FAQs
Answers to the questions we are more usually asked
Any other inquiry write to cm@malabrigoyarn.com whatever your language is!
How did you get the name 'malabrigo'?
“Mal abrigo” roughly translates to “bad shelter”, which is by all accounts a curious name for a yarn company.
The name partially comes from the small village of Mal Abrigo in Uruguay. It was named as such because it is extremely windy and back when people rode horses and too often had to take shelter for the night, it was renowned for being a terrible place to stop.There are several towns of that name in South America (in other countries) but that was the one we had in mind.
We were also inspired by novelists like Garcia Marquez, Juan Carlos Onetti, and William Faulkner, who set their novels in the magical but imaginary towns (Macondo, Santa Maria, and the towns in Yoknapatawpha County, respectively!). In our minds, malabrigo is an imaginary and chilly place where the weather drives everyone inside to knit, or to cozy up to the fire, where wool sweaters, hats, and scarves are always useful!
How do I pronounce 'malabrigo'?
'maul' - 'ah-bree’ - 'go’
Where do you produce your yarn?
Our wool comes mostly from Uruguayan suppliers although we might sometimes use yarn from different origins, always making sure it is mulesing free. All of the Alpaca comes from Peru and the Silk from Italian suppliers.
The spinning, dyeing, classification and tagging process takes place in Peru.
Are the colors of the yarn in your photos accurate?
We work hard to obtain the most accurate colors in the photographs we show on the website. However, every computer has different monitor settings. For this reason we cannot ensure that the colors all monitors display will exactly match the color of the yarn.
Will my skeins match?
As malabrigo’s yarns are Hand-Dyed, colors may vary from skein to skein, even within the same dye lot. This is increased for variegated colors. Make sure to get enough yarn for your project and to check that the skeins you are buying visually match. To ensure random color distribution, you can alternate a few rows from different skeins while knitting.
Additionally there are specific colorways that do not have a dye lot. For these highly variegated yarns the absorption of the dye can vary even within the same batch so the idea of dye lot doesn't apply. Each skein has its own unique beauty and to create a multi-skein project the knitter will need to choose the skeins that are the most similar and alternate skeins while knitting to blend the colors together.
All of those colors which are aquarella (such as Aniversario, Archangel, Piedras, Etcetera) or speckled do not have a dyeing lot.
Will my yarn bleed?
Although bleeding is unusual, it can be caused by one of two things: excess dye, which is more typical of dark, saturated colors, or dye not being set properly. To avoid bleeding soak in water with 1/4 cup of white vinegar for at least 30 minutes, as many times as necessary, until it stops bleeding.
Do this process before knitting for colorwork projects.
Winding a skein
Our skeins have three ties that prevent them from getting tangled. We recommended opening and stretching the skein before winding it into a ball. If you find the yarn tangled between the ties(not very common but could happen), you can stretch the yarn and pass your fingers between the strands. Once your skein is stretched and doesn't look tangled, you can remove the ties and start winding.
A little bit from home
We would like to invite you into our home, to get to know us a little better. For 11 years now you have known and worked with our products, which are well received all over the world.We don't have the words to express how thankful we are for that. We wanted to give you a little inside look at where those products are created and what inspires them.We have been thinking about how to do that for a while, and finally it's here, a small glimpse into our home, and our surroundings. We hope you enjoy it!
About dye lots
When we dye our yarns, the same formula is used each time but every batch of yarn is assigned a different dye lot number. The fact that it is a handmade process contributes to the variations between dye lots. The differences from one dye lot to another can be very subtle, or extremely noticeable, specially on variegated yarns.
When we assign a dye lot number the main use is to identify which skeins can be labeled and packed together. After our quality control team checks the skeins, they go to the labeling section and then are put in bags of five or ten (depending on the yarn).
Once the bags get to the yarn stores, most skeins go to different shelves where they can get mixed. The dye lot code is really helpful when you try to find skeins that match.
Unfortunately, we don't have a record of which yarn store receives a specific dye lot and it's impossible for us to find out where you can find the same dye lot skeins.
