Barb's Kool Aid Dying Method

1 pair of natural wool socks knitted in my size on small needles $2.00 from a local thrift shop
4 packages of Kool Aid  about $1.75 at my local grocery store
1/2 C white vinegar
1 corning ware casserole dish with cover
1 microwave

I found the socks last Friday and headed to the grocery store to get some Kool Aid.  bought Grape, Grape Berry Splash, Blastin'Berry Cherry and Cherry (These are Canadian...US names and ingredients might differ)

Washed socks with gentle shampoo. Rinsed. Squeezed gently. Sloshed around in about 1 C water and about 1/2 C white vinegar

Emptied each package of Kool Aid powder into a separate  little bowl.

Put the first sock....wet but not dripping....in the casserole dish....could only fit in the foot flat on the bottom.  Sprinkled dry powder over the foot of the sock starting with the darkest at the toe and moving up to the lightest towards the heel.  Folded the leg over the foot and sprinkled with powder....lightest on the heel moving to darkest the cuff ribbing.

Put the second sock on top of the first and did the same sprinkling...foot first, then leg.

Squished the whole thing with a potato masher.

Checked for missed spots and sprinkled random bits of colour here and there.  (Gloves might have been nice here; had pretty fingers for a day or so....grin).

Whole kitchen smelled like Kool Aid (my project) and simmering tomato sauce (DH's project....good tomato crop this year).

Covered casserole and put into microwave on high for 2 1/2 minutes. Let cool 2 1/2 minutes.  Turned socks over ...the whole pile....and nuked for another 2 1/2 minutes.

Hung in apple tree to drip.  Admired.  Dragged DH away from the tomato sauce to admire.   Let drip for a while and then rinsed in cool water.

Let dry....took a day or two...and then wore them.  Eau de Kool Aid, but they look great!   Who says I have smelly feet?!   After a second washing...by hand with shampoo....no noticeable bleeding...guess the dye is really cooked into the wool..the smell is less noticeable and the socks still look great.

Next time:
1. Let the socks drain a little bit more before adding the Kool Aid.  The bottom sock is darker, I think because the dye oozed down from the sock above.  Could sop up some of the extra water with a paper towel both before and  after the first nuking.

2. Put more powder on the cuffs...I think because the ribbing takes up more powder than is evident at first.

3. Use a larger dish so that the socks can be placed side by side.

All in all, a pretty good success, and the socks look great with my dark raspberry Birkies!

Barb b in Victoria, BC....where Kool Aid is on my grocery list now (Can you believe that some people actually drink this stuff!)