I make a habit of buying Easter egg dyeing kits right after Easter when they are very cheap. I have quite the stockpile, and while I have dyed sock yarn with them in the past, I never had tried silk.
First I unfolded the scarves and put them in water to soak. Wet fiber takes the dye faster and more evenly. Boo helped.
Then I put two pellets of each of the 8 colors in a wide-mouthed pint jar and added 1/3 cup white vinegar.
When they had stopped fizzing, I knew the tablets had dissolved, so I added about an inch more water and a silk scarf. I used an egg dipping tool (because I have a lot of them) to push down the scarf enough so it was covered in dye, adding more water as necessary. I let them sit for 10 minutes or so (ok, I ate lunch) and then microwaved them to set the dye.
I ended up having to transfer them to a quart jar for the microwaving as the first one boiled over and made quite the mess in my microwave. The quart jars worked fine. I covered the jar with a piece of saran wrap and microwaved them for 6 minutes each.
They rinsed out quite easily, and I hung them outside to dry. The great thing about silk? They were almost literally dry by the time I was done hanging them all up.
Boo approved of them greatly, her first response was "mine, mine!"
The colors turned out pretty good, they look more washed out in the pictures than in real life. The one disappointment I had was that the "turquoise" and the "blue" ended up the same color on the silk. The purple dye "broke" not to unexpectedly and turned out very speckled and tie-dyed looking. The colors are a little mottled, If I had wanted them even-er I would have cooked them on the stove and stirred. For playsilks they are great.
From left to right: yellow, blue, chartreuse, red, orange, turquoise, purple, green
And how to store 9 playsilks ( I left one white). Two shower rings attached to the bookcase.
