.
Step 3
Pull wet yarn out of water mixture and lay 3 hanks side-by-side in catering pan (length-wise). Do not wring out yarn. It is okay if the yarn is too long for the pan. This yarn dye job may be done in 2 parts. Place catering pan on stovetop (which should be off). Just hang additional yarn over the side (BUT KEEP IT OFF OF BURNER!).
Step 4
Mix up the first color using 1/4 of the Rit Dye packet, 2 cups of water and 1 Tbs distilled white vinegar. I started with blue, but any color is fine. Stir with whisk. Test the dye on a scrap piece of yarn. Pour a 3-4 inch stripe perpendicular to the length of the yarn (across all 3 hanks) near the edge of the pan. I did this towards the edge in which the extra yarn was placed over the edge of the catering pan.
Step 5
Next, repeat the steps above in mixing the second color (preferably a shade that would come before/after the previous shade according the the rainbow). Pour this dye next to the first color stripe, overlapping approximately 1 inch.
Step 6
Continue these steps until the yarn in the pan is dyed. Turn on stovetop to low-medium and let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove yarn and rinse in cold water.
Step 7
If needed to complete dyeing the yarn that did not fit in the pan, repeat steps above (as shown in photo).
Step 8
Once the yarn is dyed entirely, rinse with cold water in the sink. Then plug the sink with cold water and add wool wash (according to directions on the packaging). Gently agitate the yarn (careful not to tangle), and remove yarn from water. Gently squeeze out excess water, but do not wring or pull yarn. Hang to dry on a dry rack.
Step 9
When the yarn is completely dry, twist into a hank for storage.
Step 10
Buy hand-dyed yarns at www.lovelybylee.com

When sharing your hand-dyed yarn, please tag me! I would love to share your photos. Please tag, @lovelybylee and #lovelybylee when using social media.