Dyeing wool take 2

Alright so my first attempt at dyeing the wool batting didn't turn out so well. The green color was absorbed by the top of the wool before it even had a chance to reach the bottom of the batting.

Back to the drawing board I went....

What if I put all the dye into the crock pot with the vinegar and water BEFORE adding the wool?

Well part of the scientific process is trials, so here goes:

Step 1: Make a dye bath (hot water, kool-aid or food coloring, and 1/2 cup white vinegar

Step 2: submerge wool into dye bath

Step 3: Use spoon to gently squish wool into dye bath till fully submerged

Step 4: Wait about 45 minutes

Step 5: When a spoon dipped into wool yield clear water, wool is done

Step 6: Dump wool gently into a colander to drain/cool

Step 7: Once cool transfer to a towel to dry, you may have to unroll the wool batting to make it dry faster, re-roll once dry

TIPS: Handle wet/hot wool very gently, any agitation or friction will cause the wool to begin to felt.

Did it work?

Color is even on both sides of the wool!

YAY! Success!

Here is all the wet wool batting

TIP: I did end up un-rolling all the colors and laying them flat to dry because they were still damp after 24 hours and I am too impatient to wait...

This is the wool batting re rolled into bales.

Finally ready to take to the preschool on Thursday and teach the kids how to felt their toy balls!

First times a charm, right?

WRONG!!!

Ok so here it is TRIAL 1 of dyeing the wool roving.

So first you divide your dry roving into smaller sections

Next you place your roving section into a crock pot and cover with water and 1/2 cup white vinegar, turn the crock to high and allow to slowly heat up.

Next you mix your dye, you can use kool-aid, food coloring, or gel coloring. Use HOT water, because cold water will shock the roving and cause it to felt.

Ok so now you pour the hot dye into the crock with the wool. Use a spoon to gently spread the color throughout the crock.

Cover with an inverted lid, and allow to "cook" for about an hour or till a spoon dipped into the water shows clear water in the crock.

Once the water is clear, gently dump the contents of crock into a colander that is in a sink. Be careful to not agitate the wool too much or else it will felt. Allow to drain and cool. Once cool squish out the excess water and transfer to a towel to dry.

Hmfpt? The dye didn't make it to the bottom of the wool. Crap, back to the drawing board

I am the proud creator of 35 felted wool ball cores.

Alright, so I did a mini practice with a small fluff of wool and made a tiny wool ball. That turned out pretty cool. So I decided to make a whole slew for Em's class using the quicker felting method involving knee high panty hose and the washing machine.

So I ripped open one of these rolls and this is what I was faced with; a large pile of super soft wool.

The next thing I did was pull off thin sections of the wool; like this.

I started rolling the loose wool into balls about the size of a softball.

As each ball was finished I stuffed it into a knee high panty hose.

Here is one knee high sock filled with 3 unfelted ball cores; they were made larger than needed due to the shrinking nature of the felting process.

Next I placed the panty hose caterpillars inside a pillow case and tied it shut.

Tossed all the pillow case bags in the washing machine with some laundry that needed washed, added detergent and started the load.

When the wash cycle was finished I removed the pillow cases and tossed the rest of the laundry (now covered in wool) into the dryer. Then I began the long grueling process of ripping the balls that were now felted to the panty hose stockings. Let me tell you from personal experience only a fool willingly felts and removes 35 balls in ONE sitting. The process of yanking the wools balls free took about 2 hours and left my hands very raw. BUT it was so worth it!

I can't wait to dye the rest of the wool and start making these toys pretty!

4 pounds of wool batting arrived!

I was so excited to see the big box of the softest fluffy wool batting that I have ever seen! Of course, I couldn't resist testing out the felting process, I mean I wouldn't be called OCD otherwise!

Here is the untouched carded wool batting that I ordered from West Earl Woolen Mill in PA!

This is the fluff ball that I pulled off the ends to do a practice run:

This is the finished felted mini ball!

Tomorrow I'm heading to Walmart to pick up some supplies that I need to make the real ball cores. It's going to be an interesting checkout to say the least!

1. 6 pairs of cheapo knee high stockings (you know the kind that come in the plastic bubbles)

2. 10 packs of Kool-Aid (haven't decided a flavor, er I mean color profile yet)

3. 1 felting needle

4. Various wool yarns (hopefully I can raid the remenant bin)

Check back soon for more updates on the BALL PROJECT!

Let's get woolly!

So my middle daughter's preschool class is starting a project on balls. They will be exploring the many types, and uses of balls. I had recently discovered the wonders of using felted wool balls in the dryer to fluff your laundry without the added chemicals of fabric softeners.


Here is the link to where I got instructions to make felted wool dryer balls:

http://bnyce.tenyearsof.us/goodmama-make-your-own-wool-dryer-balls

My first thought was visiting the class and teaching them how to make their very own wool laundry balls. My kids are pretty understanding of doing things more natural and crunchy and actually get excited about all the cool home projects that come from that. I was a little unsure about how cool it would be for twenty five 3-5 year old kids to make a hard as a rock set of balls to take home and put in the dryer.

Thus yet another Google search was sparked. I was on a quest to find information about homemade TOY balls that could be made easily with a large group of preschool age kids.

Voila I came across several sites about felting wool to make toys... I was shocked at the sheer number of toys that can be made with felted wool. But I needed to focus... Her project is balls.

I came across a cool blog: http://crunchyparent.com/

On this site this awesome PhD mom, shares how to hand-felt balls using wool batting/roving. She also shares a shortcut to make the same style of balls using the convenience of the modern washing machine. Awesome!

Make sure you check back often as I will be posting my progress in turning 4 pounds of carded wool batting into at least 25 soft wool balls (might even splurge and add jingle bells). Then I will be sharing pictures of the process of teaching the kids how to decorate their ball cores with kool-aid dyed wool (for the privacy of the preschool kids, I will only post pictures of my kid working on her ball).

Check out this site for awesome instructions on how to kool-aid dye wool.

http://cyberseams.com/article/105501/craft_basics/how_to_dye_wool_roving_with_kool_aid.html

Here is one about dying wool yarn, with neat color examples!

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall02/FEATdyedwool.html