Can you or how to dye a knitted baby blanket?

I have a wonderful old knitted baby blanket that is white, pink and blue, but I would like to have it NOT blue. Can baby yarn be dyed and hold its color through washings? I would like it all pink or lavender if possible. Thanks.

Can you or how to dye a knitted baby blanket?
Okay, as to dying yarn, you need to first determine the material. If you can't do this yourself, take it to your local yarn shop and find out. This is really important, as most synthetic materials will NOT dye. If they do, it usually involves buying a special dye and or soaking it in an astringent solution, usually vinegar/water, to prepare the yarn. That having been said, if you're in luck, and it's cotton, the simplest method would be to give it a bath. I'm assuming it is in stripes, or that you are trying to dye it one solid color. Using your bathtub (pretreat with flour to prevent soaking into the fiberglass), prepare the dye according to package directions, especially RIT. Go two shades darker, so for pink, go red, and dye according to directions. BEFORE setting the color by using the setting agent and/or drying it or applying heat, rinse in a solution of any one of the following: 2ptwater to 1ptvinegar, 2ptwater to 1ptjoy dishwashing liquid, or 1 baking soda, 1 part vinegar, 1 part water added after foam subsides. This should lighten the color to a better shade for you. Remember, when you're trying to cover up a color, you need to go darker and work towards a lighter color. I have had pretty good results with RIT and several other commercial dyes, and as long as you treat the whole blanket equally you will get an even result, meaning you need to lift the blanket fron a side rather than the corners, and let the water run from top to bottom or side to side rather than pool in the center, same with the vinegar solution. I'm of mixed opinion as to the difference between drying flat and hang drying, as I've had equal results. But, to be very specific about laying flat to dry, you will get your best results laying it over either your deck, oven racks or a sweater rack, as it keeps the surface fairly even while letting air circulate from underneath as well as on top. Once you've air dried it and are satisfied with the color, run it through a hot cycle on your dryer and/or use the dye setter included in the package to "fix" the color. GOOD LUCK!
Reply:take a look at this site to see how to dye a baby blanket in certain areas.



http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/na_knittin...



just for reference: if the blanket is acrylic or something that isn't natural fiber like wool or cotton or some kind of animal fiber, then those dyeing techniques wont work at all.
Reply:If you can tease an end out of it so you can clip off an inch or so, do that. Take a non-flammable container, like an old ashtray, and a match, and a pair of kitchen tongs. Hold the scrap of yarn in the tongs, and, holding it over the ashtray, light one end of it with the match. If it melts into a hard little ball it is acryllic and cannot be dyed at home. If it smells like burnt hair and the ash is crumbly, it is an animal fiber and can be successfully dyed at home. If it smells like burnt paper and is a crumbly ash it is a plant fiber and can be dyed at home as long as your dye indicates it will do cotton or rayon.



As for dyeing only one section of, that's trickier. It is difficult to dye just one color of a project like this, but overdyeing the entire thing is possible. Just remember your basic color information from kindergarten, yellow plus white is yellow, plus pink will probably be peachy orange, plus blue will be some sort of green......
Reply:why not just make a new baby blanket? probably cheaper and easier than screwing around with chemicals. no to mention if its really old it would be a shame to here of someone altering such a nice piece of art