Summary: Skein the wool, soak it, dye it, cool it, rinse it, dry it and use it.

Yep - that's it. It's not rocket science! It's very fun though!

What you'll need:
- acid dyes such as Landscape or Gaywool (you can use food dyes as well, but this isn't where I tell you about them, for two reasons - firstly, it's hard to be accurate with them and second, there are lots of pages on the interweb which detail how to do this!)
- running water and a sink
- gloves
- bucket to soak wool in
- wool
- acrylic yarn to tie skein with
- plastic microwave safe container, or cling wrap
- scales (digital with 1g increments is best)
- teaspoons
- ceramic or glass bowls or cups for mixing yarn
- boiling water and cold water for mixing up dye
- cling wrap or plastic cover for the table
- apron or old clothes, and shoes
- microwave

Method:
Dyeing isn't a scary process but it isn't without some risks. Don't mix dyes in food utensils - get some dyeing only things and keep them aside. Wear shoes and gloves. Minimise ingestion of the dye, and don't breathe the steam in. Be careful when unwrapping the yarn as it will be steaming hot. Clean up spills immediately.

1. Wrap the yarn into skeins and tie off in at least 4 places. I am betting the first question you have is "how long a skein??" It really depends on what you want to do. The longer the skein, the more surface area there is and therefore the easier it is to dye multiple colours, and you may even achieve stripes. However, longer skeins tend to tangle more often. Wrapping the skein around the back of a chair is probably the best way to start - just don't do it too tight as you have to be able to get it back off again!

For variegated yarn, you want a longer skein. For solid colour yarn, you want a longer skein. For spotty or patchy yarn, you won't mind having a short skein. Does that help?

2. Soak the yarn for at least an hour in room temperature water, or even overnight (but no more than 3 days as then it can start to smell. Ask me how I know!). You don't need to add anything to the yarn at this stage, as the dyes you use here are complete (ie no vinegar needed). Drain the yarn, gently twisting it to stop it running with water, and put it in a collander while you mix up the dyes.

3. Plan your dyeing. I use 2-5 different colours in a given skein, but you need to plan this before laying the dye on.

Do you want a graduation of colours around the skein? (Then pick 3-4 of the same colour family)
Do you want to have variegated yarn with a stand out colour? (Then pick 2-3 of the same colour family and one markedly different colour)
Do you want to have what looks like a random pattern with about half the skein one colour but not in huge chunks? (Then you will want to dye it by folding the skein flat and dipping one end, and the centre, and the other end all in different bowls rather than using 4 bowls in a circle)
Do you want a particular pattern of colours? (Then you're in the wrong business as the pattern depends on so many things, such as gauge and pattern and width of garment and such)
Do you want spots, dots, stripes etc? (Then read a good book on it and be prepared to wind 12' skeins!)
Do you want a lovely colour with random splotches of a deeper or interesting colour? (Then you want to dye then overdye the skein)

I'm not going to give advice on colours here - you dye what you want! But keep in mind that some colours just don't look nice mixed together, and when you dye yarn you won't get a clear deliniation of the colours around the skein, so you need to know what happens when colours (say, orange and purple) mix. Brown or greeny khaki is the answer. Yek. Unless that's what you intend. Then that's ok. 

The main things to focus on when choosing colours are to pick colours that you like together, and put them on in an order that looks lovely and merges well. It's impossible to know what the yarn will look like knit up, so this is really the only way to get surety that the yarn will not look awful when knit. Keep in mind as well that the dyeing process is not perfect so even if you just knit a 25st stockinette scarf with the yarn, the pattern of colour would change due to the differences in the lengths of the coloured parts of the yarn, mostly due to changes in the skein width, and dye application.  

And obviously you have to buy the dyes. I can highly recommend Virginia Farm Wool Works for dyes. To start with, choose a few dyes in colours that you love. I'd suggest contacting either me or VFWW to get an idea of what colours to buy, as the colour sheets available online aren't very accurate. Buy a few that you like (say, purple and pink and yellow, or green, blue and grey) and experiment before buying more.

4. This is just my experience - yours may vary - but I find that you need about 6g of dye for 200g of machine-washable 8ply 100% wool yarn. Ish. Roughly. Some yarns will need more. Alpaca for example. Anything of a finer ply will need more dye. Pure wool (ie what you can felt) needs more as well.

More is not better, as the dye will simply go to waste. So start off with 6-8g of dye before adding more.

Cover the work surface with cling wrap or a plastic cloth. Put on your gloves. After one dyeing experience without gloves, you'll see why I'm saying this. Figure out how much of each colour you want, and measure that out into an individual bowl. Add about 50mL of boiling water and mix the dye in well. Add 300mL room temperature water and mix well. Set aside carefully. Do this with each dye so that you now have a number of bowls with dye solutions. Set the bowls up in the pattern that you want for the yarn, with the bowls touching each other.

Arrange the skein neatly on the table (AVOID ANY DYE SPOTS!!!!!) and make sure that it is not tangled. Pick the skein up and put it gently, in order, into the dye pots. Poke the yarn under the dye. Use your fingers if you want/can, or use a spoon to push the yarn under. Move the yarn over towards the other bowls so that no white gaps are left. Leave the yarn in the bowls for as long as you can. Hopefully the dye baths will exhaust so you aren't wasting the dye!

5. Carefully pick the skein up and squeeze excess dye and/or water out. Be careful with dark dyes and light dyes - squeeze light ones first and then the dark ones, and be careful with how you hold the yarn as the dyes will run a little. Put the skein in a microwave-safe dish, or wrap it in cling wrap, and microwave for roughly 7 minutes for every 200g.

Again - roughly. It will vary with your microwave. It will vary with what you're microwaving in. It will vary with the type of yarn you're dyeing, the day etc etc. From what I've read, 5 minutes is too little and 15 is too much regardless of how powerful your microwave is. This cooking heat sets the yarn, so it's important to get it done properly. However, too much cooking will possibly fry the yarn and make it very rough and scratchy.

6. CAREFULLY remove the yarn from the microwave but do not open the package or dish. It will be hot and steamy and potentially dangerous, especially if your microwave is like mine and roughly at head height. Put the yarn aside and let it cool for a few hours. Yes I know you must be REALLY impatient by now but trust me - don't mess with it now! Rinsing the yarn now will result in a lovely felted mess.

7. NOW that it's cool, run a bucket of cold water and put the skein in. Swish it around well and make sure you've rinsed the yarn well. The water may go cloudy at this point - that's ok. If any of the dye comes out, rinse it again. If more dye comes out, you will want to either rinse the yarn again with some wool wash in the bucket, or consider remicrowaving the yarn a bit more to further heat set the yarn.

8. Wrap the yarn in an old towel and gently stand on it to remove water. Lay the yarn flat til dry - do this in the shade. 

9. Unskein and rewind carefully and voila!

Tips:
- You can steam the yarn on the stove. Google for specific instructions.
- If you make a less than great skein, consider over dyeing it, or using Napisan (for machine-washable yarn!) to potentially lighten the colour. Or make socks out of it.
- To get a good solid colour, use 8g of dye per 200g of the wool described above. Mix the dye in a large glass jug, and pour half of it into a large stockpot and half into a large container. Third fill the stock pot with warm water on top of the dye solution, and add roughly the same amount of warm water to the dye in the container. Put the yarn in the saucepan and pour the other dye solution on top - otherwise the yarn that went in first will suck up the dye really quickly and you'll get lighter dye on top! Mush the yarn down in the dye and leave it for a few hours / overnight to absorb. Take out and microwave as before. If you're impatient and very brave, you can turn the stove on and gently simmer the yarn for 1/2 - 1 hour then cool in the liquour, drain and dry.