For immersion dyeing you will need lots of water in a pot, so that the yarn is completely submerged. This will allow the colour to be distributed over a large area, perfect for a single colour yarn with shading or a multi-coloured yarn, where the colours run into each other.

Before the dyeing can begin, the yarn must be soaked in water. This will help the dye to really penetrate the yarn and to fix it there. To achieve this, initially leave the yarn in the water for at least 30 minutes at room temperature.

Method for a single colour yarn with shading:

• Put the soaked yarn into a pot.
• Fill the pot with enough water to completed cover the yarn.
• Add dye liquor in the colours you would like to the water (for the yarn shown we used 50 ml to 100 g of yarn) and stir gently for an even distribution. You can find the recipe for the dye stock here.

At this stage most of the dye is in the water, as the application of an acid and heat (~90°C) is required for acid dye to take and fix, as we mentioned in our post on the basics of dyeing.

• Put the pot on the hob and bring to the boil. The water should reach a temperature of ~90°C, in order for the colour to fix, but the yarn shouldn’t be boiled to avoid damage or felting.
• In a glass or cup, dissolve 1 tablespoon of citric acid in some hot water.
• Lift the yarn out of the water with tongs or a spoon, pour the solution of citric acid into the pot, then put the yarn back in.
• Put a lid on the pot and leave to simmer gently for about 20-30 minutes. At this stage all of the colour should have been taken up by the yarn, leaving the water clear.
• Take the pot away from the hob and leave the water and contents to cool down to room temperature.
• Rinse the yarn in lukewarm water, possibly wash with a little woolwash, then lay flat or hang up to dry.

Method for a multi-coloured yarn:

• Fill a pot with water and dissolve about 1 tablespoon of citric acid for every 100 g of yarn to be dyed.
• Put the yarn you have soaked into the pot and heat up to boiling point.
• Fill small measuring cups with dye solution in the colours required (about 20 ml per colour) or work directly using a spoon.
• Because heat and acid are present, the colours can now be placed where intended, as soon as they come into contact with the yarn they will be fixed.
• You can manipulate the yarn with a spoon, to get the colour into the middle of the hank and on the underside.
• When you are happy with the results, put a lid on the pot and leave it to simmer for about 20-30 minutes.
• Take the pot away from the hob and leave the water and contents to cool down to room temperature.
• Rinse the yarn in lukewarm water, possibly wash with a little woolwash, then lay flat or hang up to dry.

If you find that some areas are still undyed, or you would like to add extra colours/effects, you can repeat the process described or you can add speckles in a second step.

Further posts on the subject of dyeing:

• Dyeing yarn with acid dyes – the basics
• Dyeing with acid dyes – hand-painting yarn & speckles
• Working with hand-dyed yarns

You can find more information about our RAW yarns here.