Is MMMMMMM really that good?

#1

Tell me about it, please. I haven’t had an opportunity to even FEEL malabrigo yarn, let alone knit with it. BUT my dh’s generous grandmother gave me $100 to spend only on frivolous things for Christmas (I am not to use it toward my trip to China this summer).

So…is it really that soft? Colors, are they nice? Any suggestions on where to order it (since I will apparently have to order it online)? How does it knit-is it splitty? How does it wear? Does it look nice for a long time, or does it pill? What are the best needles to knit it up with?

I am very interested to hear what you all have to say!

#2

YES :mrgreen:

It does pill eventually, because it’s an extremely soft single-ply yarn. But it doesn’t split, at least not in my experience. It’s beautiful, the colors are gorgeous, I could go on and on. :heart:

If you PM me your address, I’d be glad to throw a bit of it in the mail to you, so you can make sure you like it! I have quite a few scraps around here. :thumbsup:

#3

Oh, it’s wonderful. And I think it is magic. My stitches look MUCH better knitted out of mmmmm. Oh, and the colors are so vibrant.
It’s quite simply perfection.

#4

here’s a review

http://www.knittersreview.com/article_yarn.asp?article=/review/product/050217_a.asp

I absolutely love to knit with this yarn, so far just small projects that are worn lightly. It seems that it will fuzz, so keep that in mind if it bothers you. I like most of the colors, the solid colors actually have slight shade variations which I like as it gives it depth. The varigated colors can be hit & miss with me. It seems to work well with options, addis and denises.

I usually buy from WEBS cause I can always spend enough to get their discount. I think you get a lot of yarn for the money.

Some people here have knit sweaters with it, so hopefully they’ll chime in.

Did I mention I love this yarn? You have to at least try it…

#5

I have bought a TON of MMMMMalabrigo. I LOVE IT. I have done many hats and scarves out of it. I have two different sweater quatities taht I haven’t started yet, I am curious if anyone has done a sweater. I have “heard” that it pills but do not know if that is the truth

The colors are spectacular!

#6

I must say I’m a new convert, I had the same question and then I tried… IT’S GORGEOUS!!! There, I said it. It’s incredibly soft and even I , who gets the itch from every fiber there is, can wear it next to the skin. The colours are absolutely stunning and it’s a pure pleasure to knit with. I got it on ebay, from a very friendly store called Quality Fibers. Laura was very helpful there in matching colours. I’ve checked now and saw other stores that started selling it at 8.95$ and 10.50$. I think you could have enough there for a sweater… Can you please introduce me to your dh’s grandmother :teehee:?

#7

I’m using it to make scarves for my sisters this Christmas. I love the yarn, mostly. It’s wonderfully soft and airy. I do have an issue with one of the colorways I bought. The way it was packaged made it look more pink, when it’s actually more yellow and orange. They also used a very green yellow and a very purple pink, so the orange is dull and grey. It does subdue the colors a bit, but I don’t really like how it looks.

Another thing is the extremely strong vinegar smell, which does fade after a few days. Find somewhere to let the yarn hang for a while before you wind it and it shouldn’t be a problem. Just be wary of working with it while it’s still smelling, it aggravated my allergies, and they’re fine now the smell has faded.

#8

I love that smell. To me its smells sheepy and tart and homey. LOL I’m a geek.

#9

haha the first time i knit with it i was like “what is that smell?!?” the first thing i thought of was ketchup! then someone told me vinegar for the dye and it made sense. but it does go away…or maybe you get used to it, i can’t tell. but it is sooooooo soft and i really like the colors. i’ve only made a hat with it recently so i can’t speak about pilling but it seems like it would, merino has that tendency. nothing a good sweater stone can’t take care of.

#10

:teehee: I thought the same thing!!

I’m knitting just a plain three way wrap with it right now and love it! :happydance:

#11

IT IS DIVINE. That is all I can say. The colors are beautiful, it is so wonderfully soft, and it just knits so well. Did I say it’s soft? It’s soft. Very soft. And as far as needles - I normally knit with kp options, but I have one pair of lantern moon 9’s I got as a gift - mal with that nice, slippery wood … well, if I could only knit with one thing for the rest of forever, it would be mal on my lantern moons.

For ordering - I have gotten it at webs (yarn.com) and kyarns, I think. If you do webs, though, you get that nice 20% discount when you spend $60 - which makes it even sweeter.

Have fun!

#12

Lets see, I made a yellow sweater, a few hats, one (or more:teehee: ) double knit, one pair of mittens, and a pair of socks I just LOVE but cannot find one of them
if it is knit a bit tightly, it is less likely to pill early, my sweater was done more loosly, so its pilling faster, the hats seem to hold up well, and are VERY warm and soft. The mittens have not pilled at all, and the socks are half worn through (as expected)
I got one sideways compliment, someone corrected me and told me that the hat was probably made of acrylic because it was to soft to be made of wool, even merino wool.
I just smiled and told them when I bought the yarn I was assured it was 100% Merino Wool, she just smiled knowingly, as did I.

ecb

#13

Malabrigo is fabulous, yes. But should you feel the need to stretch your dollars a few inches farther, go for 100purewool.com - they have merino that is identical, only it’s a light worsted weight instead of standard. It’s slightly cheaper fair trade yarn and it’s every bit as soft and the colors are also gorgeous.

But yes, it’s so worth it.

#14

What everyone else said, it’s lovely stuff! I’m making a scarf out of the chunky for a friend, she asked for dark green and this color is so pretty. It’s amazingly soft, can’t wait to block it and see what I get.

Hope to start the Central Park Hoodie in 2008, want to do it in Malabrigo if it’s not to pricey.

Smell? What smell?

#15

LOL!! I’m with you I LOVE the “fresh dye” smell. Sometimes while knitting I just bury my face in the yarn and inhale deeply (knitters high???).

#16

I think I was sort of a skeptic too. I made an afghan in Manos Del Uruguay and I sort of assumed (bad idea) that Malabrigo was the same. Well I nipped into a yarn store yesterday and bought my Aunt some Malabrigo lace weight and oh my gosh it’s incredibly gorgeous. I want to keep it for myself!

#17

I just went and buried my nose in the Malabrigo chunky, it does have a pleasant, slightly tart aroma. :cool:

Knitgal, do you like the Manos del Uruguay?

#18

Have you been to their web site lately? They nearly doubled their prices :shock: :shock: :shock:

I :heart: 100purewool, but I’m not going to pay more than I pay for Malabrigo when I can just run down to the LYS for the mmmm :shrug:

#19

And they charge a $1.00 fee for each skein they wind for you. That bothers me, as no other place I shop does that.

#20

Oh, I get it through a co-op purchase, so my price is still about $6/skein.