Acid Dye Recipes for Princess, Pegasus, Vampire, Zombie, & TARDIS Farts!

If you're looking to dye some acid "Farts" colorways like the ones I shared in my Unicorn Farts Tutorial - you've come to the right place! But a little disclaimer first: I'm by no means a "professional" dyer, and this isn't necessarily the best or only way to dye yarn like this. I tend to play around with the dyes that I have and I almost never take notes! So the "recipes" that I'm sharing for each of these colors should get you some close results to the photos I have posted. I hope that they will be a good starting point for you to create your own FARTS colorways. :)

If you're working with acid dyes for the first time, I suggest you read up on safety precautions before you start. This Knitty article has some good info. Make sure to wear a mask or cover your nose & mouth when working with the dye powder. And be sure that the bowls/tupperwares/utensils AND microwave that you use for dyeing with acid dyes are never used for food again! This post is more of a recipe for these colorways than a beginner tutorial on acid dyeing, so please be sure to research safety procedures.

Just like with Unicorn Farts, you need to mix up the 6 rainbow colors separately, so you will basically need all the same supplies and tools as the tutorial calls for, although I might suggest an extra set of 6 bottles to hold your concentrated dye stock. I used Jacquard Acid Dyes (purchased from Dharma Trading Co.) for the rainbow colors pictured below. The exact colors I used are:

Bright Scarlet

Sun Yellow

Sapphire Blue (this is also the blue for Tardis Farts)

Hot Fuchsia (used to make purple, this is also the pink for Princess Farts)

Turquoise (used to make purple, this is also the aqua for Pegasus Farts)

If you're placing an online order, I also suggest ordering a dark color in case something goes awry and you want to overdye part of it. Maybe:

Black (for Vampire Farts)

Brown (for Sasquatch Farts)

There are a few steps to mixing up the colors - first mixing up a larger quantity of concentrated dye colors in red, yellow, and blue, and hot fuchsia and turquoise. Then using those colors to mix up the concentrated dye colors in orange, green, and purple. Once we have the concentrated dye stock in all six rainbow colors, we will mix up diluted colors that will be used to actually dye the yarn. You may have to do a little math to make sure you don't end up with lots of extra, but if you do end up with leftovers, you can store them in the fridge to save for later use.

I usually use 1tsp dye powder per 8oz water for my concentrated dye stock, so in my original batch, I mixed up 32oz with 4tsp of dye powder for of each of the red, yellow, and blue. This was good for the concentrated stock, but I had a LOT of extra of each of the colors. If you don't want a ton left over, maybe try 2tsp dye powder with 16oz water, or probably 1tsp/8oz would still be plenty if you're only planning to dye a skein or two.

Start by mixing a tiny bit of really hot water with the dye powder and stirring it into a little paste, adding a little more hot water until you have a thick paste and no more dry powder. Keep adding water and mixing until all the powder seems dissolved and you reach 16oz (or however much you want to make.) Do this for the red, yellow, and blue. For the purple, if you're using turquoise and hot fuchsia, you can mix a much smaller batch of each, maybe 1/2 tsp per 4oz water.

Once you have your concentrated dye stock mixed up in red, yellow, blue, fuchsia, and turquoise, it's time to mix up the secondary colors. You'll have to do a little math here to figure out how much dye stock to use to basically end up with an even amount of each color - although as long as you have at least a few ounces (or 100ml) of each color, you should be fine for the rainbow colors. Here are the ratios: 

Red = Bright Scarlet

Orange = 1 part Scarlet + 2 parts Sun Yellow

Yellow = Sun Yellow

Green = 1 part Sapphire Blue + 2 parts Sun Yellow

Blue = Sapphire Blue

Purple = 1 part Turquoise + 16 parts Hot Fuchsia (it's helpful to have a device that measures ml for this one)

Remember not to use up all your red/yellow/blue when mixing your other colors, because you still need them for the diluted dye stocks. Also remember - if you're going to be dyeing the skein one of the rainbow colors, like with Tardis Farts for example, mix up some extra of that color. :)

Now for the last part, to mix up the diluted dye stock for the rainbow colors. This is where I used my six 8oz bottles from Dharma Trading Co. You can mix up your guar gum liquid for this (using the same amounts as in the Unicorn Farts Tutorial), or just use plain water. I would also add some citric acid or vinegar to this - though I just guesstimate with a pinch or a splash in each color, as I have no idea how much it really needs, and I usually soak my yarn in the acid beforehand anyway. Here are the *approximate* ratios I used:

Red = 1 part Red dye stock + 3 parts water/guar gum mixture

Orange = 1 part Orange dye stock + 7 parts water/guar gum mixture

Yellow = 1 part Yellow dye stock + 7 parts water/guar gum mixture

Green = 1 part Green dye stock + 7 parts water/guar gum mixture

Blue = 1 part Blue dye stock + 7 parts water/guar gum mixture

Purple = 1 part Purple dye stock + 3 parts water/guar gum mixture

If you do plan to dye the rest of the skein another color, you may wish to also mix up a squirt bottle of that color with a bit of guar gum mixture or water, and paint a strip along the red and purple edges of your rainbow, to make it easier to dye the rest of the skein later without bleeding into the rainbow. 

Now you can dye the rainbow section using the same methods as the Unicorn Farts Tutorial. :) Once you've dyed the rainbow section and microwaved it to set it, allow it to cool down for about an hour, or until the entire skein is cool to the touch. 

At this point, if you want to dye the rest of the skein another color, remove the ONLY the plastic wrap from the undyed section of the skein. You can leave the rainbow-dyed section covered. You will need a larger bowl and a long, narrow top that doesn't match the bowl (someplace to set the rainbow section on top to let the rest hang down in the bowl).

I will post the individual recipes below, but mix up the dyes in a larger dye bowl and then gently lower the blank section of the skein down into the bowl, squishing the yarn gently in the dye liquid as you go. The more you squish and turn it over, the more solid the dye job will be. I usually squish and move it around quite a bit to try to make sure I don't miss any sections. If you want it more variegated, then you could just lower it in and see what happens! Once the yarn is squished to your satisfaction, lower it into the dye bath, place the rainbow section on the mismatched top and try to line up the edges of the red and the purple right at the top of the dye bath. Make sure they are wedged in tight so they don't slide down into the dye!

Wrap some plastic wrap around the open edges and then pop this in the microwave. I heat it for 5 minutes, let it rest for 5 minutes, heat for 5 minutes, rest 5 minutes, heat another 5 minutes, and then let it cool completely. Once it's cooled completely, you can follow the rinsing and washing instructions listed in the Unicorn Farts tutorial.

Tardis Farts: For a 3.5 or 4oz skein, I mix about 1tsp citric acid & 80ml of Sapphire Blue concentrated dye stock in about 1500ml of water in the large bowl. For 8-9oz skein, I would use the same amount of water in the bowl, but double the citric acid to about 1/2 tbsp, and double the dye to about 160ml of Sapphire Blue concentrated dye stock.

Pegasus Farts: For a 3.5 or 4oz skein, I mix about 1tsp citric acid & 8ml of Turquoise concentrated dye stock in about 1500ml of water in the large bowl. For 8-9oz skein, I would use the same amount of water in the bowl, but double the citric acid to about 1/2 tbsp, and double the dye to about 16ml of Turquoise concentrated dye stock.

Princess Farts: (the rainbow in this was dyed with the koolaid dyes from the Unicorn Farts tutorial) For a 3.5 or 4oz skein, I mix about 1tsp citric acid & 6ml of Hot Fuchsia concentrated dye stock in about 1500ml of water in the large bowl. For 8-9oz skein, I would use the same amount of water in the bowl, but double the citric acid to about 1/2 tbsp, and double the dye to about 12ml of Hot Fuchsia concentrated dye stock.

Vampire Farts: For a 3.5 or 4oz skein, I mix about 1tsp citric acid & 600ml (possibly more!) of Black concentrated dye stock in about 1200ml of water in the large bowl. It takes a lot of black dye to get a good black. You may need to mess around with it if you want to dye a larger quantity.

Zombie Farts: Hooray for shortcuts! This is a skein of Malabrigo Polar Morn (gray) that I overdyed with the acid rainbow colors. :)

Good luck in creating your own "Farts" colorways!!