Glow in the dark yarn

I was trick-or-treating with a friend and her kid this Halloween, and it was rather chilly.  I really wished I had worn a hat, which is silly for a hat maker to not wear one.  But then I thought that it would be really cool if I could make a glow in the dark hat.  Is it possible?  Was there such a thing as glow in the dark yarn?  So I did what I always do, research.

It turns out that there used to be. Bernat made some a while back, but you can't get it anymore.  I really wish they would bring it back, because it's rather cool.  I found suggestions for fishing wire or a parachute rope, or a plastic yarn, but that wasn't what I was looking for.  I wanted a yarn, cotton, acrylic, whatever.  But a yarn.

Then I found this blog post about making your own. Hodgepodge Crochet

It was exactly what I needed.  And it worked.  The theory is to buy at your local craft store a glow in the dark fabric paint (it doesn't matter what brand), soak your skein of yarn in water, dump the paint over it, and mix it in.  Let it dry, and rinse out.

I used this brand, it has a little yellow tinge to it

I used gloves, and I'm glad because you really need to squish it around.  It does dry stiff, and then I rinsed it out with mild detergent and let it dry again.  It was still a little crunchy, after all I just dumped paint on it, but it softens up over time.  And it really does glow!  You have to charge it with light, so it is hanging in my window right now to dry and charge, but I think I will have a cool new yarn to play with.  I'm excited.

And this is craft paint, it is non-toxic, which is what everyone asks if my yarn is now dangerous.  Nope, it's fabric paint, so it is completely safe, just follow the bottle's instructions.

Since the cost of cotton yarn has skyrocketed, this craft can get pricy, but totally worth it.

It glows much brighter than this.