Malabrigo Newsletter | Fall 2016

FA L L

2016

NEWSLETTER

“Empire” Cable-Sleeve Pullover, from Malabrigo Book 10: Rios

TA B L E O F

Contents BOOK SPOTLIGHT

| 4

Malabrigo Book 10: Rios DESIGNER INTERVIEW

| 6

Meet Nina Machlin Dayton F E AT U R E D PAT T E R N

| 10

Moon River Shawlette YA R N S P O T L I G H T

| 14

Caracol LAMBING TIME

| 16

A video from the Malabrigo Sheepfold UPCOMING EVENTS

| 18

Fashion and Trunk shows

“Hudson Yards” Windowpane Hat, from Malabrigo Book 10: Rios

The softest Uruguayan merino, perfectly balance twist of plies, the finest nuances of color and

a modicum of

magic

Silicon Alley

Chelsea Market

Empire

MALABRIGO BOOK 10

R I O S Malabrigo Book 10: Rios focuses on one of our most popular yarns. Worsted weight, superwash, plied, and soft, Rios really can do it all! Book 10 includes 14 patterns for garments and accessories for advanced beginner through experienced knitters. With lace, brioche, cables, and tons of texture, these patterns make the most of Rios’s unique watercolor colorways and excellent stitch definition.

Featuring patterns by Melanie Berg, Rosemary Drysdale, Justyna Lorkowska, Courtney Cedarholm, Lisa Craig, Pat Olski, Emily Whitted, Isabell Kraemer, Christina Behnke, Talitha Kuomi, Jennifer Dassau, Brenda Castiel and Mari Lynn Patrick.

Malabrigo Book 10: Rios is available nowinquire at your local Malabrigo stockist!

Retail price: $19.95

Gallery Row

Book Spot l ight | 5

MEET

N i na

The wildly-talented Nina Machlin Dayton has been in cahoots, in one way or another, with Malabrigo since the days of old. Whether it’s designing with our yarns (including releasing the very first Malabrigo Freelance Pattern Project collection!) or working tirelessly to help keep the Malabrigo Junkies Ravelry group (and its many events) running smoothly, it’s fair to say that we’re awfully glad she’s around!

Nina has been knitting, designing, and teaching knitting & designing for over 30 years. A native New Yorker, Nina currently lives in the beautiful Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts with her husband, daughter, two cats, and a dog, in an old Victorian house filled to the rafters with yarn and books.

How did you come to moderate the Malabrigo Junkies group, and what has that experience been like?

You guys organize big events several times a year, I know that must be intense!

I came to the Malabrigo Junkies group back in January 2008 – it was the first group I joined on Ravelry. I was so thrilled to find other people who were as obsessed with this gorgeous yarn as I was!

The group was smaller then and it has been thrilling to watch it grow over the years. Malabrigo fans are so enthusiastic and we have 6 | D e s i gn e r I nter v i ew

such a great time with the big events. We do Malabrigo March every year, and this year added a new event called Malabrigo Junkie University where we all learned new techniques together using Malabrigo yarns. We have some exciting things planned for 2016, so stay tuned!

How did you first discover Malabrigo yarns?

I am lucky in that my LYS is the incomparable WEBS. They were early carriers of Malabrigo, and I clearly remember going in one day (maybe around 2000?) and the manager of the store

said to me “You have to check out this new yarn we got from this amazing new company in Uruguay…” and showed me a display of Malabrigo Merino Worsted, and I fell hard.

It was the softest, the most beautifully rich in color, the most perfect worsted weight yarn I had ever encountered.

I went home that day with a skein of Vaa that I chose, and a skein of Cuarzo that was given to me to make a store sample of one of my mitten patterns, and have been in love ever since. I carried that skein of Vaa around for days, showing it to everyone I met who had even the slightest interest in

yarn (and probably a few who didn’t) imploring them “Feel this! Can you believe that wool can feel so soft? And look at the color!!”

How and when did you first learn to knit?

I first learned to knit as a kid in 1966 but it didn’t stick. Then, in 1977, I was dating a man whose mother and grandmother were enthusiastic knitters, and to get in their good graces I asked them to teach me to knit, and it was obsession from the first stitch. I am very thankful that they taught me to knit continentally from the start!

D esigner I nter vi e w | 7

What is the first thing you designed?

I spent the first 34 years of my life in New York City, and my first professional knitting job there was for couturier designer Joan Vass, who had lots of knitting in her collections. In the mideighties my friend Rita, who was Joan’s patternist and head seamstress, got me a job doing hand knitting for Joan’s hand knitted line. After seeing my samples (which included some sweaters I had designed for my boyfriend) Joan put me on what she called her OOK line which stood for one-of-a-kind. For these sweaters she would gather a bag full of beautiful yarns of all weights and colors, and give me her desired finished dimensions, but left it up to me (and others who worked on this line) to design the actual sweater to those measurements using all the different yarns in the bag. It was like being dropped into the deep end of the pool, but very exciting and very inspiring! I learned a lot.

What is your favorite thing that you’ve designed?

That’s like asking a parent which is their favorite child! I love them all for different reasons.

I am especially in love with a collection of vintage inspired hats I am working on currently – many in Malabrigo, of course!

8 | D e s i gn e r I nter v i ew

If you could take a vacation and knit whatever you wanted without worrying about designing, what would you make?

Other people’s patterns! I love getting a change to just relax and knit someone else’s designs.

What other designers do you admire?

So many! I am continually inspired by my peers and their talents!

What are you working on lately? Anything exciting in the pipeline?

The large vintage hat collection mentioned above – I’m super excited about that, and also a number of shawls and cowls for this summer and fall.

Do you have any advice for fledgling designers?

Begin as you mean to continue – meaning that if you want to do this professionally make sure that your first design is done as professionally as your hundredth will be. The internet makes ones earliest growing pains close to permanent, so be sure that you put your best foot forward from the start!

And finally, our favorite hardhitting question… which is

your favorite Malabrigo yarn and colorway?

Impossible to answer with just one! If I had to choose just one desert-island base it would be merino worsted, but a more honest answer is that my favorite bases include Worsted, Rios, Arroyo, Rastita, Finito, and Mechita.

I would hate to be without any of them, and I adore others as well – the way Mecha takes color is absolutely gorgeous, for instance, Twist is so, so soft and cozy, and I have designed a lot with Sock.

As to favorite colors –that’s impossible to answer except to say that I do tend to design more with tonally variegated or semi-solid colors more than the highly variegated ones, but in truth I think Antonio is an absolutely genius and that every color he comes up with is absolutely exquisite!

How can you not love yarns that are so beautiful, so versatile, and that are made by such nice people to work with? I adore Malabrigo, and it should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that a large number of my designs are designed with their yarns!

~

CONNEC T WITH NINA

D esigner I nter vi e w | 9

Moon River S H AW L E T T E

designed by the Malabrigo Team P A T TER N INFORM ATI ON SI Z ES

NE E DL E S

One Size

US 4 / 3½mm circular needle, at least 47˝ / 120cm (or size needed to obtain gauge)

F I N I SH ED MEA SUR E M E N T S NOT IONS

Length: 43˝ / 109cm

Tapestry needle Waste yarn

Depth: 15¾˝ / 40cm

G AUG E YARN A M O U N T S

Main Color (MC): One skein Malabrigo Mechita, #ParisNight Color A (CA): One skein Malabrigo Mechita, #Sirenas T E C H N IQ UES Casting on

Increasing

Casting off

Decreasing

Knit stitch

Eyelet Stitch

Purl stitch

10 | Feat u re d Pat te r n

10 stitches and 21 rows = 4˝ / 10cm in stockinette stitch

A B B R EVIATIO NS k

knit

k2tog knit two stitches together (knit two together) (one st decrease) kfb (knit front and back decrease)

p

purl

yo (yarn over)

bring the knitting yarn over the right needle, between two existing stitches on one row, then work that strand as a stitch when you work your way back to it in the next row

knit once into front of loop, leave stitch on the needle, knit once into back of loop, slip stitch off

D I RECTIO N S Using US 4 / 3.5mm circular needle, cast-on 4 stitches.

Rows 68-87: repeat rows 12-13.

Row 1: kfb across the row (you should have 8 sts).

Row 88: Purl.

Row 2: p.

Row 89: kfb across the row (you should have 256 sts).

Row 3: k.

Rows 90-107: repeat rows 6-7.

Row 4: p.

Rows 108-121: repeat rows 12-13.

Row 5: kfb across the row (you should have 16 sts).

Rows 122-127: repeat rows 6-7.

Row 6: Purl.

Rows 128-131: repeat rows 12-13.

Row 7: k1 (yo, k2tog) repeat until last stitch, k1.

*Row 129: from this row, k the rest of the shawl in CA.

Rows 8-9: repeat rows 6-7.

Rows 132-137: repeat rows 6-7.

Row 10: Purl.

Rows 138-157: repeat rows 12-13.

Row 11: kfb across (you should have 32 sts).

Row 158: Purl.

Row 12: Purl.

Row 159: (1k, kfb) repeat to end.

Row 13: Knit.

Row 160: repeat round 6 (you should have 384 sts).

Rows 14-19: repeat rows 12-13.

Row 161: k1 (yo, k2tog) repeat until 2 sts are left, k2tog.

Row 20: Purl.

Row 162: Purl.

Row 21: kfb across the row (you should have 64 sts).

Bind off.

Rows 22-37: repeat row 6-7.

Row 38: Purl.

FINIS HING

Row 39: kfb across the row (you should have 128 sts).

Weave in loose ends.

Rows 40-51: repeat rows 12-13.

Wash and lay flat to dry, following the natural form of shawl, both inside (textures), and the edges. The lace section will want to scrunch up and be narrower than the stockinette section, so be sure while blocking to ease it gently into the correct width.

Rows 52-57: repeat rows 6-7.

Rows 58-61: repeat rows 12-13.

Rows 62-67: repeat rows 6-7.

12 | Feat u re d Pat te r n

Fea tured Pa t ter n | 13

Thick & thin & bursting with

Texture

MA L A B R I G O C A R ACO L

Cereza

Flama

Sunset

Rich Chocolate

Pearl Ten

Lettuce

Indiecita

Solis

Teal Feather

Azul Profundo

Whales Road

Paris Night

Cirrus Gray

Zarzamora

PociĂłn

Diana

Piedras

Hollyhock

Archangel

Aniversario

Rose

Salpicado

Natural

Pearl

INTRODUCING

Caraco l Truly a unique yarn! We start with a bulky thick-and-thin single made of our delightfully soft superwash merino wool, and then we criss-cross it with a binder thread (either black or white.) Then the yarn is dyed one of our signature kettledyed colorways, and: poof! Something unlike any yarn we’ve made before, inspired by a particular style of handspun yarn. Caracol knits up into a cozy, fluffy fabric with a ton of texture and visual interest. Simple stitch patterns really let it sing!

Ya r n Spotl ight | 15

Lambing Time

AT THE MALABRIGO SHEEPFOLD

VIDEO

L a S e re n a August and September is a special time for the Malabrigo flock at La Serena: it’s lambing time! Many members of our pasture-raised flock have recently given birth, and we want to share this beautiful experience with you. Having a quiet walk in the lambing paddock is probably one of the most rewarding part of raising sheep!

Credits: Line producer: Malabrigo

Edited by: Marcos Mezzottoni

Photography: Marcos Mezzottoni

Texts: Malabrigo

Cameras: Joaquín González, Pancho Pastori, Marcos Mezzottoni

Music: Manuel Espasandin

L a m bi ng Tim e | 17

Upcoming EVENTS

Did you know that we have trunk shows packed with gorgeous garments from our books available to your shop? We currently have three shows touring the country: 2 large shows featuring garments from all of our books, and one smaller show featuring items from Books 6, 7 and 8. We’d love to make your LYS our next stop. If you’re interested in scheduling a show, please email us at admin@malabrigoyarn.com.

TRUNK SHOW 1 Featuring more than 70 garments and accessories from Malabrigo Books 1-10.

TRUNK SHOW 2 Featuring more than 70 garments and accessories from Malabrigo Books 1-10.

September 15, 2016 Ben Franklin 1083 Summit Avenue, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin www.benfranklincraftswi.com

September 15, 2016 The Wool and The Floss 397 Fisher Road, Grosse Pointe, Michigan www.thewoolandthefloss.net

October 15, 2016 GarenHuis Yarn studio 27 West 9th Street, Suite 110, Holland, Michigan www.garenhuis.com November 15, 2016 Harps and Thistles 129 Portage Trail, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio www.harpsandthistles.com

18 | U p c o m i n g Eve n ts

We’ve got an amazing event coming up!

Vogue Knitting Live is coming to Minneapolis on November 4-6, and on November 5th we’ll be taking over the runway from 1:15-1:45 pm. Come join us to see an assortment of garments from our most recent book, Book 10: Rios, designs from Steven Be, Scott Rohr, and the collaboration of Bobbi Kreb. We’ll also be giving a first look at garments from the upcoming Book 11, which we’ll be releasing in January of 2017. Don’t miss it!

Cus hma n from Book 10

Cle me nt from Boo k 10

H ig h L in e fr om B oo k 10

Was hi ng to n fro m Bo ok 11

Greenwich fromBook 11

Gallery Row fro m Bo ok 10

Upc om i ng Event s | 19

N O W AVA I L A B L E

Our Individual Patterns are now on Ravelry!

You can now purchase individual patterns from many of our books! Visit Ravelry. com to buy and download patterns from Malabrigo books 5, 7, and 8. Patterns from books 6, 9, and 10 will soon be available as well.

These individual pattern downloads are also available for purchase at local yarn shops through Ravelry in store purchases.

www.ravelry.com/yarns/brands/malabrigo-yarn

20 | I ndi vi du a l B o o k Patte r n s

“Gallery Row” Slouchy Caridgan, from Malabrigo Book 10: Rios

Co n n ec t Wi th Us facebook.com/malabrigoyarn

instagram.com/malabrigoyarn

pinterest.com/malabrigo

ravelry.com/yarns/brands/malabrigo-yarn

twitter.com/malabrigobuzz

admin@malabrigoyarn.com

“Lehigh� Wide-angle Shawl, from Malabrigo Book 10: Rios

“High Line” Asymmetrical Triangle Scarf from Malabrigo Book 10: Rios

www.malabrigoyarn.com