in one of my classrooms. Intrigued, I jotted down the notes and went hunting and gathering in my neighborhood for the required materials. Download a complete tutorial on the process by clicking the link at the bottom of this post.
You'll notice that it doesn't take much to do this experiment! It also doesn't require fancy yarn... any 100% wool yarn should work quite well. The first part of the project is to gather the materials necessary to make the solution.
Years Material
1793–1857 100% copper
1857–1864 88% copper, 12% nickel (also known as NS-12)
1864–1942 bronze (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc)
1946–1962 bronze (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc)
1943 zinc-coated steel (also known as steel penny)
1944–1946 brass (95% copper, 5% zinc)
1962–1981 brass (95% copper, 5% zinc)
1974 Experimental aluminum variety (test strikes only, not circulated)
1982–present* 97.5% zinc core, 2.5% copper plating
The next step is to soak your wool. I used Patons Classic Wool (100% wool) in the color "Aran" for this experiment. It comes in skeins that weigh approximately 3.5 ounces. I wound 2.25 ounces onto my niddy noddy, and loosely tied the skein using scrap bits of yarn in a "figure 8" through the yarn to keep it secure in 4 different places. Here's my skein of yarn bundled up for a "before" photo:

Click here to download the tutorial for dyeing with copper pennies! |