Dyeing for Wool-Aid Socks

I finished my second pair of socks for Wool-Aid.

These are the ones where I added sock wool in the foot and heel. Things went smoother up the legs when I dropped the sock yarn. Less yarn to deal with (I had four strands going since I was knitting two at a time), and a nicer, more comfortable gauge.

These came out 8.5", a little too small for me, a little smaller than the last pair. I used the yarn from the sleeves of this sweater:

It was 88 grams that I knit doubled. I knit to the very end of the yarn. I have a larger ball from the yarn of the front and back. It's 115 grams and I plan to make a larger pair of socks. But I couldn't stand the thought of working with more grey. So I popped it in the dye pot.

I threw in 10 packets of mixed berry Koolaid and heated it to 180. Left it at that temp for 10 minutes, then let it cool down in the water. Blue dye doesn't take up quickly and I've learned it's best to let the yarn cool in the water. The next morning it was still warm--I couldn't believe it. So I let it sit until that night and then the water was clear, meaning all the dye had been taken up.

I hung it to dry and then wound it into a cake and then tried to take pictures.

I was not able to capture the colour. It's more blue than these pictures show with a strong teal component. It also has a lot of depth and complexity that I also can't capture.

I was surprised how much green there was in it considering I used only blue-coloured Koolaid.

Even if I couldn't capture it in pictures, the colour delights me and it will be much more enjoyable to knit the next pair of socks! Casting on soon...