Malabrigo Rios

Why you'll love it

This lovely soft, smoothly-plied 10ply worsted weight yarn comes in a wonderful range of hand-dyed semi-solid, variegated and watercolour multi colourways.

Malabrigo Rios has become a true favourite, for good reason. This 10ply / worsted weight is a soft, smoothly-plied yarn, which comes in a wonderful range of hand-dyed semi-solid, variegated and watercolour multi colourways. With four plies twisted together, it helps resist pilling, and the machine washability makes it a fabulous choice for frequently worn garments, homewares, and child or baby clothes. It looks amazing in textured stitches, cables and colourwork.

New in! The Zodiac Collection

Our new Malabrigo Rios Zodiac Collection is twelve colourways, one for each star sign – designed by Flor of the Malabrigo design team, who drew her inspiration from her passion for tarot cards and astrology. For every sign, Flor built a mood board around the personality traits of the people born under it, then translated that into a colour palette and finally into a skein. Take Pisces – a fanciful, dreamy sign – so she reached for the light blues, purples and pinks of fantasy and mythical creatures, with a deep sea-green running through for Pisces the water sign.

It makes for a wonderfully personal collection. Choose the skein that matches your own sign – or, if you love your astrology, pick up your moon and rising signs too and knit a little set of colours that together tell your whole story.

Pictured:

Malabrigo Rios is made with 100% Uruguayan Merino wool. Uruguay has one of the biggest wool supplies in the world and is of an extremely high quality, especially in regards to softness. Malabrigo wool is produced by Uruguayan farms that allow their free-range sheep through the hills and are herded by actual old-style shepherds. The controversial practice of mulesing does not exist in Uruguay.

This is a hand dyed yarn and each skein is unique. For best results, we recommend alternating skeins when you work with it.

Specifications

Composition

100% superwash merino wool

Skein weight

100g

Yarn length

192m (210yds)

Yarn weight

10ply (Worsted/Aran)

Needle size

4mm - 5mm (US 6 to 8)

Knitting gauge

18-22 stitches to 10cm (4in)

Hook size

5.5mm - 6.5mm (US I-9 to K-10.5)

Care guide

Machine washable, gentle cycle in cold water, dry flat. Mulesing free.

Hand dyed

Each skein is unique so we recommend alternating skeins when you work with it.

Need More?

Need more of a colour than we have in stock? Give us a call on 02 9554 7444 and we'll do our best to help.

We can let you know when more is due in, or help you track down a close match from our range.

Yarn Weight vs Yarn Ply

"Ply" technically refers to the construction of the yarn. It's the number of strands that are twisted together to make a single piece of yarn. While "ply" historically related to the thickness (or weight) of the yarn, today's spinning technology means that the number of plies doesn't always correspond directly to the thickness of the yarn.

However, in some countries, including Australia & the UK, the numbering system of yarn ply still refers to the thickness of the yarn, so it's possible to have a single ply 4ply yarn! - this means that the yarn is constructed of a single ply, but has the traditional thickness of a 4ply sock / fingering yarn).

For more information, please refer to our Hook, Needle & Yarn Guide and our blog A Quick Guide to Yarn Weights.

Happiness Guarantee

We want you to love your new yarn! We accept returns within 90 days of your order being dispatched on stock items.

All return items must be in resaleable condition, unless it was faulty or damaged.
It must be in its original packaging and unopened.
We cannot return yarn if it has been wound from a skein into a ball.

Please see our Returns Policy for more details.

Shipping & Pickup

AUSTRALIA
FREE shipping on orders over $200
Orders under $200 – $13.50 (Standard) or $17.50 (Express)

NEW ZEALAND
FREE shipping on orders over $200
Orders under $200 – $14.95 (Standard) or $23.95 (Express)

Excludes oversized items, all amounts in AUD

INTERNATIONAL
Postage cost will be calculated at Checkout

For more details, see our Shipping Policy.

Store Pickup

We offer a Store Pickup service which you select at checkout. When your order is ready for you to pick up you will receive a notification via SMS. We hold store pick ups for 14 days.

Customer Reviews

Project Inspiration

Projects featuring Malabrigo Rios

Earth and Air

by James N Watts

French Press Cardi

by Toni Lipsey

ADA knit-look beanie

by Adriana M.

About

Malabrigo

In 2005 two brothers-in-law started dyeing wool in a kitchen pot in Uruguay. It went well enough that they sold a few skeins to the United States, then to Europe, and then had to find somewhere considerably larger to work.

The name comes from Mal Abrigo, a small village in Uruguay. It translates roughly to 'bad shelter' – a curious name for a yarn company, as they cheerfully admit themselves.

Most Malabrigo is still 100% Uruguayan merino, from a country where mulesing isn't practised; the alpaca comes from Peru and the silk from Italy. Spinning and dyeing now happen in Peru, with the development lab still in Montevideo. They employ mostly women, of all ages, and go out of their way to hire people with fewer opportunities than average. Over 400 colours, and because it's dyed by hand, no two lots are ever quite alike.