Dying Angora Yarn and Fiber

Getting Started

Dying Angora yarn and fiber is a simple process. Simply adding color into the fiber or yarn, using a pot of water, dye and vinegar. Using hot water and vinegar, along with dye you can create a rainbow of colored yarn in your favorite colors. Purchasing white yarn from your local craft store and some cake gel dye will also work. Along with a splash of vinegar you can dye any yarn in your kitchen.

Simple Tools

Simple tools like a pot of boiling water and a measuring spoon is really all you need (make sure you designate these tools to this process only). Find Angora yarn and fiber in my shop at https://tailspinfarm.com/shop/ . My YouTube channel also contains videos on many different aspects of spinning and dying angora yarns.

Other Options

I raise, groom, spin and work with Angora rabbits every day. So, if you don’t have access to fiber animals and would like to dye your own yarns there are several options you have. A simple and easy way to dye yarn is to purchase a skein of yarn along with cake dye gels. The process you see in my videos will be the same. Other options such as, Rit fabric dyes, will also work.

Get Scientific

Once you have this figured out the sky’s the limit and you can move on to natural dying (with plants or veggies), solar dying (simply put yarn and dye or plant/veggie matter in a canning jar and sit in the sun) and trying different mordants, for example Alum (a substance that will “fix” your dye to the yarn). You will find you can be as scientific with this process as you would like. I am more interested in the color and the yarn, but playing with different dyes and mordants will give you many color options to explore.

Try out some dying yarn and fiber for yourself and jump down the rabbit hole of all the beautiful color options and yarn and fibers you can!