Playsilks....Where do you buy them?

[egoldber]

I would also recommend making your own with Kool-Aid. It is VERY fun. I even made some as party favors for DD's 4th birthday party and they were a huge hit.

I use a stove top method for dying though. Bring water with a glug of added vinegar to just below boiling. Turn it off. Add Kool-Aid to water and stir until thoroughly dissolved. Add playsilk to the water and wait until all the dye is absorbed. Either let it cool on the stove top or carefully pour the water and playsilk into a bowl in the sink and rinse thoroughly with cold water until water runs clear.

I think that the reds and oranges are the best colors. Also, there's a blue raspberry lemonade that makes an absolutely gorgeous sky blue. Pink lemonade makes a nice pale pink, but I usually add 2 or 3 packets because its a weak color. Regular (yellow) lemonade is VERY pale, but I overdye it with yellow food coloring and its OK. I have found the grape to make a faded purple, not a rich purple, but its an OK color. If you can find it, lemon-lime makes a nice lime green.

ETA: Here's a link for Kool-Aid dying. Just substitute "playsilk" for yarn and it works fine. :)

http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall02/FEATdyedwool.html

[jenjenfirenjen]

Here's another link with different Kool-Aid dying methods.

ETA: Oops, here's the link...
http://mothering.com/discussions/sho...d.php?t=140047

We just dyed a bunch of playsilks and Luke helped by shaking up the bags to mix the Kool-Aids and then scrunching the bag once I put the silk in. He really like seeing it change from white to a different color. I also second a PP's poster's recommendation of the Blue Raspberry...we got an end result thatjust like a blue sky. So pretty.

[ctmom]

Holli,
are these the ones you would order? Probably 22x22, 36x36 and/or 45x45??
http://www.thaisilks.com/store/merch...gory_Code=3010

Thanks!

Mary
dd#1 2/01
dd#2 12/03

[KHF]

I was going to try making some, but I found this set at A Toy Garden and couldn't really beat that price.

http://www.atoygarden.com/index.cfm?...roduct_ID=1114

It was 8 playsilks for $39.95. We got them in about 2 days. They also have a ton of other packages/colors to choose from.

Kirsten
DD Laurel - 8.22.2005

[holliam]

Yep! Those are them. If anyone is in the Northern CA area, the store is in Los Altos, and it's great fun to visit!

Holli

[MommyAllison]

Holli, do you think this would be a fun idea for a birthday party, to let the kids take them home as favors? What age did kids start enjoying dyeing them? I think this year's party might be too early, but I know Mari is still under 2 so wanted to check. Thanks!

Allison

[holliam]

We did it for the 18+ mo crowd and it just so happened that the two groups we had ended up being all the girls and then all the boys. It was fascinating to see the gender differences among similar parenting styles. Let's just say you need a LOT more towels for an all-boy gathering. ;)

We had wool felted eggs too that we dyed--our parties were right before Easter this year.

I think it would be too much for a 1st birthday. For a 2nd birthday, you could do it if you limited the number of kids. I think for each group we had about 5-7 kids + parents. We used about 5 big buckets and weren't too picky about how people did it. We have an outdoor screen porch and put down a tarp and had a ton of towels on hand. We also had the microwave and ironing board out there too. So, it was really convenient.

PM me and I can send you a couple of pictures.

Holli

[MommyAllison]

Thanks Holli, I PM'd you

Allison

[ajmom]

I bought some already-dyed ones from thaisilks.com. They were very cheap and the boys love them.

http://www.thaisilks.com/store/merch...oduct_Code=417

They are a little more expensive than they used to be, but still a good price, IMHO.