Malabrigo Yarn Guide: The Main Lines and How to Knit With Them

Malabrigo yarn is a family-owned brand of hand-dyed yarn from South America. It is best known for very soft merino wool and deep, shifting colors. Knitters often reach for it when they want a special sweater, hat or shawl.

The short answer: Malabrigo is soft, kettle-dyed merino wool that comes in many weights. Its best-known lines are Worsted, a single-ply yarn often sold as aran weight, and Rios, a machine-washable worsted. Because every batch is dyed by hand, buy enough for your whole project at once and alternate skeins as you knit.

What Malabrigo Yarn Is

Malabrigo started in 2005, when two brothers-in-law began dyeing wool in a kitchen pot in Uruguay. The company grew fast once it started selling to the US and Europe. Production has since moved to Peru, while product development stays in Montevideo.

Most of the range is made from 100% Uruguayan merino wool. The company says its merino is mulesing-free. A few lines add other fibers, such as silk, baby alpaca or cotton.

All of it is kettle-dyed in small batches. That hand-dyed process is what gives the colors their depth, and it is also why skeins vary.

Malabrigo Yarn Lines Worth Knowing

• Worsted: the original. A soft single-ply merino, 210 yards per 100 grams. The maker suggests US 7-9 needles. Some shops list it as aran weight, which is why it shows up in aran weight yarn searches.
• Rios: a 4-ply superwash merino in worsted weight. It is the machine-washable workhorse. See our Malabrigo Rios yarn guide.
• Sock: a smoothly plied fingering weight for socks and shawls.
• Mechita: a fingering weight version of the thicker Mecha.
• Lace: a fine lace-weight single for light, airy shawls.
• Dos Tierras: a DK blend of half merino and half baby alpaca.

Single-ply yarns like Worsted feel very soft and show stitches well, but they can pill faster with heavy wear. Plied yarns like Rios hold up better on cuffs and elbows.

Working With Hand-Dyed Skeins

Malabrigo warns that each bag of yarn is a different dye lot. Skeins can even vary inside the same bag. That is normal for hand-dyed yarn, not a fault.

To keep color even across a project:

1. Buy all the yarn you need at once, ideally from the same store and the same shelf.
2. Lay your skeins side by side in daylight before you wind them. Group the ones that match best.
3. Knit with two balls at once. Switch between them every two rows so any color differences blend.

This matters most with variegated colors. Semi-solid colors blend more easily. Our hand dyed yarn guide covers the method in more detail.

Most of it comes as a twisted hank, so plan to wind it into a ball before you start.

Caring for Malabrigo Yarn

Check the label for each line. Malabrigo Worsted is hand wash only: cold water, then dry flat. It can felt if it goes in a washing machine. The maker even suggests it for felting projects.

Rios is superwash, so it can go in the machine. That makes it the better pick for kids' clothes and items that get washed often.

Malabrigo Yarn FAQ

Where is Malabrigo made?

The company started in Uruguay and now does its production in Peru. Most of its yarn uses Uruguayan merino.

Is Malabrigo Worsted an aran weight?

The maker calls it aran/worsted, and some shops list it as aran. It knits at about 18 stitches per 4 inches, so swatch before you swap it into a pattern.

Why do my Malabrigo skeins look different?

Every batch is hand-dyed, so color varies from bag to bag and even skein to skein. Alternate two skeins as you knit to blend them.

Can Malabrigo go in the washing machine?

Only the superwash lines, like Rios. Worsted and other non-superwash lines need a gentle hand wash.

Verdict on Malabrigo Yarn

Malabrigo yarn is soft, kettle-dyed merino that makes special projects feel special. Choose Worsted for next-to-skin hats and hand-wash garments, and Rios when you need machine washable. Whichever line you pick, buy enough of one batch and alternate skeins as you go.