In the beginning, you probably used acrylic yarn to learn to knit. I know a lot of knitters that stay with acrylics or acrylic type blends because of ease of care, and price. I understand budget constraints, but I feel that if you’re going to knit something that takes ANY amount of your time and skill, you owe it to yourself to knit with something of high quality – at least once – and for yourself. Even if it means you have to take some extra time and hand wash it. In actuality, there are a lot of yarns out there today of very high quality that are also easy care, so the only other consideration is cost. I say save a little bit each pay day and treat yourself – you’re worth it.
With that line of thinking, I’d like to introduce you to Malabrigio – if you haven’t already met. You may have heard the name being dropped in knitting circles or whispered in hushes here and there. My advice to you is to go out and see what all the fuss is about. Malabrigio makes a line of yarns that are hand dyed, some hand spun, and of exceptional quality. I have to truthfully say that in the beginning I was a little skeptical. I mean, there are a lot of space-dyed, multi-colored yarns out there now, and I have always been a little partial to Colinette yarns when it comes to multi-colored colorways. Well, it seems that I have a new love as well. Malabrigio has a way of hand dyeing their yarns that is absolutely exquisite. No two skeins are exactly alike, and even the solid colors have subtle changes in the hues that make the yarn pop! As a matter of fact, I firmly believe that no two people actually see the yarn exactly the same way. I have pictures of the moebius neck warmer I just finished using Rasta, and the comments I have gotten about it are surprising. There have been a few discussions about what colors there actually are in the yarn!
The orange has a red undertone in it that causes it to look like hot embers in places, and the brown is a perfect combination of dark and darker chocolate, again with some red undertones that give it purplish hues. I truly wish I were able to capture the real essence of the yarn in the photographs. The great thing about this though is that the neck warmer will look different on everyone wearing it. We all know how fibers seem to have a chameleon quality and take on the characteristics of the colors they’re next to, well this yarns seems to take that up a notch!
As for the experience of knitting with it, the Rasta was sublime. It is a super bulky weight 100% merino wool that is slightly felted, hand spun and hand dyed. It comes in 150g skeins that are 90 yards long. The gauge is about 2 – 21/2 stitches per inch on 8 – 10 mm needles. My experience from working with it is that you could easily go to a 12mm needle as I did this neck warmer on a 10mm circular and I’m a loose knitter. You should experiment a little depending on the look you’re going for. My only criticism of this yarn is that the skeins aren’t long enough. Unfortunately this is true with a lot of yarns once you hit the bulky and thicker gauges. Because of it’s size, you don’t like to have ends to darn in, as it adds too much bulk to the piece you’re making. On this neck warmer, I was able to carry the color not being used and I did spit felt the ends together when I ran out of the orange and started into the brown. I would love to see a skein twice the size of the current one – so 300g and 150m or so.
Other than that, this yarn is tops in every way. It is very soft, yet very structurally sound. It was a great idea to slightly felt the yarn as well – kudos to the company for thinking of this. Rasta is perfect for small projects like the neck warmer shown here, but I could also see it as a great over coat or even a sweater, if you had the budget for it. Yes, it would be very heavy, but it would be so cozy and warm! Anyway, here are some pictures of it alone and being modeled by Dianne.
If you’re in the Vancouver area and want to get your hands on some of this, Shoshana at Wool Is Not Enough has some in her store right now! Here’s a link to her store and new location – W.I.N.E. – and the picture below is of some of the Rasta hanging on her walls. Well, they were there last week!
Mmmmmmm … Malabrigio!
As a little treat to all of you, the pattern for Rastah is free! Get it by clicking on the link or going to the products and patterns page. Enjoy!
Hugzzz 😎