Advice please! What sockyarn holds dyes well?

I'm hoping that clever people out there can give me a bit of advice.

I still occasionally dye wool, I don't sell a whole lot these days and so I tend to dye for myself mostly. I use Bendigo Woollen Mills yarn for my 8, 10 and 12 ply stuff, and it seems to hold the dye well.

However, their machine wash yarn (sockweight, or 3-4 ply) doesn't hold the colour, and the baby wool (again, 3-4 ply) is too soft for sockyarn. I made a great colourway with blue, green and hot pink, but the pink faded to pale pink on the first wash, AND after 2 washes they looked so badly fuzzed and pilled that they looked worse off than my old hotsocks sockies - which I knitted almost 5 years ago and have worn constantly ever since.

What I'm looking for is something like the regia yarn, but plain white or cream - a proper sockyarn (not babywool or soft merino) that is hard wearing and machine washable, and holds the dye properly! Can anyone in the know help me out here? I'd be quite willing to order the yarn from overseas. I know it's out there but I don't know where.

Comments

[Jenwren]

If you hold out a wee while longer you will be able to get Regia - it's what Patons Patonyle is being replaced with. I've dyed patonyle with success, but it is a soft yarn. Also The Knittery's merino cashmere sock has held dye really well and worn well for me.

[Emma Someone]

Try Hartwell's Lazy PJ Ranch as well - if you can get someone to send it to in the USA and then on to you. It's the wool I sent you a sample of a while ago. Not sure if you got a chance to try it?

[ginchy]

I've successfully dyed patonyle before. Not much help I'm afraid, although the replacement is supposed to be released in May.