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How to Dye Yarn with Food Coloring

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Every week we feature a fun and/or educational activity you can try at home or in the classroom. 

How to Dye Yarn with Food Coloring

Dye Yarn with Food Coloring

Photo courtesy of Heifer International

Food coloring can dye protein-based fibers like alpaca and llama wool. Dying bare yarn is a great way to customize your yarn for knitting and crafting projects. Food coloring is a relatively inexpensive and non-toxic way to color your yarn.

More about Llamas and Alpacas

Llamas and alpacas serve a myriad of purposes for South American families. These domesticated animals are suited for conditions in the Andes and provide a sustainable source of income for their owners. Their wool, prized for its thickness and warmth, is woven into an array of handicrafts, such as scarves, ropes, hats, bags and blankets.These hardy creatures work as pack animals, carrying up to 30 percent of their body weight. Their feet, which have thickly padded undersides like a dog’s foot, don’t damage the delicate high-altitude topsoil and vegetation of the Andes, and their droppings enrich the soil.

Dye Yarn with Food Coloring

Photo courtesy of Knitpicks.com

Materials:

  • Bare yarn
  • A large pot
  • Water
  • Vinegar
  • Food coloring
  • Stove top
  • Rubber gloves
  • Large spoon to stir

Begin by creating a water-vinegar dye bath by adding 1/4 cup of vinegar to the mix for every quart of water. Soak the yarn in the mixture for half an hour.

Remove the yarn from the mixture and place in a plastic bowl. Next, heat the water-vinegar mixture until it begins to boil. Pour in dye. You will use more than you think you need because it will be dispersed through the water.

Add the yarn to pot again. Let it simmer until the yarn has absorbed the color in the dye bath. When this happens, turn off the heat and let the water return to room temperature. After the bath has cooled, remove the yarn. Wring out the extra water and rinse the yarn with cool water, letting the extra dye run off.

Hang your yarn to dry. A sweater or a clothesline works great, just make sure the yarn isn’t bunched up.

Heifer Peru is improving lives by working on a biodiversity project with alpacas. Heifer’s Alpaca Biodiversity in High Andean Communities project participants are working to improve and reestablish the value and breeding of colored alpacas. Read how the biodiversity project is helping Lucio’s family in Peru. For more project details, see this World Ark article.

For more details about dying yarn, read this article.

Give the gift of a llama and provide a Peruvian family with a sustainable income.

Make Beeswax Hand Cream

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Beeswax

Photo courtesy of Heifer International

Every week we feature a fun and/or educational activity you can try at home or in the classroom. We have begun mailing our Gift Catalog for this year’s holiday season and will be featuring activities that highlight the items available.

In addition to making honey and beeswax, honeybees, a major pollinator in ecosystems that contain flowering plants, play a critical role in the human food supply. A third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants. And these little creatures do an estimated 80 percent of that pollination, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They are found on every continent with the exception of Antarctica.

Heifer has projects using bees to increase yields for coffee farmers in Guatemala. They pollinate the coffee, meaning more profits for the farmers, who sell the honey too.

The brisk winter weather removes moisture from everything leading to chapped lips and hands. Don’t let winter get the best of your skin. This homemade beeswax hand cream will moisturize skin and provide a fun activity to do with children during their holiday break.

Beeswax

Photo courtesy of eveoutofthegarden.com

Materials

  • 4 ounces sweet almond oil
  • 1 ounce beeswax
  • 2 ounces water
  • 8 drops Vitamin E
  • 8 drops essential oil
  • Glass bowl
  • Large pot
  • Water

Place the beeswax in the glass bowl and put the bowl in the pot. Pour water into the pot, filling until it reaches about half way up the bowl. Don’t let the water get into the glass bowl; you just want there to be enough to warm up the wax. Turn the temperature on to medium. Add the almond oil.

Remove from heat and add 2 ounces of water and remaining ingredients, slowly stirring continuously. Pour into a small glass container. It’s important to pour the mixture out before it cools enough to where it’s too thick to pour.

For more beeswax recipes, read this article.

To learn more about how Heifer families are using bees to increase their yields, click here.

Give the gift of honeybees to families in need.

Still don’t know what to give someone this holiday season? Browse our catalog and find out how you can help.