yarn | Spin a Yarn Devon

When Joyce was looking for new and beautiful yarn brands to stock in our shop, one of the most frequently requested was Malabrigo.

If you’re not already lusting after their yarns, here’s a bit of information about them…

A small family business

Malabrigo started small, when two brothers-in-law started dyeing wool in a kitchen back in 2005. After achieving some good results, they started selling a few skeins to the US and before they knew it they had quickly grown to other countries in Europe and the rest of the world. To keep up with this growth, they opened a mill in Montevideo, Uruguay, where yarns are dyed and packed in large rooms with natural light. They employ mostly women of all ages, and always try to give job opportunities to people that have fewer opportunities than the average.

Punta del Este, along the coast from Montevideo, Uruguay

Happy sheep, fewer chemicals

In 2010 the factory added a flat-plate thermal heating system to decrease the environmental footprint. Using the power of the sun, the water tanks are heated for the various processes to make their wonderful yarns. The company employs environmentally safe practices using as little water and as few chemicals as possible. As part of their ongoing effort to build a greener business, their Superwash manufacturing process now meets Oeko-Tex standards. This means the yarn is free from a range of harmful substances often found in manufacturing.

Sheep from the flock owned by Malabrigo in Uruguay

Malabrigo also now own a flock of Merino and Corriedale sheep, who live on a ranch near their headquarters. They are now able to have a direct hand in wool production from the very first step, and to ensure the humane, high-quality care of happy little sheep.

Here’s a video showing you around beautiful Piedras de Afilar and demonstrating the process by which they shear their sheep and harvest the beautiful fleece that becomes Malabrigo yarn. They strive to use sustainable and humane farming practices with their ranch and flock, saying a happy sheep makes the best wool. We couldn’t agree more!

The wonderful fibres

Most Malabrigo yarns are made with 100% Uruguayan Merino wool. Uruguay has one of the biggest wool supplies in the world, and a very, very good wool with regards to softness. Their wool is 100% produced by Uruguayan farms that allow their sheep to go free-range through the hills and are herded by traditional-style shepherds. Having felt the yarn in the shop we can vouch for the softness and extra fine quality of the yarn.

Show me some projects!

If you want to see what the subtly variegated colours look like when knitted or crocheted up, check out the Malabrigo Blog. It’s full of inspiration and pattern ideas too. You can also follow them on Instagram for lots of tempting photos @malabrigoyarn.

The Malabrigo blog

We’ve just added their yarns to our website www.spinayarndevon.co.uk, so please do have a browse and if there’s any you’d like to buy, either pop into the shop or pop us an email.

Malabrigo yarns stocked at Spin A Yarn

With thanks to Malabrigo for their beautiful and highly informative website 🙂

Sadly, we no longer stock Arctic Qiviut here at Spin a Yarn. However, we may start stocking it again at some point in the future, and the best way to keep updated about new yarns coming into the shop is to sign up to our email newsletter HERE.

However if you just want to learn more about Qiviut, read on!

As we get a lot of questions about this elusive fibre, we thought we’d do a blog post about Qiviut. Thanks to our suppliers, Arctic Qiviut, for providing this fascinating information!

Origins
Qiviut is truly an amazing fiber. It is the delicate underwool of the Arctic muskox. It is one of the most sought after fibers in the world because of its rarity, softness and warmth.

Alaskan Muskox

The muskox is not an ox; this large hairy mammal dates back to the last Ice Age, and is most closely related to sheep and goats. The Inuit name for muskox is “Umingmak” meaning the bearded one. They have been an integral part of the Inuit lifestyle for centuries as an animal that provides a great amount of nutritious meat, warm hides and soft insulating underwool known as Qiviut to knit into clothing.

Muskox shed the Qiviut naturally in the springtime. Known as the “golden fleece of the Arctic”, it commands a high price due to it’s rarity, softness, warmth and light weight. Qiviut grows from every part of the muskox including the face, belly, ears, hooves and under the horns, and unlike sheep, are not sheared to harvest their fleece. After processing, 6 to 8 pounds of muskox fleece raw fiber will yield about 2 to 3 pounds of cleaned Qiviut fiber that is ready for spinning into yarn. Muskox grow a new layer of Qiviut in the autumn.

Alaska

Qiviut from farmed muskox is combed out in large sheets. Qiviut from wild muskox falls off in clumps or is rubbed off by muskox on the ground or bushes. Qiviut found on the ground or bushes from wild muskox is hand collected. After the qiviut fleece is removed or collected it is cleaned by hand or machine cleaned to remove vegetation and foreign matter and then dehaired of all guard hairs. Then it is carded and ready to spin into yarn. Qiviut production is extremely limited because muskox herds are few in number and are usually very remote and isolated. Unlike in Canada and Greenland, where qiviut is a by-product of government-controlled hunting, Alaska is one of the very few places in the world where you can get hand-combed qiviut.

Arctic Qiviut have recently opened the first commercial yarn mill in Alaska! Hopefully we will be seeing many more shipments of yarn from this new mill.

Qiviut yarn is eight times warmer than wool and is softer and more valuable than cashmere. Qiviut yarn and qiviut yarn blends are a knitters, crocheters and weavers dream to use to create their yarnwear.

Properties

Qiviut is softer than cashmere and is light as a feather. It’s an insulating fiber and is comfortable to wear in any climate. Eight times warmer than sheep wool, pure qiviut is non-shrinkable, non-felting and is often safe for people who suffer from sheep wool allergies. Unlike some wool breeds, qiviut is not scratchy. The more you handle and wash qiviut, the softer it feels. We have noticed this as we handle the skeins in the shop!

Some of the many shades of qiviut yarn available at Spin A Yarn

Qiviut yarn might seem expensive but an item knitted in this fiber is an heirloom that can be treasured for generations. Think of it as a unique gift for yourself or that special person. We sell pure qiviut and qiviut blends – Arctic Qiviut use only use the highest grade, finest quality German angora, cashmere, baby alpaca, silk, superwash merino, and nylon in their blends.

Teacher and expert lace designer, Anniken Allis, has designed a stunning cowl pattern exclusively for Arctic Qiviut which takes just one of the smaller skeins to make – this pattern can be included free of charge for any purchase of Qiviut from Spin A Yarn!

You can view our range available here on our website – Arctic Qiviut Yarn.

Arctic Circle Cowl by Anniken Allis

Tag Archives: yarn

Introducing…Malabrigo Hand-Dyed Yarns to Spin A Yarn

Arctic Qiviut – an Alaskan Treasure

Sadly, we no longer stock Arctic Qiviut here at Spin a Yarn. However, we may start stocking it again at some point in the future, and the best way to keep updated about new yarns coming into the shop is to sign up to our email newsletter HERE.