winter crafting: painting rainbows on yarn

The crisp wet days of Autumn here in the cold Blue Mountains stimulates much woolly activity around my home.. the spinning wheels are oiled and on the ready. Fortunately, due to my influence on my children, our home is full of rainbow colour yarns to keep us feeling bright & cheery on drizzly days.

sweet dappled confetti skeins, dyed by my 4year old's (yes i have x2!)

My twinnies & I hosted a little workshop in non-toxic wool dyeing in our studio recently. They turned white 20gr skeins of yarn into little rainbow colour-pots of wool! Food-colour dyeing is a funtastic school holiday activity. The joy of dyeing wool with my children is one of the most enjoyable passtimes we share together.. memories are created each moment we squeal with joy at the colour blends we spontaniously create!


Arli, now skilled at using medicine-droper applicators, literally paints a flower garden on her skeins. She also loves to pour lovely saturated rainbow sequences.

top: rainbow yarn
bottom: flower garden skein by Arli

Can you see the golden tipi in the photo above? Arli came home with it one day from school.. she even made a beeswax campfire to sit inside ;) sweeeetness(10000) i wish i was 1" small so i could toast marshmallows inside!

Dyeing wool with your children can be really quite inexpensive. Here are some tips:

• use non-toxic food-colouring (the kind you colour cake icing with) + white vinegar.
  

• keep your thrifty eye out at the op-shops for wool balls, or unravel an old woollen/nylon jumper.
• Unwind wool balls using your elbow & hand as a skein-winder.. the skeins only need to be short.
• use a cake dish or recycled plastic bags
• cook in the microwave or see my tutorial for other passive heating ideas.
  

enjoy your winter crafting!
xoMichelle