Over Dyed Hand Knit Scarf

In June of 2012 I knit a Bactus scarf  using yarn that I dyed with Prickly Pear juice from the prickly pears I gathered. I remember soaking the juice from the pears in a large pot until it fermented and then immersing the yarn skein into the pot. I left it soaking for a week or two. By doing this, I didn't need a mordant and the longer it soaked the deeper the color pink I obtained. (see last photo below).

I was taking out a scarf from my closet the other day and I noticed the scarf that I had dyed with the prickly pear cactus juice was now very pale pink. I didn't remember it being so light pink. So I looked at my photo of it and it was a pretty shade of dark pink when I first dyed it. People asked me at the time I posted about dyeing the scarf if the color would stay that pink. Well I had no idea, since it was the first time I ever dyed with prickly pear juice. Now I can say the dye definitely fades over time. It was a pale pink for a few years, but not sure how many years?

So I decided to do an easy over dye. Since the scarf was already a pale pink, I needed to keep that in mind so I didn't end up with a dye that would end up turning an ugly color. I decided to dye it purple by mixing red and blue food coloring together. I soaked the scarf in water and vinegar as a mordant first and then added the mixed purple dye. It wasn't the prettiest purple, so I then added just some blue and squirted it here and there and let the colors soak and bleed as they wanted to. 

I like the end result (it could have turned out disastrously just as easily though, so whew)! The colors of the scarf are purple and a blue-green shade now. I hope this doesn't fade over the years, but if it does, I can dye it again and hope for the best.

This is the dark pink from dyeing with Prickly Pear cactus juice in 2012. This faded to a pale pink over the years. It was mostly in my closet, so not out in the sun. I guess it mainly faded with time? I really loved this shade of pink, but not the faded pink. I should have taken a photo of the faded pink, but didn't think about it.

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Knit Vest Using Prickly Pear Dyed Yarn

I knit this vest using the bulky weight yarn that I had dyed with prickly pear cactus a few months ago. This was the second dyeing with the cactus juice, resulting in a lighter pink shade that the first dyeing. The first dyeing resulted in a dark color.

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