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I didn’t know if  to dye my blue-faced leicester  while it was still roving or do it after I had spun it.  I decided to dye the roving as I find spinning with one colour  boring.

I followed a tutorial by Picperfic which was excellent but did things slightly different.

I did the maths on how to work out how much kool aid to use the other night but I must have done it wrong.  It doesn’t matter anyway as the end product turned out okay.

I had 500g of BFL.

I split the roving into equal sized pieces so I could fit one piece at a time into my steamer.

I bought the kool aid from DT Craft and Design.  I bought berry blue, lemon-lime and pina pineapple. …6 of each.

I soaked the roving in some hottish water with a squirt of washing up liquid.  The water wasn’t so hot that I couldn’t put my hands in it.

I left it to soak for about 20 minutes and gave it the occasional swish around.

I then laid cling film on my kitchen floor as  I don’t have anywhere else big enough to do it.  I tipped the bowl up and drained the water out and pressed most of the water out of the roving.

I then laid it on the cling film in a sort of u shape.

I mixed up my kool aid using warm water.  I did 7 fluid oz per packet.

I used 2 of the yellow and one each of the others.

I then poured the kool aid over the roving using a spoon as I didn’t have anything else.

It’s advisable not to have a toddler in the kitchen at the same time, especially a small kitchen like mine.

I then rolled the cling film inwards on both sides so both sides are kept separate.

I then coiled the whole thing up and put it in the steamer.  I left it for about 35 minutes.  Once it had finished I took the lid off and let it stand until it was only warm.

I then put some water in the washing up bowl that was the same temperature as the roving and unpeeled the cling film and let the roving into the water.

I gave it a rinse, it didn’t need much as the colours had absorbed really well.  I pressed the water out of it against the side of the bowl.

I put it in the washing machine on the wool spin and then hung it on the line to dry.

Here is the one I made yesterday which is slightly different as I used 2 blues and one each of the yellow and green.

The roving is going to be spun into yarn for a cardigan for Dylan.  I don’t know if to ply it or keep it as singles.

I aren’t going to dye any more yet until I have spun what I have already dyed.  If I can control myself that is.. it’s so addictive.  Who would have thought you could dye such beautiful colours from something you are supposed to drink?