Ashland Bay Undyed Superwash Merino/Tencel Yarn Undyed 3.5 lb Cone-Fingering Weight

Lovely weight and drape. The Tencel gives it a bit of a shine, similar to a wool silk blend. I initially bought it to test out new patterns prior to using my more expensive yarns. I like it so much that it's now my preferred warm weather yarn. The only draw back is it's seeming inability to dye deep saturated tones. A pure super wash merino will dye much deeper. So it's fine for my Spring or Summer mid-tones.

The Tencel component doesn't seem to take the dye as well. I initially tried a Procion MX dye bath with Acid activator. I later tried another project using two separate dye baths: one Procion MX with a soda ash activator, followed by an Acid dye bath with citric acid activator. Beautiful results, but still only mid-tone. Having said that, the drape and coolness of the Tencel makes it a perfect warm weather yarm.

This is a beautiful base yarn. It dyed up fabulously, the tencel giving the colors a lovely muted intensity and overall sheen.

Do you know what this is? This is not a cone of boring, undyed yarn -- no, no. This is a cone of *potential*.

There is nothing you can't do with this cone of yarn.

(Okay, so you might not be able to knit a pair of socks for a giant. But really -- if you have a giant demanding that you knit h** a pair of socks with fingering weight yarn, you have a much bigger problem on your hands, no pun intended).

Think about this yarn . . . with one colour of County Classics Dyes and a pot of water you could have any colour you want, or a striping of shades in that one colour. With more than one colour, a foam paintbrush, and some plastic wrap, you can have a space-dyed yarn. With a couple of ketchup bottles and a handful of colours -- there's no stopping you.

This is a cone of pure, unadulterated potential . . . what will you do with it?