Dyeing: My second attempt - happy mistakes

This yarn is for my Grandpa A. 3 Skeins of Knitpicks Superwash Merino Worsted Weight, tied end to end for one large skein, 10' in stretched diameter, 660 yards total.



Goal: Navy, Maroon, and Gray gradient. Main colors to be the navy and gray, with a maroon "stripe".

Soaked yarn fully submerged in water with 1/4 cup vinegar for 10 hours (oops, fell asleep with my child!). This time I set up my dyes a little differently - but still not correctly, I know that now, yet another lesson!

Crock 1:
1-1/2 Tsp Jacquard Acid Dye Navy

Crock 2:
1-1/2 Tsp Jacquard Acid Dye Gunmetal

Mason Jar:
1/2 Tsp Jacquard Acid Dye Vermilion

This is a picture of the dye process beginning:




The result was LOTS of navy! The Gunmetal didn't "take" - partly, I'm guessing, because I didn't wash, I just rinsed everything out, I think there was some dye contamination from my first attempt. My questions now are perhaps there is no need for vinegar in the soak? Color still had a hard time wicking, though not as much as attempt #1.

I also think the water may not be hot enough when I add the dyes. There was some powder residue at the bottom of the crock. Not sure if this is normal or not. I am thinking perhaps the yarn must be heated in plain water, spoon some water out, mix the dye in a shakeable lidded jar, lift yarn, add dye, stir water, put yarn back in. Also, perhaps zero need to pre-soak with vinegar? Perhaps put in with the dyes? I don't know quite yet.

Hmmm, the vinegar in the presoak may also be a part of why the yarn took the blue from the dye rather than the gray. When I mixed the dye in the water, it took on an eggplant/navy hue, settling into a dark gray after a few minutes. Maybe the vinegar'd yarn sucked the blue out before it could "take" the gray? Just recalling what happened before where ALL the dye was sucked to the yarn with the large amount of vinegar I presoaked in.

So, the end result of two hues of navy, one denim, one midnight, are quite attractive, and the white between the blues and red is nice - goes well with my adjusted patriotic theme for Grandpa A.



And a photo of the three skeins re-skeined into usable skeins. It is much more blue than the photo allows for, having been washed out by the flash. Off to find a hat and scarf pattern for Grandpa A, which, of course, will be posted!



Now, on to dyeing attempt 3!