Weekly Color Feature -- Bubblegum Christmas

Feeling inspired? Try these Malabrigo colorways:

[caption id="attachment_860" align="aligncenter" width="442" caption="Silky Merino in Party Pink; Worsted in Molly, Damask, Cactus Flower; Aquarella in Arapey; Worsted in Pollen; Sock in Archangel, Light of Love "][/caption]

-- Hannah

Book 3 - Online Preview

Our third book is ready and will be showing up at stores near you in January 2011. Until then, check out this awesome new preview!

Malabrigo Book 3 - Expanded Preview

-- Hannah

Visits from Israel

[caption id="attachment_850" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Stav, Bat and Rebeca"][/caption]

Mother and daughters meet in Uruguay and stop by malabrigo

Melinda with Comfy Junkie!

We had a visit from Canada, and she took a test of Comfy Junkie color. The winner color from Colorway Contest at malabrigo Junkies.

Adding Sparkle - Beaded Shawls

I am not a big lace knitter, personally -- the counting stitches, crossing off rows on a chart, trying to make a yarn over while simultaneously knitting four together through the back loop, all while standing on your head. But if there's anything more beautiful in knitting than seeing a gorgeous, delicate lace shawl, painstakingly detailed with tiny crystal beads, I don't know if it. I find myself most reminded of these confections at the time of year when nature mimics them -- adorning spider webs in dew, coating leaves and the skeletons of trees in beads of ice in the early mornings.

There are so many similarities between knitted, beaded lace and the delicacy of nature that can be mimicked in our own lovely yarns -- Malabrigo Lace in nearly any color can create an airy imitation of nature for you to wear about your shoulders. Check out the patterns below for the perfect project to curl up beside the fire (with plenty of light, of course) and immerse yourself in some detailed knitting.

Pavonia by Susanna IC; South Seas Stole by Laura Patterson;

Heart to Heart Beaded Scarf by Sivia Harding; Celaeno by Rosemary Hill

Chau, Hannah

Christmas Colors, Malabrigo Style

I love our selection of greens and reds -- so many choices for a really lovely range of seasonal combinations, especially if you like to mix it up for a more unique look than traditional kelly green and true red. With a little searching, I found a truly lovely example of projects in many of our yarns and colorways. Hopefully you'll see some favorites to add to your holiday knitting!

Just Enough Ruffles in Twist, Olive; Colorful Cropped Overlay in Chunky, Lettuce; A Cup of Christmas Tea in Worsted, Sapphire Green; Maddox the Mischevious Monster in Worsted, Water Green; Yummy Mummy Wristwarmers in Sock, Tizano Red; Berry Hill Fingerless Mittens in Rios, Ravelry Red; Saarjte's Booties in Silky, Sunny Lime and Natural; Stella Pixie Hat in Lace, Sealing Wax;

Chau, Hannah

Weekly Color Feature -- Frosted Grass

Feeling inspired? Try these Malabrigo colorways:

[caption id="attachment_826" align="aligncenter" width="422" caption="Silky Merino in Cape Cod Gray, Mint Frappe; Worsted in Vetiver, Pale Khaki; Lace in Cinnabar; Worsted in Chestnut, Moss; Lace in Lettuce"][/caption]

Chau, Hannah

1,000,000 Ravelers!

Congratulations, Ravelry -- our favorite place to find knitting patterns and excellent examples of knitter's handiwork, the home of the Malabrigo Junkies, and the source of the great community, family feeling that the knitting world has -- gained their millionth member today! We are so happy to see one of our favorite websites getting much-deserved attention. We also want to congratulate Ravelry on their award at this year's Rubicon (a convention based around the Ruby systems that Ravelry is built with.)

Knitter's Magazine K100

[gallery]

Name of Project: Sock to frock
Designer: Susan Borovsky
Skill Level: Easy +
K100 Pages: 112 - 114

Choose sock yarn for a durable and washable kid knit. This pattern is versatile as the skirt is the same for all sizes; only the bodice and sleeves are sized. When you’re ready for a larger size, just reknit the bodice.

Yarn Info: malabrigo yarn Sock in color #416 Indiecita

Name of Project: Cranberry plaid
Designer: Kathy Zimmerman
Skill Level: Intermediate
K100 Pages: 162 - 163

Texture and color come together in a shawl-collar pullover. The paired blue stripes and asymmetric button placement are the perfect foil for the knit and purl pattern in multicolor yarn.

Yarn Info: malabrigo yarn Rios in colors Cumparsita (MC) and Azules (CC)

49 in a day!!

[gallery orderby="ID"]

We are honored to have received 49 visitors  at the mill from the Great Balls of Yarn store -- Robin from Great  Balls of Yarn organized this amazing trip. They visited the mill, took "some" wool and even dyed their own skeins.

It was an incredible experience. Thanks for being here! Well-known knitter Nicky Epstein was among our visitors;  as you can see, she visited our "swimming wool". We had a wonderful time dyeing and sharing with you all!

More pictures at the Malabrigo  Yarns Facebook page!

Sock Contest Winners!

It's finally time to announce the winners of our Sock Design Contest. We got close to 20 really fantastic, beautiful entries, from so many talented designers -- it was so hard to pick a winner or even a favorite! Luckily, first, second, and third prize winners all get something really fantastic for their efforts!

First Prize Winner -- Sea Wreaths by Sarah Griffiths

Sarah Griffith's Sea Wreaths includes not only one, but two patterns -- inspired by a poem about mermaids by T.S. Eliot, in combination with one of our favorite colorways, Indiecita. The hat and fingerless mittens set are both adorned with a mix of interesting basketweave and cable patterns, broken up with stockinette.

We chose Sarah's pattern not only because it was beautiful and well-written, but also because of how easily it highlights and works with one of our complicated, multi-color colorways. Since colorways like Indiecita, Archangel, Primavera and Candombe are some of our most popular, we felt that Sarah's pattern was a wonderful addition to any knitter's pattern library. It provides enough complexity for an advanced knitter to find it enjoyable, but is not outside the reaches of an ambitious beginner.

Congratulations, Sarah -- thank you for submitting such a lovely pattern to our contest!

Sarah wins a full bag of any available Malabrigo Yarn, as well as a bag of Malabrigo Dos (an unreleased test yarn) in a colorway of the factory's choosing. A few paper copies of her pattern will also be given away at a future Stitches Event with test skeins of Malabrigo Yarn, and be linked on the Patterns section of our website.

Second Prize Winner -- Heart of the Mesa by Grace Schnebly

Grace's Hear of the Mesa was an easy choice for a finalist pattern. The mittens themselves are stunning -- the incredible contrast of an excellent color choice, the clear photographs and interesting geometric pattern -- all these contribute to a real 'wow' factor for a simple colorwork mitten. Grace's inspiration comes from the woven designs of the Navajo, and pteroglyphs of the Anasazi Native American tribes.

In addition to being pretty on the outside, the pattern is clear, beautifully laid out, and well-written. It would be an excellent choice for someone starting to feel confident in colorwork, and in our buttery-soft Sock, as pleasurable to wear as they are to look at and knit. Grace's conversational tone creates a pattern that is easy to follow and understand.

Grace wins a full bag of any available Malabrigo Yarn of her choosing, in any colorway. Her pattern will be featured here on the blog and also linked on the Patterns section of our website.

Third Prize Winner -- Damask by Kitman Figueroa

Kitman's pattern Damask might look complicated, but the designer assures us that this lovely, lacy shawl is not as difficult as we might think. After looking over the pattern, which comes complete with written instructions, charts, and step-by-step instruction, even the most timid lace knitter (namely, me) would be willing to attempt this.

Of course, the beading and structure of the actual shawl would be enough to tempt anyone into knitting it -- in Malabrigo Sock, you would be creating something really wonderful to wrap around your neck! We especially loved the beautiful edging, and it's obvious that Kitman really cares about the quality of her patterns, making her an easy choice for a finalist designer in our contest!

Kitman wins a mixed bag of skeins direct from the factory, hand-picked by Antonio. They could be test yarns, test colors, or single skeins of well-known favorites. Her pattern will also be linked in the Patterns section of our website.

We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who entered our contest -- there were so many quality submissions, and you can see many of them on our Facebook page!

Keeping Kiddos Toasty Warm

Kids need fun, functional knitwear for the Fall and Winter -- it has to be comfortable, washable, durable, and colorful. What better yarn can you think of that suits these purposes than our superwash merino in two weights -- Sock and our worsted-weight Rios?

I did a quick pattern search and came up with lots of fun, kid-friendly options that you could knit up in your favorite colorways. And with 25 colors of Rios and 32 colors of Sock, you've got a lot of colorways to choose from!

Great for Rios (try the felted projects in Merino Worsted!):

Neighborly by Jennifer Casa; On The Go-Veralls by Heidi Lehman; Granville by La Drougerie, project by Minelsa on Ravelry; Orly the Owl by Brooke & Beth; Felted Mittens by Molli Hartel; Harry Potter Scarf by Tangle

Good for Sock:

Cricket Pullover by Umme Yusuf, project by Snoozeecow on Ravelry ; Tjorven by Thorvalda; XO Mitts by Joanne Jongsma; Le Cardigan by Drougerie, project by Melanie-Math on Ravelry; Child's Button-Up Socks by Sara Morris; Holly, Ivy and Steve Three Christmas Ornaments by Rebecca Danger

Chau, Hannah

From Imagiknit

Allison from Imagiknit was here again.

She visited our facility and she was looking at our test for new yarns and colors.

Interweave magazine

Knits Winter 2010

[caption id="attachment_717" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption=" photographer: Kathryn Martin"][/caption]

Ginevra’s Pullover by Amy Polcyn

· Malabrigo Twist, #96 sunset  and

· Malabrigo Lace, #96 sunset -

Malabrigo + Woolgirl

Woolgirl, a yarn store that specializes in hand-dyed yarns, has recently invited Malabrigo's Head Dyer, Antonio, to be a part of a very exciting project! Antonio will be designing a colorway exclusively for the August 2011 edition of Woolgirl's new 'Victorian Writers' themed Knitting Club.



Antonio is going to be dyeing to a garden theme, inspired by Virginia Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway," a short story that is full of delightfully colorful visual imagery. Who knows what part of the story Antonio will draw his colorway from? I pulled out a few samples from an online, public-domain edition that I felt would be especially inspirational:

"... wrapped in the soft mesh of the grey-blue morning air, which, as the day wore on, would unwind them, and set down on their lawns and pitches the bouncing ponies, whose forefeet just struck the ground and up they sprung, the whirling young men, and laughing girls in their transparent muslins who, even now, after dancing all night, were taking their absurd woolly dogs for a run... and the shopkeepers were fidgeting in their windows with their paste and diamonds, their lovely old sea-green brooches in eighteenth-century settings to tempt Americans ...and she, too, loving it as she did with an absurd and faithful passion..."

"There were flowers: delphiniums, sweet peas, bunches of lilac; and carnations, masses of carnations. There were roses; there were irises... And then, opening her eyes, how fresh like frilled linen clean from a laundry laid in wicker trays the roses looked; and dark and prim the red carnations, holding their heads up; and all the sweet peas spreading in their bowls, tinged violet, snow white, pale — as if it were the evening and girls in muslin frocks came out to pick sweet peas and roses after the superb summer’s day, with its almost blue-black sky, its delphiniums, its carnations, its arum lilies was over; and it was the moment between six and seven when every flower — roses, carnations, irises, lilac — glows; white, violet, red, deep orange; every flower seems to burn by itself, softly, purely in the misty beds; and how she loved the grey-white moths spinning in and out, over the cherry pie, over the evening primroses!"

Antonio's month, August 2011, can be purchased for $70 on the Woolgirl website. This includes not only the yarn and pattern to make a very lovely pair of themed socks, but each month also comes with several other goodies -- a themed stitch marker and an assortment of knitting notions, from project bags to vintage and boutique items. Each kit will also come with a little information on how Antonio chose the colorway, and you can participate in an official Woolgirl Club KAL, too!

This is such a fun way to get an inside look at a great writer -- and a great dyer's interpretation of her work!

Chau, Hannah

Coming Soon -- Malabrigo Book 3 Preview

Malabrigo Book 3 is still pretty far away from a wide press release, and you won't be seeing it on your yarn store's shelves for awhile, but we thought we'd give you a little teaser preview. This was a very exciting project for us to work on, and is one especially dear to me since I got to be Styling/Project Coordinator for Book 3! I worked closely with the stylist to choose all the outfits and the direction of the photoshoot, and with Antonio to choose the perfect model and location.







Let us know what you think, and which patterns you're getting excited for! This book features patterns from a wide range of really excellent designers, and we can't wait to introduce it to the world. We don't have a release date yet, and these are not the official book pictures, but we will let you know as we get more information!

Chau, Hannah

Fall in Love: Granny Bandits

Thanks to illustrator and knitter, Vera Brosgol, we now have a nickname for the newest trend in scarf wearing: the granny bandit. A granny bandit is a shawl, wrapped like a bandit scarf around your neck in a triangle. There are many, many ways to wear a shawl, but this allows it to show in the front (rather than in the back), tuck into your jacket, or lay over your cardigan. People started wearing them last season, but, like most knitting trends, it seems that the Granny Bandit is here to stay. You can show off all that lace knitting with a jumble of color in the softest of our yarns, Malabrigo Lace!

Get into fall style with some of these awesome lace patterns -- shown here knit in our Silky, Worsted, Lace and Sock yarns!

[caption id="attachment_738" align="aligncenter" width="438" caption="Wearing a lace shawl bandit-style takes the granny out of 'granny shawl'!"][/caption]

Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark shown in Malabrigo Lace 'Sunset' by Mmontzka on Ravelry; Milkweed Shawl by Laura Chau shown in Malabrigo Sock 'Indecita' by LadyFirelyght on Ravelry; Multanomah by Kate Flagg shown in Malabrigo Sock 'Abril' by Rubino on Ravelry; Traveling Woman by Liz Abinante shown in Malabrigo Silky 'Acorn' by Thischickadee on Ravelry; Damson by Ysolda Teague shown in Malabrigo Sock 'Ochre' by Bbo3aav on Ravelry; Lacy Baktus by Terhi Montonen shown in Malabrigo Sock in 'Lettuce' by Strickonaut on Ravelry

Chau, Hannah

malabrigo Junkies at Stitches East

The ladies from the Malabrigo Junkies group on Ravelry say Hello!



we miss you!!

Thank you for the lovely picture

Tobias and Antonio

About the color name

When we had been in Cape Cod we saw the amazing landscape. One thing that particularly caught my attention, were the wooden walls and their gray. Then, Cape Cod Gray was born.

[gallery]

After the trip, I appreciate better Edward Hopper paintings, who has helped to perceive the cap.

Antonio.

Interweave

[caption id="attachment_679" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="photographer: Kathryn Martin"][/caption]

Knits Holiday Gifts 2010

Malabrigo Silky Merino, #429 Cape Cod gray - Blooming Stole by Mary Keenan

Fall in Love: Weekly Color Feature

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="433" caption="German Autumn by Cyrillicus on Flickr"][/caption]

Feeling Inspired? Try these Malabrigo colorways:

[caption id="attachment_697" align="aligncenter" width="416" caption="Rios in Glazed Carrot, Cumparsita, Piedras; Chunky in Pagoda, Rhodesian, Black Forest; Silky in Blackberry, Redwood Bark"][/caption]

Chau, Hannah

Fall in Love: Preserves

[caption id="attachment_692" align="aligncenter" width="357" caption="61 Balls Scrappy Trivet, by knitter Alice Kathryn"][/caption]

Around this time of year, a lot of people finish up a project they have been working on all summer long. No, I'm not talking about knitting at all, though I suppose you could call a garden a work-in-progress! Some of the coolest gardeners I know are canning, bottling, and jar-ing their way to a winter full of lovely, yummy treats from their gardens. It's a waste-not, want-not harvest story. With a little left over, (or in some cases, a lot left over), these folks can have an extra meal, an extra snack, or a little treat to remind them that while the summertime is over, the benefits of all that hard work didn't get wasted.

[caption id="attachment_691" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Scrappy Bloom Dress, by knitter Shelley Kaskey (WaldorfMama)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_693" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Fish Hat by knitter WhatLadder on Ravelry"][/caption]

You can view yarn the same way, you know! Sometimes, when finishing a project, you have a few yards, a little ball, or even half of the cake left over. Sure, you can cut them up as stuffing for a knitted toy, or just toss them, but why not save them in a little jar or basket until you have enough to start pairing colors together for scrappy projects? As you can see in the pictures throughout this post, some really great scrappy knitting is being done -- are you ready to jump in?

Chau, Hannah

Fall in Love: Fair Isle Mittens

I don't think there's any other type of knitting that makes me feel more like fall than fair isle (stranded) colorwork! And I can hardly think of another yarn with more color options than the ever-constant staple, Malabrigo Worsted. With well over 100 colors on our worsted color card, you're sure to find anything you're looking for.

I think mittens are a great way to introduce yourself to colorwork. They are quick enough to knit that you can spend some time playing around with the technique, and you have two to practice on before your project is finished. It's also rare that a mitten is too 'daunting' for any level of knitter -- even one with a complicated colorwork pattern is easily mastered. I pulled a few of my favorite mittens from Ravelry and have separated them into skill categories with color recommendations!

Beginning Colorwork: you may know how to knit a mitten up and down, and knit in the round like a pro, but maybe it's your first time trying stranded knitting. Something that offers a little more variation than a typical stripe is just what you need! Mittens like Mandy Powers' Ziggity Mittens work up well in Malabrigo Worsted on size 3 needles. Though this gauge would be hard on your hands with a plied yarn, the buttery softness of singles makes it easy to knit a bit tighter. With a cute picot edge, it gives you a chance to try new techniques with ones you might be more familiar with. If you're looking for something slightly more challenging for your first time out, try the similar Herringbone Mittens with Poms by Elli Stubenrauch. Many people have already knit this pattern in Worsted -- including Ravelry user Amyldubya, whose lovely mittens are pictured.

Intermediate Colorwork: If you've already tried colorwork once or twice, maybe it's time for you to try one of the more complex geometric patterns, or add a third color into the equation. I am of the opinion that the more geometric or repetitive the pattern, the more intuitively your mind will complete it as you knit, which means that you will be able to tell exactly where you are without having to count every stitch of every row, should you use your place.

Some excellent patterns that meet this criteria are Diamonds Are Forever, by Nanette Blanchard. These mittens offer an opportunity to play with color and add more colors to your stranded knitting. The cuff, which contains an organic shape, gives beautiful contrast to the mainly-geometric patterning of the mitten's body. Another great mitten pattern at this level is the End of May pattern by Mandy Powers. This pattern looks complicated - it has different charts for the front and back, and the mitten is lined. But if you're willing to give it a chance, the simple two-color pattern is repeated and actually more intuitive than it seems. The lovely mittens (not in Malabrigo) pictured are by one of our favorite bloggers, Alice Kathryn of Kathryn Ivy.

Advanced Colorwork: It's hard to qualify any part of knitting 'advanced'. Most techniques are easily mastered with some amount of dedication. For the advanced colorwork category, I chose patterns that I felt were beautiful and time-consuming -- with colors changing in almost every stitch, these are not colorwork patterns that you can breeze through while watching television, or forget which row you are on and pick it up easily without counting later. But they yield beautiful results, and their complexity allows for endless applications of color.

Midnight Sun by Randy K. is a pattern with alternating background colors, the potential to alternate foreground colors, a colorwork cuff (which could easily be omitted if you don't like the bell shape of it), and a complicated, large-motif pattern. It would be lovely to see these mittens worked up in rich monochromatic background color gradation (think, Water-Green, Sapphire Green, Verde Esperanza and Cypress) with a bright foreground in a complement, like Vermilion or Ravelry Red. Equally lovely could be a cuff in a solid color, like Marine, choosing parts of the motif to highlight in the same color, making the background solid (if using Marine, perhaps a color like Periwinkle) and adding another cool bordering color, like Fuscia, for interest and 'pop'.

Another lovely pattern with unlimited possiblity is the Hiroshige Mitten pattern by Hanneke Sieben. With a lovely bird motif and detailed cuffs, hems, changing background colorwork and complex foreground, these mittens will be masterpieces as soon as you get them off the needles. Some particularly striking color combinations? Try Burgundy in the foreground, and back it with Polar Morn and Pearl Ten, or go with a more colorful background with Pearl or Natural , backing it on Paris Night with a dramatic Cinnabar harvest moon.

Choosing Colors: For colorwork, color is obviously everything. Take a moment to study a color wheel, and then think about what is across or next to each other on the wheel. Contrast happens with variation in intensity - light and dark, as well as complementary and hue (the actual pigment) variation. Excellent colorwork will have both in harmonious balance. It's fun to play around with color charts and combinations -- draw inspiration from places you love, or blogs you frequent, like The Color Collective, which reveals new and interesting color combinations every day.

Chau, Hannah

Fall in Love: A New Blog Series

[caption id="attachment_676" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="photo credit: Martha Stewart Living Magazine"][/caption]

Fall in Love is our new, 5-part blog series, highlighting all that is fall -- the trends, colors, and feeling of this fall season captured with knitting needles and crochet hooks. Best of all, this blog series will give you plenty of inspiration to pick up your favorite Malabrigo Yarns and get to work on something special for the fall season!

I hope you enjoy reading as much as I've enjoyed putting it together. The kickoff will be tomorrow with some terrific Fall Fair-Isle knitting patterns and a quick study in choosing and pairing colors for them.

Chau, Hannah

Koolhaas Hat at Koolhaas Library

[gallery]

At Seattle we stop by the amazing Public Library

More information about the pattern here

Junkies Preparing for October Stockpile

If you're looking for a little push starting your holiday knitting, please join many Malabrigo lovers over on Ravelry, where the Malabrigo Junkies Group will be picking up their yarn and needles and casting on this October for "Stockpile", an event designed to help knitters focus on the upcoming holiday season and the inevitable need for hand-knitted gifts!

The Junkies provide not only plenty of hand-holding and friendly support, but they get a little competitive too, with contests and fabulous prizes provided by none other than their favorite yarn company.

Contests this year include:

"You Can Do It" - Tackle a new technique or knit something that is a challenge to you, stretch your skills and post your progress along the way.

"One Skein Design" - Design a pattern using a single skein of a Malabrigo yarn, writing it up into a pattern that can be sold or downloaded for free on Ravelry.

"Most Junkie Designs Completed" - Members compete against each other to see who can cast on and complete the most patterns designed by Malabrigo Junkies members.

"WOW" - Impress the judges by making something at least 70% from Malabrigo yarns to show off your skills, personal style or knitting prowess.

"Most Generous Member" - The heart of Stockpile, this contest is all about who can finish the most one-skein presents for family, friends, or favorite charity.

All the Stockpile contests mentioned here can only be officially entered by Malabrigo Junkie Group members (membership is free, of course), and have rules that should be carefully read over before jumping in.

If competing isn't your style, there are also an abundance of Knit-A-Longs this October for the different parts of the body, so that whatever you're knitting, you can find someplace to hang out and post your progress. As always, there are random drawings from people who participate, so make sure that if you're playing along, you post something somewhere!

It is so much fun to participate in this Junkie annual event, and I hope to see you over on Ravelry myself (my username is Hannahbelle)!

Chau, Hannah

Weekly Color Feature - Bubblegum Queen

Feeling inspired? Try these Malabrigo colorways:

[caption id="attachment_658" align="aligncenter" width="470" caption="Worsted in Cognac; Silky in Sand; Lace in Apricot; Twist in Pearl Ten, Terron; Sock in Eggplant, Playa; Rios in Primavera "][/caption]

Chau, Hannah

Malabrigo for Kids!

Munecos, a brand-new Etsy shop, is open for business! The three-woman Uruguayan team, headed up by Monica Bacardaz, has set up an Etsy store to sell their high-quality stuffed animals. Each animal is made from Malabrigo yarns and stuffed with Corriedale, making them 100% natural wool materials. The animals are made in pieces using crochet, knitting, embroidery and sewing techniques, and assembled by hand too! Here's a picture of Monica working at home:



If you have a friend or know someone who really appreciates stuffed animals, you should certainly check out Munecos!

Chau, Hannah

Weekly Color Feature - Last Breath of Summer

[caption id="attachment_650" align="aligncenter" width="321" caption="photo courtesy of project wedding"][/caption]

Feeling Inspired? Try these Malabrigo Colorways:

[caption id="attachment_651" align="aligncenter" width="444" caption="Angora in Shocking Pink, Sock in Archangel, Silky in Plum Blossom and Natural, Lace in Periwinkle and Apple Green, Twist in Sunset and Damask"][/caption]

Chau, Hannah

Pattern Roundup!

Wow! I did a pattern search and there is a HUGE new grouping of fall patterns designed for Malabrigo Yarns of all weights. I put together a mosaic to share them with you below -- it's a big one! Click on the links with the names of the patterns to find your favorites.

1. Petal Beret, 2. Blackberry Beret, 3. Henry, 4. A Slice of Autumn/Spring, 5. Twice Around Circular Scarf, 6. Bracken Shawlette, 7. The Orchid Thief Shawlette, 8. Fisherman's Net Cowl, 9. Wyatt, 10. Lenina, 11. Chillout, 12. Madeline Earflap Hat, 13. Indian Summer, 14. Lemniscates Cowl, 15. Whippoorwill, 16. Baby Heart Hat

Chau, Hannah

Antonio and Tobias at Needlemarket!

If you're going to the 2010 Northwest Needle Market this year, keep an eye out for Antonio and Tobias! Needlemarket is the "World's Premiere Wholesale-Only Market", and happens yearly just outside of Seattle, Washington. If you live in the area or you're a wholesaler stopping by (they say people come from over 200 different stores), don't forget to check out the new colors we have in several of the bases, or take a good look at Rios, our new superwash worsted base!

There will be a fashion show and tons of opportunities to interact with vendors and other store owners. For details on location and attending, check out the website.

The guys would love to see you and say hello, and I personally can't wait to hear all about what they've seen, and share some of it with you here on the blog.

Chau, Hannah

Designs for Malabrigo -- Lorraine Hearn

Lorraine alerted us that she has an entire page of Malabrigo Yarn patterns on her website! We thought it'd be great to link you to it, since she not only offers them on Ravelry on her design page, but you can get them through her website as well (just scroll down to the bottom of the page), if you aren't a Ravelry.com member! Most of her patterns are made by using Rasta in creative ways. If you've got a skein at home and aren't sure what to do with it, this might be a good place to start looking.

[caption id="attachment_635" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Loopy Necktie pattern and photo by Lorraine Hearn"][/caption]

Chau, Hannah

A Very Versatile Knit

If I could only knit one thing this fall, I know what it would be, after seeing the fabulous Bertrand Louis pattern that has recently popped up on Ravelry. Written by the brilliant katushika, who also wrote pattern favorite Wurm (a hat that has proven excellent on nearly any head shape, with nearly any yarn), this piece is a cowl, hat, headband, sweatband -- all in one. You could knit a whole parcel of them and give them as gifts! Written for our Merino Worsted, it's entirely possible to make them in any color you like, and have one to match every coat and outfit.

I gathered up a few of my Merino Worsted favorites on Ravelry - click the links to go to the individual Flickr/Ravelry Project pages for a closer look! There seem to be new ones popping up every day, too -- I plan to make one myself before too long.

[caption id="attachment_628" align="aligncenter" width="387" caption="Louis Bertrand pattern by Katushika, show in Amoroso by Halfbrits, Emerald Blue by Stephylococcus, Fuschia by Flopeanut, Vetiver by Verushka -- click this photo mosaic to go to the Ravelry Project Pages!"][/caption]

Chau, Hannah

Playa Color

This summer I was walking along the beach when this appeared

[caption id="attachment_621" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Playa Verde, Maldonado, Uruguay"][/caption]

I found this as a nice combination for a wool and Playa  (beach) has born. It comes in Sock and Rios

[caption id="attachment_622" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Playa "][/caption]

Antonio

An Interview with Tobias

Recently, Tobias was interviewed at the Icelandic Gardening, Knitting, Gradstudent, Mom blog! Not only was he interviewed, but Ólöf, the author of the blog, also reviewed one of Malabrigo's newest colorways - Garden Gate - in our Merino Worsted. Please head over and take a look at her blog, read the review and the interview, and enter her (limited time only) giveaway to try and win a skein of Malabrigo for yourself!

[caption id="attachment_608" align="aligncenter" width="324" caption="Garden Gate in Merino Worsted"][/caption]

Chau, Hannah

Malabrigo Silky Voted "Best Yarn"

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Bestcovery, the website that helps you discover "the best of everything", recently announced their top picks for 'Best Yarn', and Malabrigo Silky was right at the top at #2! So why is Silky their favorite?

"Why it's a best pick:
This yarn is half silk and half baby merino wool, sold in 50 gram skeins.  It comes in a rainbow of colors, including solid and variegated colors.  The "Pradera" colorway is a beautiful blend of blues and greens that is reminiscent of an underwater scene or a cool garden.  The baby merino wool provides softness and warmth, while the silk provides a slight shimmer.  It is a beautiful single ply yarn that is perfect for shawls or elegant sweaters.  These colors vary significantly from one dye lot to another, so make sure that you buy enough for your project."

words of Bestcovery.com writer, Bronwyn Harris

So grab a skein of Silky, if you haven't already, and see what all the fuss is about!

Chau, Hannah

Rasta in Interweave Weekend 2010

Interweave Knits featured our Rasta yarn in their special edition Weekend Knits 2010! One of the staff knits -- projects designed by Interweave staff members -- included a triangular carry-case for your smaller sock or mitten projects! This would be the perfect project to take with you on a train or subway, or even to carry around with you at the local wool festival this fall!

Interweave Knits' Weekend Knits 2010 will be available on newsstands on September 23, 2010.

[caption id="attachment_603" align="aligncenter" width="403" caption="Anita Osterhaug, for Interweave Knits - Photo by Kathryn Martin"][/caption]

Chau, Hannah

Interview with Nina Machlin Dayton

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Nina Machlin Dayton loves Malabrigo -- if you look at her design profile on Ravelry, you'll see that most of her design work has been done in at least one of our yarns. Some of her designs, like the Dean Street Hat, which has been designed for both Chunky and Worsted, are well into the hundreds of projects (499 for the Worsted version, with a whopping 171 of these knit from Malabrigo Worsted.) Nina is always willing to give advice for everything from designing to lace-knitting (one of her favorite past-times), and is active in introducing new knitters to the world of yarn and fiber.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="184" caption="Dean Street Hats by Nina Machlin Dayton"][/caption]

Nina talks knitting and yarn in lots of places - on Ravelry, she's Ninaknits, and she can also be found on her blog of the same name. Her latest design is the Cardinal Neck Warmer, an introduction to cables with buttons and seed stitch. We were lucky enough to track down this knowledgeable, talented, designer for an interview here on the blog!

What was your first experience with Malabrigo?

Nina: My local yarn store is WEBS, and around six years ago, when Malabrigo first started making it to the American markets, they called me and told me that they'd gotten in this amazing new yarn -- super soft, super luxurious -- they said I should come check it out.  So I went over too see it and just fell madly in love with a skein of Merino Worsted in Vaa. The softness, the complexity of color, the versatility at all gauges -- it was the perfect yarn for me, and still is.

What was your first Malabrigo design?

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Nina: I released two designs at roughly the same time - the Dean Street Hat and the Haymarket Mittens. The Dean Street Hat really took off -- I think it's been downloaded thousands of times.

Why Malabrigo for so many of your designs?

Nina: Well, for me, it's all about the color, at least at first. Malabrigo is my basic palette -- any color I could possibly want is available in at least one base. But Malabrigo just has such great versatility: there's a yarn for everything. Worsted especially gives great stitches at almost any gauge. I use it to teach new knitters because it makes them feel like they made something beautiful every time - it's hard to make the yarn look bad, and it's so soft and wonderful that it makes people feel confident about using wool yarns.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="411" caption="Shetland Triangle in Indecita, by Nina Machlin Dayton"][/caption]

What is your favorite project in Malabrigo to date?

Nina: My favorite personal project would definitely be one of my shawls in Silky - it makes such lovely lacework. But my favorite designs right now are in worsted - the Orvietto Hat and the Medici Hat. I just love the softness of Worsted combined with an ultra-drapey shape.

Do you have a favorite colorway?

Nina: I couldn't possibly pick a favorite! There are too many I love. I always feel drawn to the classics, like Sunset and Lettuce, or Polar Morn, in worsted, but lately I've really fallen for the more intricate Sock colorways, like Persia and Aguas. I can't forget Cape Cod Gray in Silky, either -- my favorites really change every day!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="374" caption="Dean Street Mitts by Nina Machlin Dayton"][/caption]

Chau, Hannah