neon food coloring

[clothusingmama]

I have been puttering around with yarn for the dicey pants knit along and happened to look at Wal-Mart today at the food coloring. They have neon colors :pink So far I have only done the pink (another skein is soaking in water now) and it is the most amazing neon pink, I am totally in love. The skein is soaking in soap water now to make sure it is color fast, but the color is way better than I could have dreamed. I am going to do each one of the neon colors for my dicey pants and will show pics of the skeins when I get them all done. I can only get about 2 skeins per day so hopefully I will have them done tomorrow. I am so excited, I just couldn't wait to share. So whoever it was who had a super hard time getting a good bright pink (sorry I forgot who it was) try this, the color is awesome!!

[averymybaby]

can't wait to see pictures!! :devil

[CraftyMommaOf2]

Cool!

[pmcgary]

Where did you find it at WalMart? In the cake decorating section? What brand ....details...I was the one trying to get the pink.

[clothusingmama]

Where did you find it at WalMart? In the cake decorating section? What brand ....details...I was the one trying to get the pink.

It was in the spices section and is McCormick brand. It says NEON! really big across the front of the box and has inside 4 different colors: purple, pink, green, and blue. I will report back on how the others turn out too, the purple is heating up now. It also says NEW, on the box so apparently it just came out. It says food colors and egg dye on the front too. I used about 1/4 to 1/3 bottle on a 2 oz skein and the dye bath was completely exausted. It is hanging now, there was no running what so ever while rinsing or washing. It cost under $2.00.

[pmcgary]

Cool - I need to put WalMart on my list of places to go tomorrow. Just what I need more errands...At least I will only have the "baby" with me

[pmcgary]

Oh! I got my food coloring today at WalMart...Now tomorrow I think I NEED to go to JoAnn's to get some fisherman's --- Unless I can find a bulky undyed wool at the LYS.....Hmmm, I wonder what they might have......The store with 25% off on THurs....And my Dh took Thursday off from work.....I think a coupld of hours there should about do it right???????

I want to do some yarn just pink.........And then I think I need to do somehting varigated...I have never done more than two actual colors at one time.....w/a 3rd color formed where the others meet. :pink

[clothusingmama]

Whoo Hoo!!! I can't wait to see your yarn.
I have all 4 colors dyed and they are very bright :pink The baby is sleeping on my lap right now (gotta love having boobies :lol:) but when she gets up I will take a pic. The purple is super cool and I love them all. The green came out lime colored and the blue is very much a jewel tone teal color. These are going to be some seriously bright pants :bigups:

ETA a link for the pics of this yarn. Unfortunately I can't get a good pic of these colors at all. I took a bunch of them in different rooms but they are just not accurate :irked The colors are much brighter than the pics show. The purple is almost variegated, and you can see that in the pic of just the purple. So, bummer on the pics from me, I might be able to get better ones outside tomorrow. Well. . .if I see the sun tomorrow :goodgrief
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=5679879&uid=2779167&members=1

[abigailvr]

That purple is SO GORGEOUS! :love

I think I need to get some of that dye now. :chin

editted to fix smilies.

[mamapez]

Wow! Those are bright. They are gorgeous though!!!

[Muggins&Doody]

OMG those are awesome! I'm going to have to buy some ASAP!

[marnie]

BEAUTIFUL! what was your dyeing method?

[averymybaby]

Holy cow! Must have that lime! What's the brand of the food coloring? That blue is beautiful too, it's like Kool Aid Berry Blue on steroids. Very nice!

ETA just saw the brand is McCormick... hmm.. wonder if they have it at the grocery store :chin

[clothusingmama]

BEAUTIFUL! what was your dyeing method?

I soaked the yarn in vinegar water until saturated. . .well until I got back to it. Then I pulled out the yarn, squeezed it gently, and layed it on a plate. I added the food coloring to the pot the yarn was soaking in, stirred it well, and put the yarn back in making sure it was fully covered. I turned on the burner, let it heat until almost boiling, turned off the burner, and put the lid on the pot. Then I left it there until the water was cool, pulled out the yarn, rolled it in a towel, and hung it to dry.

I have to keep things low key and flexible so this is how I dye all my yarn. I can do all but the yarn squeezing with one hand while holding the baby :pink I have a skein of two tone in the pot now, I just hang the part I don't want dyed over the edge, propped up to keep it away from the heat of the stove.

edited for silly typos :goodgrief

[Susan_WW]

Pretty! I love the purple! I might have to see if I can find some of that somewhere....

[marnie]

thanks for the how-to! you did a wonderful job!

[pmcgary]

Okay ladies...I am sooo itching to dye with this stuff....but i have a roast I need to put in the slow cooker...I think this is a clear sign that I need two slow cookers....What do you think? LOL

[clothusingmama]

Yup, you need 2 slow cookers for sure :pink I actually use one of those huge stainless steel pots that is covered in enamel. It is way to big to actually cook anything in unless I am canning, so it doesn't conflict with regular cooking. It is a good thing or my family wouldn't get to eat when I am cooking wool ;)

[pmcgary]

Sad thing is I do have two slow cooker heating elements - but Dh broke one of the crocks (both have removable crocks) And the one he broke was to a slow cooker that never cooked food right...Hmm I wonder if I could find someone who has the crock (the two cookers aren't the same shape either...) but their cooker element broke?

[twouglyducks]

I bought some of these colors the other day. I can't wait to try. I think the lime and hot pink would be so cool together!!

[clothusingmama]

Lime and hot pink would be way cool together :bigups: I have half a skein of BFL drying that I dyed hot pink and purple. I am super excited about it being a soaker soon. Well, after the dicey pants :pink

[pmcgary]

I have pink in the slow cooker as I type. It should be just about done...And I think it might actually end up being pink!!!

[clothusingmama]

Woo Hooo!!! I can't wait to see how you like it :highfive

[gorzong]

Okay, dumb question time. Why wouldn't the microwave method work with these food colorings?

[clothusingmama]

I don't see any reason the microwave method wouldn't work. I just have never done it before. I did the pot method the first time and have just stuck with it. I actually was going to try the microwave method with the last skein I did but I just didn't have time and the yarn was already wet so I did the pot method again. If you try it let us know how it goes :pink

[pmcgary]

I prefer the slow cooker as my "lazy" method. If I walk off and forget about it it is no big deal...

[gorzong]

Oh, good! Liam actually is a really good cook too so the only time we use the microwave is for dyeing yarn or playsilks! :) We were so happy to discover this method of dyeing so we prefer it over any others! I'd have to have it be completely useless. ;)

Holli

[averymybaby]

I want to see pink and green together too. Those were my wedding colors :mwah

[pmcgary]

Neon pink and green were your wedding colors? LOL I assume just regular pink and green.

I am thinking of some combo of the colors to make a sweater to go with what looks like will be pink pants...If they aren't the color I am looking for I think I will over dye them with the blue and purple.

[clothusingmama]

Pamela, did your yarn turn out a pink you like or was it another failed attempt? I am looking forward to seeing it :pink

[pmcgary]

Oh it is PINK...I am just waiting for it to dry before I post picturs. I think I may have some light sections as I think I attempted to dye too much at one time....

I took pictures every step of the way....right up to what I did with the slow cooker after I was done with the wool..

[clothusingmama]

Whoo Hooo!! I hope you like it when it is dry :dance Wonder what was with the crock afterwards. . . :chin

[pmcgary]

Here is a shot of the yarn right after rinsing...it is on a light mauve colored bath towel...(It is nearly dry now and looks pretty good)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v375/mama2babybiggirl/DSCF0353.jpg

I washed the pot and started this....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v375/mama2babybiggirl/DSCF0355.jpg

[marnie]

aw, you washed the pot? i think a pink roast would be lovely.

[clothusingmama]

Awww hot pink yarn AND dinner, you have a lucky crew :pink That yarn looks very pink, how much did you dye? So super cool, I look forward to seeing it knit up :bigups:

[pmcgary]

I am not sure how much it was. I need to go to the post office and weigh it. Part of it was a pair of shorts I tore out as they were way to big for Dd and would never fit. And the rest was whatever I had left from a skein I had dyed - I don't even remember what....I gathered all my Fisherman's together and it is scary all the bits and pieces and odds/ends there are...

[twouglyducks]

Oooooooooh that is a pretty pink!!