Can you wind your own gradient yarn?

Dear users, dear authors,
can you make your own gradient yarn?

Yes, you can, if you dye raw wool yourself—either using solar dyeing or in the microwave or on the stove. I’ve tried solar dyeing before: you put the wool in a jar with natural herbs, tea, or vegetables like beets or red cabbage. I always place these items among the wool, depending on the gradient I want to achieve. Then I add a heaping tablespoon of alum, pour in hot water, seal the jar tightly, and set it in the sun. Turn the jar every now and then, and you’ll get results like these. Onion skins work great, too.

Here’s a knitted piece made with hand-dyed wool in a color gradient. The best part is that you never really know how it’ll turn out until the very end—so it’s exciting right up to the last stitch :-) ;-)

@Akela
I wouldn’t have thought that the yarns shown above—soaked in onion skins—would produce such beautiful color effects. They don’t look very appealing yet on the drying rack, but once knitted into a shawl, they reveal their transformation. You did a great job!

The shawl turned out great. Did you knit all three skeins together?
I find it really interesting to read about this—I’ve never made it myself.

I’ve also read that you can use egg-dyeing colors for this

**I’ve also read that you can use egg-dyeing kits **

That’s right—a friend of mine usually dyes with egg-dyeing kits; kids can try that too and have fun doing it.
The scarf isn’t knitted with the yellow-dyed yarn—I used that for socks, kids’ hats, etc.—while the blue-gray yarn became scarves that I made.

Here’s the large shawl I knitted from hand-dyed wool. I used black tea, onion skins, hibiscus, and red cabbage.

How's it going?