Dyeing Yarn: First Time

My wonderful knitting supportive boyfriend gave me yarn and dyes for Christmas. He knew I really wanted to start dyeing my own yarn, and enabled my obsession. I have a large bagful of bare yarns in various weights, mostly merino and superwash merino wool.
There's also the starter set of acid dyes to which I can't wait to apply my knowledge of color theory from art classes in college.
Yesterday, I was ready to start dyeing. A perfect activity for a hungover-I-don't-want-to-leave-the-house-and-stay-in-my-pjs-and-watch-the-snow-fall kind of day. Problem was, I didn't have a pot I could dedicate to dyeing. When I was at Wal-Mart the other day, I looked for a pot, but didn't want to spend $30-$40 on one, which I didn't have anyway. I did have utensils and bowls I could keep as dye-only, but every pot I had was needed for food preparation. So I decided to try Kool-Aid dyeing instead.
I already had the powdery stuff, and I could use my stew pot and not worry about using it again to cook chili. I know that Kool-Aid is an acid dye like the Jacquard dyes, but Kool-Aid is food, Jacquard dyes are not.
My Kool-Aid is not Kool-Aid. It's Wal-Mart brand generic stuff. Same thing in my eyes and even cheaper. Has the Red #40 coloring I wanted. Good to go. I choose to use three packets of Cherry and one of Grape, which also listed Blue #1 as an ingredient. The amount of, I did not know, but I was curious as to what a small amount would do to the red. Not purple, I know, but it would darken it, hopefully, which was what I wanted. I was dyeing only one skein of fingering weight, 100% merino wool, about 100 grams or 3.5 ounces, so the four packets would be enough with a tad extra to darken even more.
I soaked the yarn first in cool water with a bit of wool wash, then rinsed. I did not run the yarn under the water, but rather filled a clean bowl with clear cool water, poured out the water in the bowl with the yarn over the sink, and then let the yarn slip gently into the clean water. I wanted to handle the yarn as little as possible to prevent any chance of felting. I let that sit a moment. I did not stir. If you have a large enough bowl and enough water, the yarn will have room to spread out and the water can get into all the spaces.

Meanwhile, I dissolved the powder in some water in a pot, filled it partway, slipped the yarn in as before, filled more water, and set it on the stove on low heat. I wanted to heat slowly. I stayed in the kitchen and resisted the urge to stir until it was hot. I did succumb to the desire to poke the fibers and submerge them some more, wondering if I did not have enough water, or if the yarn naturally floats.I didn't mind having uneven dyeing, since I wanted some variegation, but I did not want dramatic delineation from yarn in the pot and yarn floating out on the surface. So, yeah, I poked it down a few times with a wooden spoon until it was near boiling, turned off the heat. Put on the lid, and went to watch some TV for about 45 minutes or so.

After Everybody Loves Raymond was over, I took off the lid and let it cool down.I also filled a clean bowl with water, added a bit of wool wash, and let that sit as well. My boyfriend suggested this ingenious idea since I told him I was concerned about rinsing the yarn in water the same temp as the cooled pot. If I let both sit long enough, the cold sink water would warm to room temp while the pot would cool down to the same. It meant a lot of waiting, but I didn't want to take any chances.
Once everything was cooled and at about the right temp, I poured out the pot water. It was practically clear with the slightest tinge of pink. I was very happy. All the dye was absorbed. I let the yarn sit for a few moments, to cool some more. And then I slipped it into the bowl as before. Let that sit for a while, and poured and rinsed in the same manner I did before dyeing.
Finally, I rolled the skein in towels. Red ones to be exact. And hung it up to dry.Today, it was dry and ready. I twist it back into a hank and smiled. I am very very pleased with the color results. It's like a dark cherry red, but pinkish, and cool toned from the blue. Makes me think of Cherry Coke, poppies, peonies and dark dusky roses.

Now that I am in love with it, I want to knit it into a shawl, but I have so many other projects I need to work on first. I also don't have enough!!! I should have dyed more yarn, but I wasn't thinking about knitting, just about dyeing and trying out some color. I'll have to dye another skein in the same way, and hope to get something similar.