Okay, getting back to the "Firsts for Thursday" theme...today I'll write about a recent first: I'm knitting with the well-known and well-loved Malabrigo Yarn for the first time. Many knitters have gone ga-ga for this soft, cozy yarn. I, however, always steered clear for one big reason: I was concerned that, being a single-ply yarn, it would pill too much with normal wear were I to knit it into a sweater. This may or may not end up being the case - only time will tell - but I decided that it's worth a try. Two major factors helped me change my mind about trying Malabrigo: a great price point ($10.95/216-yard skein) compared to other yarns I was looking at, and I held a store swatch to my neck for a few minutes and had almost zero itch!!!
I'm going to knit my Malabrigo into Wisteria, a beautiful sweater designed by Kate Gilbert for Twist Collective (fall, 2008). Since the sweater has a mock turtleneck, and I would like to actually wear the sweater, I needed a yarn that would not drive me to tears due to the dreaded Itch. I was thinking alpaca, or silk/alpaca, or basically something with as little wool as possible. I almost bought some Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk, but it would have ended up being a $200+ sweater which was simply not feasible (to say the least). I didn't even consider the Malabrigo...indeed, I didn't even notice the wall of it (!)...until the nice shop lady started pointing out good, soft, alternatives.
So, my first Malabrigo knitting experience was last night. I knit up a gauge swatch. For you non-knitters, that's a little bit of fabric we make in order to determine what size needles to use for the the chosen yarn. It needs to match the gauge called for in the pattern, otherwise you'll end up with a finished item that is too-big or too-small or too-long or, well, you get the point. The yarn was, in a word, delightful. No scratchiness on my fingers as it runs over them. The finished swatch feels both durable AND soft. I think it's going to be a joy to knit with and, hopefully, a great sweater when all is said and done.
Now, as a Spanish speaker I feel it is my duty to address the following teensy-tiny issue. The word "Malabrigo" is Spanish (the yarn is, after all, from Uruguay...just like "Manos del Uruguay" is), which means it is not pronounced in a super-fancy Italianesque kind of way. I often hear the yarn called "Mal-a-bri-zho", and I can't decide if people simply don't know how to pronounce it or if they're trying to make it sound fancy because many consumers like fancy (it feels to me like a combination of the two). I remember when I first bought some lace-weight Malabrigo (which is in the stash) the shop attendant handed me the bag with a flourish and solemnly pronounced me the proud owner of two skeins of...moment of awe, please..."Malabrizho". I half expected an opera singer to pop out of the storeroom and sing me to the door. Here is my public service announcement for the week: the word is pronounced "Mahl-ah-bree-go". It's as simple as that. That's a hard "g", see?
And some fun trivia about the word. Malabrigo might refer to a location (as in Malabrigo, Peru). On the other hand, it could be a tongue-in-cheek name. "Mal" means bad, or poorly done. "Abrigo" is a coat or shelter. Together, these words mean a not-so-good coat. I think that this is funny, because of course the yarn is fabulous and makes great protection from the elements. Is the company having a little giggle over its clever name, or paying homage to a place called "home"? I, for one, would love to know.
Ooooh! Gorgeous yarn, I love the color too. It looks like it will be great for that sweater... the stitch definition looks divine. Yum!
(And thanks for the lovely class tonight)
Posted by: MollyB | October 09, 2008 at 10:48 PM