Malabrigo Yarn

Malabrigo yarn comes from Uruguay and is made almost entirely from merino wool, which the manufacturer hand-dyes in kettles. On this page you'll find all its ranges: fine Lace, Sock and Mechita for scarves and socks, medium-weight Arroyo and Rios for sweaters, and thick Rasta, Chunky and Mecha for hats and cowls. Most skeins weigh 100 g, while yarns with silk, alpaca or mohair come in 50 g or 25 g skeins. The same shade is often available across several ranges, so you can find the colour of your favourite scarf in a thicker yarn for a hat too.

Which Malabrigo range matches the yarn weight in your pattern?

A knitting pattern specifies the yarn weight and the amount needed in metres, so compare the length of yarn in a skein rather than its weight in grams. A 100 g skein of Rios contains 192 m, while a skein of Sock at the same weight contains 402 m, giving you more than twice as much thinner yarn. For a sweater whose pattern calls for 1 000 m of yarn, you'll need six skeins of Rios.

Superwash or untreated merino: how does washing differ?

The Rios, Arroyo, Sock, Mechita and Mecha ranges use superwash merino. The fibre surface is treated so it won't shrink or felt in the wash, and the finished item can be gently machine-washed on a wool cycle. Superwash yarn stretches a little after soaking, so knit socks and long sweaters with a slightly tighter gauge.

Worsted, Rasta, Chunky and Lace use untreated merino. They feel soft and lofty, but heat and friction will make them felt, so hand-wash your finished item in lukewarm water and dry it flat. You'll find the full range of merino from different brands in the merino yarn category.

Yarns containing other fibres come in 50 g or 25 g packs. Silkpaca blends alpaca with silk, Silky Merino combines merino with silk, and Mohair is fine mohair with silk, which you can knit on its own for airy scarves or hold together with merino as a second strand. For mohair from other brands, visit the mohair yarn page.

Why can two skeins of the same colour look different?

Every Malabrigo dye batch is made by hand, so the shade varies slightly between batches and even within a single skein. For a sweater or blanket, buy all your skeins at once and alternate between two skeins every two rows as you knit, spreading the differences across the whole piece. Multicoloured and heathered shades create patches or stripes in stocking stitch depending on the width of the piece, so try them out on a swatch with the same number of stitches. You'll find more brands and yarn weights in the knitting yarn category.