Name: vicki
Message: Hello I have just knitted a poncho it is very heavy and quite large. I knitted it with 100% pure wool but the dye lot was the same but the wool has colour variations of the cream wool. I would like to dye it but I wonder if the heat from dyeing will shrink it and if possible could you tell me the best method of dyeing this large item.   
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

It does seem that shrinkage could be a major danger in dyeing this. 

If you are interested in a vareigated or rainbow dye appearance, you could apply fiber reactive dye, such as Procion MX or Cibacron F, by painting or squirting it on from plastic bottles, then let the dye set in a black garbage bag in the sun. Here are two sets of instructions for this procedure:

- Garbage Bag Dyeing with Wool using PRO MX Reactive Dyes

- Cold Batch Dyeing of Wool with Reactive Dye (PDF)

Procion MX and Cibacron F dyes are more commonly used for dyeing cotton and rayon; they are ideal for tie-dyeing and batik. You can use them interchangeably. You can purchase them by mail-order; see my list of different companies around the world that sell dye supplies.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)