A couple of weeks ago I was diligently prepping winter knits for the summertime, washing them to store in the cedar chest. I was in a bit of a rush and not remembering that my new Still Light hadn’t really gotten all of it’s color bleeding out in the wash yet, and it ended up next to my Damask shawl, a much loved piece that I made in the first few days of Zooey’s life. I knitted this shawl almost entirely with her sleeping on my chest while I did it. The result wasn’t terrible, but left a green tinge on the beautiful saffron color. You can see some of it directly to the left of the Hazel Knits skein.
As you can see, I already ordered a replacement skein. I ADORE this color and need it in my life. This is probably my most worn shawl. I will not likely make another Damask in saffron, but another lace shawl in this color would be wonderful. I mourned my Damask and was just going to hand it off to the kiddos for a dress up item and then I remembered over dyeing! I asked Jane, one of my intrepid knitting mentors from my LYS what to do and she suggested Kool-aid dyeing. It had been years since I did that and I had to refresh my memory with this article.
I settled on pink lemonade and got seven packets. 
Zooey helped of course with this fun science experiment. After boiling one time I wasn’t convinced the color was even enough or would cover the messed up areas to my liking. I went and got another seven packets of pink lemonade and two of orange. The Knitty article suggests at least one packet per ounce of wool, but I wanted this color to pop! 
After a second round of mixing and boiling the water was milky white, rather than the clear I expected, but the result was fantastic. 
I’m a fan. This is a bolder orange than I’ve worn as a shawl before, but I’m embracing the result and the fun process. Now, what beautiful lace shawl should I make with 400 yards of the saffron? Ideas welcome.
What a good save. That’s an interesting tidbit about one package of Kool-aid for each ounce.
I think the color is fantastic. I hate to tell you, but you went a little crazy with the packets. It still turned out a success.
Wow! That’s a total win!!
What a happy ending for such a sad tale! I like the orange even better though!
Wow, that is beautiful. I have never heard of Kool Aid Dyeing before. Thank you for sharing.
Wow, such great colors!
Love the save 🙂 What a lovely bright orange. No idea what you should knit but I’m sure it will be fabulous 🙂
it’s like getting a new shawl! I have done a bit of kool-aid dying, but always with yarn, never the finished garment. That looks really fun. As for the new shawl – so many choices out there, I wouldn’t; begin to advise one pattern over the others – have fun diving into Ravelry!
Any shade of orange is my favorite, I love the result!
That color is delightful! What a great save for your shawl 🙂
That’s gorgeous in either color! Love your creativity! 🙂
It’s really beautiful, but next time (hopefully there won’t be one), try Oxi Clean spray to remove stains. i tried it as a last resort on white pants that got muddy from top to bottom with pluff mud, which really stains. I felt just sick, because it was the first time I had worn them. They look brand new. It is the bomb! I’ve used it on other things since, and went and bought another big bottle. Love it!
I had a really bad experience with OxiClean and another knit. It faded out so much of the color. My husband did it and I got really upset. I don’t feel safe using OxiClean on dyed wool.
That turned out beautifully. Great save. I’ve had that milky white show up in Kool Aid dyeing before. I think there is something in the lemonade and pink lemonade that does it because the other colors don’t do it.
I had that kind of bleeding happen with a favorite pale-purple hat of mine. It’s now covered in blue-green blotches and I haven’t figured out what to do with it. 🙁 At least a hat would be easier to re-knit than a shawl. Yay for overdying!
That colour is fantastic! No doubt the girls have missed out on an excellent addition to their dress-up box, but what a great save for you!
Wow! Amazing color with fantastic results.
Love this. I like swallowtail. Hard to go wrong really with that color
I love the result, orange is my favourite colour at the moment. But the original shade is also gorgeous. If you do love the pattern so much (and I can’t blame you for that!) you could make another one as planned…
So gorgeous! What a beautiful color, I’ve never cool aid dyed before but this makes me want to try!
Just love what you did here Cassy! I want to do the same, but am a little nervous about the shawl felting in the process of being heated. Any advice?