Being a college student (soon to be graduate!), I have no free time and no money but as a knitter I have learned the importance of meaningful projects in the background. Such a conflict. My solution is to choose a project you love and almost more importantly, a material you love. Knitting is a stress reliever for me and I lean towards all natural fibers, just a personal preference. These tend to be more expensive, but for me,
knitting little luxuries has turned into a philosophy. Possibly my business motto in the future?
My time is precious, why waste it on bad yarn?
The first of what I hope to be many yarn reviews is my personal favorite:
Malabrigo Worsted Merino wool. I know nothing of reviewing yarn, so be kind!
I was first introduced by one of my knitting "mentors" and unknowingly acquired two more skeins during a sale at an Ann Arbor yarn shop. Malabrigo is a Uruguayan fiber cooperative hand-spinning, hand-dying yarn from their own legendary sheep. The fiber is kettle dyed or hand painted, depending on the intended effect.
They dye in small batches, which has it's pro's and con's. Small batches means each skein is unique, but also means that
each skein is unique; you'll need to buy more skeins than probably necessary for larger projects to avoid a completely different looking section of knitting.
I recently purchased online three different colored skeins (for stripes) for a shawl but when I compared them next to each other, one didn't quite fit the color scheme and I had to pull a back-up from my stash. They do, however, have 12 "true solid" colors that are exactly that, true solids. I do not recommend buying this yarn online unless you know the color. Personally, I love knowing that no matter what, my project is one of a kind, despite possible setbacks. Oh, did I mention the have around 300 different colors?
Why is it my favorite yarn? It is such a pleasure to knit with! While balling it up is difficult, it tends to stick to itself, it is the softest natural fiber I have ever worked with. My mom has issues with wool because she swears, no matter how soft, wool makes her itch. Not this yarn.
My breakdown of Malabrigo Worsted weight Merino yarn:
- 210 yards per skein
- Hand-spun, hand-dyed Merino Wool
- Price Range: $9.00-$12.00
- Don't buy this yarn online
- Do buy in bulk (for larger projects)
- Do save your skeins tags to remember the exact color
Here is my Malabrigo stash:
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| Apple Green |
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| Molly |
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| Verdes |
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| Pearl |
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| Chestnut |
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| Lettuce, my favorite! |
Just to show off, here is my current project:
A lovely, lovely yarn for just about any project. They have a variety of traditional weights, as well as some beautiful chunky yarn. While I have only worked with their worsted, I can vouch for how amazing their lace weight is! One luxury at a time, I suppose...
