Malabrigo Mecha

​Malabrigo Mecha

Available from various retailers for approx. $15.00 a skein.

This is a single-ply, bulky weight yarn good for needle sizes US 10-11 or 6-8 mm.  

Skein= 100g 
Yardage= 130 yds (119 m)

100% Merino Superwash Wool

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I feel like I'm gravitating toward single-ply yarns lately.  They are just so delicious and squishy and, I feel, really show off the fiber from which they are created to great effect.  One such example of my single-ply obsession is the Malabrigo Mecha bulky weight yarn.  My mother-in-law recently came for a visit, and while casually perusing the numerous knitting magazines I had about the house, she found a cowl she really liked.  She did not ask directly, but she sort of implied she would enjoy owning said cowl.  What a perfect present, then!  I love knitting, she loves cowls...it's a match made in heaven.  

The pattern, which I promise I will share when it's done, or at least more done than it is now, called for two contrasting colors in a bulky yarn.  I stumbled upon the Malabrigo at my local yarn shop and thought it was the perfect fit.  I've begun knitting the cowl, and it already feels really warm and, as I mentioned before, squishy.  Yay! It's exactly what I wanted for the project.  I have wound all my yarn and started my cowl with about 4 inches knit (it is knit in rows and joined at the end) and I have not had any problems with breakage or tangles.  And have I mentioned how soft it is?  Oh my goodness, I just want to curl up in my tiny bit of cowl.  The yarn itself also has a variation in its thickness, but never gets too thin or chunks out too far.  

Mecha is one of 18 different yarn types offered by Malabrigo and at last count had over 40 colorways available.  (Malabrigo boasts over 300 different colors throughout all their yarns, and if you are at all familiar with the company, you must know they are ALL gorgeous.)  One of the things I love most about Malabrigo yarns are their colors.  They are hand-dyed, so there is natural variation in all of the skeins, which is part of the charm.  The good people at Malabrigo have really done a wonderful job capturing inspiration in the form of yarn.  The vibrancy of their colors is really something else.  If you cannot get to a store to check out their yarns in person, I would highly recommend at least checking out their website to see their lovely color palette.  They two colors I have featured on this page are "natural" and "teal feather."

The company is based in Uruguay, starting as a small kitchen operation and now operating a mill in Parque Tecnológico Industrial del Cerro, a Technology and Industry Park in Montevideo, Uruguay with a brand new mill in Peru.  They have made upgrades to their equipment to try to reduce their ecological footprint and are advocates of sustainability.  Their wool comes from free-range sheep that are "herded by actual old-style shepherds."  They are focused on the humane treatment of their sheep and providing a quality, responsibly sourced product.    

Bottom Line:  Malabrigo Mecha is a wonderful bulky yarn to work with.  It comes in rich, vibrant colors (as well as natural) and is a high quality single-ply.  I have used Malabrigo yarns in the past and have never had a bad experience.  By all accounts, Malabrigo is doing their part to be a responsible source of fiber.  While it is perhaps a little expensive, it is worth the money for those special projects.  It will be a delight to knit with and the project will look beautiful when it's finished. 

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