Dyeing a Multi-Colored Yarn: Stovetop Method

I thought I might try to do some dyeing in mason jars on the stove. I love the look of hand- painted top that has been wrapped in plastic and steamed or micro-waved but I don't like using all that plastic wrap. The yarn that I used is a 2 ply Corriedale that I spun last week. It was such a pretty white that I decided to leave some showing.

First,  the yarn was left to soak in water with a glug of vinegar until  it was thoroughly wet(about an hour) and removed from the pot. Then, using two mason jars, I made a dye bath of brown and for the two with warm water, dye and a glug of vinegar  (stir well to make sure the dye dissolves). I added a  little violet dye to the pot for a third color.  Using a spoon (dedicated to  dyeing), I squished one end of the hank into one jar and the other end into the other jar. The remaining yarn was allowed to drape over the sides of the jars and into the pot. Next, I very slowly added water to the pot until it reached just under the lips of the jars; I wanted as much violet as I could get. The whole thing was covered and allowed to simmer for about 30 minutes.  

After it cooled, I hung the yarn to dry and here is a picture of the final product:

Overall, I'd say this worked well. It was less messy than laying out large sheets of plastic and it would translate to top or roving easily. A bigger pot would allow for more jars thus more colors. This also would work well to use up dye from other projects. It would be fun to try this with dry fiber. I used both Jaquard and Greener Shades dyes in this project.