Rios

Soft, strong, and washable, this 4-ply yarn is Malabrigo's workhorse! The plies help resist pilling, and washability makes it fantastic for frequently-worn garments, housewares, and children and baby clothes. And like all their yarns, it’s super soft and great for next-to-the-skin wear! Spun from Malabrigo's signature premium superwash merino, it comes in an array of watercolor-multi, semi-solid, and variegated colorways.

Great for: 

• Accessories
• Garments
• Baby and kids items
• Housewares
• Toys
• Cables, textured stitches, colorwork

Be sure to get enough yarn to complete your project since each bag is a different dye lot, and skeins may vary from bag to bag. To ensure random color distribution, work from two balls of yarn at once, alternating a few rows from each ball.

All of Malabrigo's yarns are mulesing-free.

Our notes

After making a few of our own projects with this yarn, here's what we've found:

Easy to work with: Rios is delightfully easy to work with, gentle on the hands and skin. It's very smooth and round, which makes it a breeze for beginners and experienced crafters alike.

Excellent stitch definition: The structure of the yarn gives it very good stitch definition, especially with the more multi-colored colorways. In all the crafts we swatched with, each stitch is crisp and clean.

Potato chip knitting: Even with the semi-solids and tonals, there's enough variance in the colors that our swatchers couldn't put it down. Avery loved the small color changes because it made her want to keep going and see what the next row would look like.

Perfect staple yarn: There's a reason Rios is one of Malabrigo's best selling yarns. It's an excellent balance of quality and price, and even a sweater quantity won't break the bank.

Some color bleeding: When we blocked the swatches in very hot water to check for running or bleeding dye, we did see a touch of it in the water with Aniversario. As with any dye-saturated yarn, plan your colorwork carefully and always, always block your swatch the way you plan to wash the finished piece. Block and wash in cold water, or use a dye catcher sheet to reduce bleeding.

Swatch details

All swatches were wet blocked before measuring.

Knit

• Colors: Cirrus Gray, Aniversario
• Swatcher: Avery
• Needles: 4mm (US 6)
• Stitch: Stockinette with a garter stitch border
• Gauge: 20 stitches and 30 rows per 4" / 10cm

Crochet

• Colors: Cirrus Gray, Aniversario
• Swatcher: Avery
• Hook: 4mm
• Stitch: Half double crochet
• Gauge: 18 stitches and 14 rows per 4" / 10cm

Nalbind

• Colors: Cirrus Gray, Aniversario
• Swatcher: Stephanie
• Tension: Needle, 27mm circumference
• Stitch: Oslo F1
• Gauge:
  • Cirrus Gray: 30 stitches and 16 rows per 4" / 10cm
    
  • Aniversario: 32 stitches and 16 rows per 4" / 10cm

Weave

• Colors: Cirrus Gray, Aniversario
• Swatcher: Stephanie
• Sett: 8 ends per inch
• Structure: Plain weave, 30 (Cirrus Gray) / 31 (Aniversario) picks per inch
• Warp: Size 10 crochet cotton