Yarn versus finished object.

[Sansa]

Okay, I went a bit nuts on eBay and bought some undyed handspun merino for a really good price. So, now I have to do something with it. It's all rolled up really nicely and professionally and much better than I could do it. So, do I have to unroll it to dye it (I'm guessing yes). Or.. could I crochet something with it first, then dye the finished object. That would have the benefit of dying exactly the right amount for the job. Is one better than the other?

Any preferences on dyes for wool? I have read through the FAQ and a few of the posts, but erally I have no idea whatsoever. I will have to mail order whatever I use since I live in a really small town and all I could get would be grocery store dyes, which do not seem to be recommended.

[Weddy_in_Paris]

HI ! Your right : dyeing a finished object would be quicker as you wouldn't have to unroll (or at least loosen a bit) the skein (you can great tutorial about dyeing here). So if you knit or crochet several objects, they won't be the same color, which can be a bit boring. On the other hand, dyeing the yarn first can be lots of fun, as you can easily make variegated colors or self stripping (see tutes again ;-) ).
I recently discovered food colorings for dyeing wool and I really love it. It is much less messy as regular dyes, quick, safe, and so inexpensive.
Maybe you could crochet something, dye it and then dye the leftover yarn for another project ? Have fun ! 

[fiberartist219]

FYI, yarn tangles when you dye it. If you are making something a solid color, I'd dye it as a finished product rather than as the yarn. I would only dye the yarn if you were doing a multicolor design.

Also, like you said, gauging the amount of yarn you need before hand is difficult. I always dye too much and wonder what to do with the leftovers.

[OneSheepHill]

Weddy, are there links to tutorials in your post? For some reason I couldn't click on them.

To respond to the original question: dyeing the yarn is soooo much fun and in my opinion, way more fun than dyeing the finished object. But it's true that you only need to dye the yarn if you want variegated. If you're planning on all one color, I'd agree that you should dye the finished object. As for the tangling issue, you can easily keep yarn in its place with loose figure-8 ties in 4 places around the skein.

I'd recommend Dharma Trading Company's acid dyes http://www.dharmatrading.com/ad.html (they have info about using them on their website as well). If you aren't going to do a lot of dyeing, the small 1/2 ounce size will work fine. Sun Yellow, Golden Yellow, Pink, Crimson, Brilliant Blue, Turquoise, and Jet Black will give you a nice mix of cool primaries and warm primaries from which you can mix any color you want.