- Knitting more than two projects at once? Pshaw!
-Casting on for numerous large sweater when other large sweaters are laying fallow? Maybe.
-Having to buy more size 7 needles/stitch markers because all your other ones are in use? I'm not saying that didn't happen. Yikes.
-Melting cheese on everything in sight? Wait, different type of infraction. But still, not good.
Luckily such moments can be be rescued by everyone's favorite knockaround pal, the small knitted Malabrigo accessory. One of my very best Besties M made a gentle request for a hat for her son, E, who is basically the cutest kid in America. Apparently he likes to wear the hat I made for her, and so she was thinking that maybe if it wouldn't be too much trouble I could perhaps make one for him, too...is she kidding? DONE.
The Specs
Pattern: IAD Dulles hat, which in my mind is a. a very under-appreciated pattern and b. heretofore renamed the IUD hat.
Size: Children's small
Needles: Size 7 16 inch. See I wasn't kidding about the needle problem.
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in 'Bobby Blue', a little less than half a skein
Please note that this hat is actually supposed to be hippy/slouchy, but it looks like more of a skull cap on our sullen, ornery 12 year old model. I fear my days are numbered as a mother with willing knitwear models. Waa.
I just love this hat, and let's be honest: the yarn is a dream. Malabrigo is made for the small accessory, is it not? And the color, the color...
Bobby Blue might be my favorite of all the Malabrigo colors, which is funny, because I normally don't even like blue that much. While Vaa is the closest color to a mood ring I've ever seen in yarn, Frank Ochre is both flat-out weird and fantastic all at once, and Sealing Wax is quite possibly the most luscious shade of red on the books, for me, Bobby Blue is number one with a bullet.
This leads me to the gimmicky portion of today's post. I love to give away yarn to people that love yarn, and since recent detashing efforts have been unpleasant, shady and soured me on the cheap-assness of many folks, leave a little comment here if you wish & tell me which Malabrigo color makes your heart skip a beat. I'll choose a random pal to receive a skein of my favorite color, Bobby Blue. We'll shut the fun down on Tuesday at midnight. So tell me, which is your favorite shade of Malabrigo?
I agree, bobby blue is brilliant. But butter? Oh. my. god. It has the look of buttery popcorn. I don't like yellow, but butter? ::insert drooling noise here:: It was one of the first malabrigo colors I purchased, and I just wish I had a bathtub full of it. Food always tastes better when butter is involved, and I feel like the butter colorway reflects this!
ReplyDeleteI could probably write a paper about my love of butter (I won't divulge if I am talking about the food item or the colorway here)
pearl ten. drool.
ReplyDeleteI've never been able to find Bobby Blue in any LYS, I think because so many people appreciate it as much as you do! But I do love the red of Padoga so very, very much.
ReplyDeleteI really like Vaa, but it might have more to do with the name than the color, though sometimes there is this incredible marriage of color and name. (For example, the elusive Vincent's Apron in Colinette Jitterbug. I must have that yellow, and it is made even more wonderful by the name. Who is Vincent? Why is he wearing an apron? I must know.)
ReplyDeleteCute hat, by the way.
Indicia is my personal favorite, though I seem to be on a mission to try them all!
ReplyDeleteParis Night. Perfect name, perfect colour. Win!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I think it is Vincent Van Gogh - he used a lot of ochre shades in pictures like the Sunflowers, those ones of the harvest and that one with a pipe on a chair. I imagine his apron was covered in ochre splodges.
Purple Magic makes me swoon like a schoolgirl with a crush. Bobby Blue is a very close second :)
ReplyDeleteOut of the Malabrigo I own, it's probably a tie between Lettuce and Impressionist Sky. Green is my favorite color and the Lettuce is just so vibrant, but the subtle color variation in Impressionist Sky is gorgeous. There was a beautiful dark red I saw at my LYS a few weeks ago, but my current unemployment forced me to put it down and walk away, so I don't know the colorway.
ReplyDeleteCute hat. I can still get my 15 year old sister to model for me, but only barely.
So many of the Malabrigo colors are gorgeous, but I'm partial to reds. So, I'll put in a vote for Pagoda, and Cinnabar.
ReplyDeleteGreat hat! Thanks for sharing.
Oh god, I have to pick a favorite color of Malabrigo?? Is that possible? OK, right now my favorite is probably Tuareg which is a gorgeous teal, followed closely by Polar Morn, Pearl Ten, and Amoroso.
ReplyDeleteI've always been partial to Pagoda. I have one skein I am hoarding for the perfect project. Come to think of it, any project involving Malabrigo Pagoda would be perfect. Silly me.
ReplyDeleteI have a skein of the Noviembre colorway in the lace weight and just love it. It's perfect for Autumn.
ReplyDeleteI think I may be the only knitter around here who hasn't knit with Malabrigo. I can't get enough of any blue, and that Bobby Blue is beautiful, but Tuareg makes my heart skip a beat.
ReplyDeleteIf we're talking sock, I've got a skein of Rayon Vert that makes my heart stop for a moment each time I see it.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to Mal Worsted, Glazed Carrot!
I hate grey, passionately, it's not a colour, it's a bad mood. But I bought some Pearl to make a hat for a much more conservative than I am niece, and I'm loving it right now. The subtle colour changes and silverness are sucking me in.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you can go wrong with any shade of Malabrigo, but I would have to say Paris Night is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteThat hat looks terrific. My daughter also looks sullen in a lot of the project shots I took for my ravelry page. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteWell anyway, I love Malabrigo and just bought a skein of the twist to make some Dashing fingerless gloves for my husband. Unfortunately, although the pattern calls for aran weight yarn, it also calls for a gauge of 5 stitches per inch, and the Twist knits up at 4. Personally I don't think that 5 is to be had from aran. ...Getting on to the subject at hand, the yarn I bought is Azul Profundo, and it's my favorite colorway. Thanks for the contest.
Wow, it's like asking a kid in a candy store to judge which is the best sweet! Tuareg is a drool-worthy teal. But Pearl Ten (worsted) is amazing - like a soft baby rabbit with greys & soft browns all mixed together! And sock - OMG! I wouldn't even know where to start!
ReplyDeleteLike PaisleyApron, I have never actually owned or knit with Malabrigo. Isn't that sad? I'm afraid it might ruin me for all other yarns forever... but I'm willing to take that chance. There's something sooo cozy about gray wool, so today I'd pick Paris Night. On a gloomy day I might go with Vermilion thought.
ReplyDeleteI loved knitting a garter-stitch scarf out of that buttery pale Pollen, but Tuareg is a close second for me.
ReplyDeleteHow can I choose just one color?!
ReplyDeleteI tend to the blues...
Bobby Blue, Tuareg, Azul Profundo, ...
Lovely hat. :)
I love Geranio--it's that perfect pinky, coraley red like a geranium.
ReplyDeleteNostalgia is my favorite. I think. LOL It's so hard to choose a favorite when they have so many gorgeous colors. I noticed Ravelry Red in the laceweight at The Loopy Ewe the other day. So gorgeous!!!
ReplyDeleteThe hat is great! I just might need to whip one up for my little girl. Thanks for sharing!
Is this like a naughty/nice list with our favorite delivered at Christmas?
ReplyDeleteO.k. maybe not-
My favorite is the one I forget the name of every time but it's something like velvet grapes or the best maroon purple on the planet
"WIP free fall"-- I love it!
ReplyDeleteI've been really loving the Lettuce lately -- the color that is!
Vaa! Oh, Vaa, Vaa, Vaa! (In fact, I think I bought the Vaa for my CPH from you.)
ReplyDeleteThat kid is freakin' adorable. Don't tell him. I have a 12 year old boy of my own, and he would die if I called him adorable.
I think your model is just entering her sullen stage. C'mon, real models aren't allowed to smile or look in any way pleased to be wearing what they are!
ReplyDeleteI must confess that I'm still enough of a Malabrigo newbie that I don't know if I really have a favorite color. Of what I've used, though, I do love that deep green I used for a couple of hats last year -- I think it's Verdes or something like that. Clearly I need to knit with more Malabrigo!
Hands down, Paris Night is my fav!!
ReplyDeletei really like bobby blue. but i have to say my favorite is shocking pink. i can't wear it--far to shocking for a redhead--but my blond sister gets to luxurate in it, since i get joy just from holding the color.
ReplyDeleteLaura in Centennial
IMHO Lettuce is the all-time #1 Malabrigo color. But that Bobby Blue is awfully sweet! Have you tried Indigo? It's kind of a nice denimy periwinkle. Also makes my heart go atwitter. Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteHard question! I love Polar Morn, but I just got a skein of Snowbird, and it's so pretty I'm tempted to leave it in a bowl on my dining room table as decor!
ReplyDeleteBobby Blue looks pretty swell, I don't think I've seen it in person yet.
I'm partial to Azul Profundo and Emerald blue.
ReplyDeleteI have to say it's Terracotta. So happy. But my least favorite is Verdes. That one's too happy.
ReplyDeleteI don't even look at Malabrigo in the stores because I need to reduce the size of my present stash. But a google image search led me to Vaa, which melts my soul. Bobby Blue would be a close second.
ReplyDeleteI like them all but my current favorite is Vaa-Vaa-Voom baby! Nice hat!
ReplyDeleteOh, Malabrigo. Sigh. It all makes my heart beat a little faster. I love Amor Intenso and (not to copy you or anything) Bobby Blue.
ReplyDeleteIt's not really possible to pick just one, but if i have to, I'll pick Lettuce. That's funny, picking lettuce. Wow, I made a joke.
ReplyDeleteSo hard to choose just one (so I won't): Tortuga, because it's neutral grey with subtle hints of smoky purple, Velvet Grapes, because it's wine with bits of lavender, and London Sky (silky merino) because it's a perfect periwinkle-lilac. Not that I like purple or anything....
ReplyDeleteIf I had to pick just one today it would be Azul Profundo, but there are very few I don't like.
ReplyDeleteYou like purple and don't realize it? I "like" green and buy all things green without thinking and before you know it, I've got tons of knit green items. Therefore, my fave Malabrigo color is Sapphire Green. It's so lush and reminds me of grass in spring...
ReplyDeleteAnywho--the Bobby Blue is a wonderful shade of blue and if only I get so lucky as to knit something with it.
Oh my god, you want me to choose just one. I like the funkiness of Lettuce and Glazed Carrot, but I'd have to say that either Vaa or Indigo are my favorites.... really??? Just one?! Are you insane?!
ReplyDeleteI go ape for sealing wax.
ReplyDeleteHmm.. soo hard to choose. Bobby Blue is really up there, but I think I would go for the flat-out weird and fantastic Frank Ochre (cause that's just the way I roll: weird and fantastic).
ReplyDeleteObviously we can't put you in the "cheap-assness" category: a giveaway and a gorgeous hat for your friend's sun. You gotta big heart, girl.
I have to say my favorite is geranio. It's red, need I say more?
ReplyDeleteI should just commit some of my knitting projects to be ripped out. It seems obvious after 2 or 3 years, I am not going to finish them...
Frank Ochre for sure - I saw a gorgeous shifting sands and that was it! :)
ReplyDeleteAzul profundo strikes a chord with me. I go nuts for all things blue!
ReplyDeleteCute hat, and what a great pattern (totally new to me, too).
Wow, I'm sorry about whatever it was that happened with your destash attempt. As for the malabrigo, I see Bertha and I share the same color (tuareg!), which is no big surprise! The name weirded me out first - why oh why should a color of yarn be named after Saharan nomads? It turns out that they wear veils and other garments of particular shade of indigo. It's gorgeous yarn and I learned something from it, too. :)
ReplyDeleteI think my answer would vary depending on my day and color mood. But I just knit a koolhaas in Emerald...what's funny is that I wasn't really enamored with the color on the skein but in hat form on my head, I'm swooning. So today, that's my favorite.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't seen that hat pattern yet...thanks for sharing.
mmmmm - all of them. OK - let be disciplined here: Of the ones that I've "met in person", my favorites are glazed carrot and lettuce....
ReplyDeletemargieinmaryland
I'm partial to Velvet Grapes. The shade changes color in the light, from medium grape to dark amethyst. Simply gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about a destash...sorry to here yours was a bit disappointing (any advice?). My favourite Malabrigo has to be Olive followed by Sealing Wax and Velvet Grapes. Love the hat! The boy won't model for me either...
ReplyDeleteYou want me to pick just one?? Well ... I think I have to go with Frank Ochre. It's just such a fabulously WRONG color in some ways, and I love love love it for accessories - a chartreuse scarf brightens up any winter outfit!
ReplyDeleteBut really, let's be honest, I LOVE THEM ALL.
My fav color is Amoroso, which I used to knit my featherweight cardi. I am in pure gorgeous love with the finished object. But it's hard to go wrong with Malabrigo!
ReplyDeleteVAA! That's just such a beautiful color combo! I have not found Paris Nights anywhere but am intrigued by the name.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the question (and for offering, ahem, a prize).
Love the sneering adolescent. I'm a middle school teacher, so I really do have an appreciation. Love the photo. Oh, Sealing Wax, how I love thee...
ReplyDeletePearl, Hollyhock and Velvet Grapes are my faves, though I do have to come up with some new colors; I can't knit everything in the same colors! Love your version of the hat!
ReplyDeleteLove the Dulles hat! Yours and the pattern both. It's true it's underappreciated. I was there when it was designed and I had the original. :-) You make me think this might be a good gift for someone....
ReplyDeleteOh, right, Taube.
ReplyDeleteIt's gotta be Paris NIght - with a name like that and those luscious dark colors, how can you resist?
ReplyDeleteBecause I am very concrete and easily suggestible, my favorite is usually the one I touched most recently, right now I am finishing a cowl in Pearl Ten for my sister. Wish I could rationalize not giving it to her. LOVE. (I have never seen Vaa, Paris Night, Velvet Grape or Sealing Wax in person but have web gazed upon them enviously.)
ReplyDeleteI'm a blues lover - indigo, azul. Their colors are divine.
ReplyDeleteblues or purples. And you can't beat a malabrigo accessory in any color - I'm totally with you.
ReplyDeletePS love the sullen model. Mine's 10 and heading in the same direction....
I got some black and bergomata malabrigo as a door prize and just loved the orange. Then I bought a brown lace weight. I then added some red, green, violet and blue worsted to the orange and black. I plan to do a fair isle messenger bag with all the worsted. As for color, I love them all!
ReplyDeletevetiver is my fav. i love the greens!! beauituful hat.
ReplyDeletei am also in crazy christmas knitting mode... perhaps that trip to Hawaii wasn't such a good idea?? knitting and 80 degree weather... didn't happen. but if i have to stay up at 2am to finish weaving in ends - so be it. MaiTais.
Lettuce, lettuce, lettuce.
ReplyDeleteI'm using my current skien of bobby blue to knit a cabley hat for a friends almost-2 year old. I could definitely use one for me! :)
Astoria
The hat is fab!
ReplyDeleteNo need to enter me into the drawing, but I couldn't resist giving my input on fave Mal colors. I first fell in love with Brown Berries and I still think that color is pretty yum. But I'd have to say probably my all time fave is Polar Morn. Such a perfect subtly shaded grey.
purple mystery is soooooo rich.
ReplyDeleteThat *DOES* appear to be one disgruntled tween. Let's hope most of it was for the camera.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Malabrigo color that I've actually worked with is Tuareg.
My favorite that I've looked at is Autumn Forest... or Whales Road... or Bosques or Helechos or Loro Barranquero (in stash soon to be a scarf) or Verdes... or Nostalgia (also in stash)... or Alcaucil.
Am I going to be disqualified? Alright, I'm going with Autumn Forest.
I was feelin the love today when I wore my crofters cowl in cactus flower malabrigo! Such a happy color for a cold, cloudy December day.
ReplyDeletekristinknits@comcast.net
Polar Ice. Polar Moon? Polar Bear? I think it was Polar Ice, a silvery blue that calls my name every time I see the little left over ball underneath the scads of left over sock yarn in the drawer.
ReplyDeleteSealing Wax has beckoned to me in online pictures, but I've been afraid to be disappointed in person- like the time I blew a ton of cash on a Chanel lipstick that was touted as the perfect red. I looked like I overdosed on an Orange Julius. Attractive.
My fav Malabrigo color is Velvet Grapes, mmmm so velvety!! That is a really cure hat! And a perfect shade of blue....
ReplyDeleteooops, have never knit with malabrigo - any colour would be a new experience.
ReplyDeleteParis Night! or maybe Impressionist Sky...? It reminds me very much of your Bobby Blue photos. I LOVE blue, though, so it's hard for me to choose!
ReplyDeletePolar Morn, Paris Night, and Taube. Too many to narrow down to just one favorite. Depends on my mood.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog so much, since I also have serious startitis and attention issues. And, I live in the western part of PA.
Have a great holiday season!
I once had the perfect skein of sapphire green--glazed carrot is a close second.
ReplyDeleteI love little lovely. It makes me think of ripening strawberries. It's the only Malabrigo I've been fortunate enough to own and it's dreamy, no doubt about it. Love the hat. This delurked me!
ReplyDeleteYou can't possible expect me to pick only one???!!! I'm a Malabrigo-aholic! Hmmm, Cognac, Sealing Wax, Polar Moon, Vaa, Lettuce -- but I've yet to try the Bobby Blue, which is on my "I wanna" list!
ReplyDeletebobby blue or stonechat. and actually, i like any color.....
ReplyDeletekris
That blue is fab. But I swoon for Little Lovely. I am VERY sparing of pink in my life and extremely choosy when I indulge. LL is my perfect fix.
ReplyDeleteJust one?? How about Lettuce and or Roanoke?
ReplyDeleteImpressionist sky: my first Malabrigo purchase.
ReplyDeleteI think you know what my favorite is. Yes, it's Frank Ochre, which I have been hoarding & stockpiling for some time.
ReplyDeleteLove the Bobby Blue. In my head, I say "Bobby Blue" like Willem Dafoe says "Bobby Peru" in Wild at Heart.
I'm very fond of Pollen. So clean, so happy, so.... yellow.
ReplyDeleteApple Green, Cadmium and Fucsia
ReplyDeleteThe Malabrigo web site doesn't do any of them justice.
Malabrigo, how I love you. Let me count the colors....Ravelry Red is the perfect red for sports teams without being obnoxious. But my favorite is Tuscan Sky!
ReplyDeleteEggplant for sure. I love purple and a purple that shifts from purple to black and back, well that is the color for me!
ReplyDeleteangelbis
Tuareg is the one I've loved before. Roanoke is one I want to try. After the Bobby Blue I hope to win, of course.
ReplyDeleteGlazed carrot!! Bright, vibrant, rich, ALIVE with orange - oh it is so FUN! :D
ReplyDeleteDefinitely my fave, but aren't there so many to choose from? The vibrant crazy go nuts shades of emerald, green apple... and the lustre and intrigue of the deeper paris nights... oooer!
How can I choose just one? I do like Bobby blue. My current favorite is Tuareg. It called me from across Web's and asked to take it home! I swear! ;)
ReplyDeleteHave yet to work with Malabrigo - just swoon over the colors. Currently loving "Plena." But how could you go wrong with any?
ReplyDeletePearl! Ten!
ReplyDeleteObvs, I am late for the contest, but that's OK, as I am amassing a frankly scandalous stash of Malabrigo. (NB: All your beautiful FOs in this luscious yarn have NOTHING to do with that. Nope. Nothing.)
ReplyDeleteI love Vaa to pieces. Sauterne is the only yellow I've seen that makes me sorry I can't wear yellow. But I'll throw in a mention for Solis, which is awesomely blue-green.
Buscando azul ... I'm such a sucker for the blues... I mean, the happy blues...
ReplyDeleteA favorite color... well, it can't be related to the colors themselves, because honestly, I can't choose just one.
ReplyDeleteBut,if I had to choose on because of the name... I think the winner is Sealing Wax.
xo