Dyed Sock Blanks

(Click on photos to enlarge)

slisen.blogspot.com

As promised, here are a few sock blanks that I’ve painted with their resulting socks or mittens.  I did these with KoolAid and food coloring early on in my dyeing ‘career’.  I’ve since moved up to retail acid dyes but the techniques are the same.  Painting blanks can be addictive and it seems that even if I have reservations with a specific blank, I can usually ooh and aah in amazement at the finished socks or mittens.  I had no clue what I was doing when I painted my first blank and my socks turned out to be quite interesting, however amazing to see my blank transform into a sock.  There are absolutely no rules to painting blanks, so it’s a good craft to let the creative juices flow. 

I keep saying painting, but 'painting' a blank isn't limited to using a paint brush, as you might assume.  I've used sponges, squeeze bottles and various sized foam paint brushes.  I guess what I use to get the dye there depends on what effect I'm trying to achieve.  I have the most control with foam paint brushes but the squeeze bottles are quicker if I don't care that the colors bleed more.  Whatever 'painting' method you choose, saturation is the key to a nice solid color.  Less dye saturation will result in a heathered look which is nice too.