44 colors in stock
One of our ten best sellers · Stocked since 2018
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Rios is Malabrigo's superwash worsted: a plied, machine-washable merino that holds its stitch definition where the single-ply Worsted blooms. It is the Malabrigo to reach for when the sweater has to survive a washing machine, and the kettle-dyed colorways still shift within a skein the way Malabrigo's do.
Malabrigo Rios is a four-ply worsted spun from 100% superwash merino. The plies give it more structure than a single, so stitches stay defined and the fabric resists pilling better than Malabrigo's softer singles. It knits at 18 to 22 stitches over 4 inches on US 6 to 8 needles, with 210 yards in a 100-gram skein. The hand is soft and springy, with just enough round twist to show cables and texture work clearly. Hand-painted color moves through the yarn rather than sitting flat.
Rios suits sweaters, cabled hats, scarves and blankets, and the superwash treatment makes it a sensible choice for garments worn often and for baby and children's things. Machine wash in cold water and lay flat; do not tumble. The colorway range runs from watercolor multis to semi-solids and variegateds, so it pays to alternate a few rows from two skeins at a time for even color distribution.
Malabrigo is a small family-owned company in Uruguay, working with a cooperative of women there to hand paint its yarns. Within that range, Rios is the washable, plied worsted: sturdier and more everyday than the brand's loftier single-ply bases, and easy to hand to someone who will not hand wash.
Photographed in our studio with professional equipment, not the mill's stock image.
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Rios is 210 yards per 100 g skein. An adult sweater in worsted weight runs roughly 900–1,400 yards depending on size, so plan on five to seven skeins and add one for length or a tighter gauge. Use the calculator on this page with your pattern's yardage.
Yes. Rios is 100% superwash merino and can be machine washed cold on a gentle cycle and laid flat to dry. It will not felt, so it is not the Malabrigo for a felted bag — Worsted is.
Have a different question? Ask away — Yarn Country usually answers within two business days.
Yarns at the same weight with a similar fibre and a similar yardage per gram, so a pattern written for Rios Yarn knits to gauge in them. Swatch first — every yarn drapes its own way.
Same Worsted / Aran weight, both wool, both superwash, so both machine wash.
Same Worsted / Aran weight, both wool, both superwash, so both machine wash.
Same Worsted / Aran weight, both wool, both superwash, so both machine wash.
Same Worsted / Aran weight, both wool, both superwash, so both machine wash.
Same Worsted / Aran weight, both wool. Not superwash — hand-wash only, and it will felt.
Same Worsted / Aran weight, both wool. Not superwash — hand-wash only, and it will felt.
Same Worsted / Aran weight, both wool. Not superwash — hand-wash only, and it will felt.
Same Worsted / Aran weight, both wool. Not superwash — hand-wash only, and it will felt.
Malabrigo is a family-run dye house in Uruguay, and its kettle-dyed merino is the yarn people mean when they say "hand-dyed": every skein shifts through its colourway, no two exactly alike. Rios is the plied superwash worsted — machine-washable, crisp stitch definition, the Malabrigo for sweaters that get worn hard. Malabrigo Worsted is the original single-ply: softer, loftier, non-superwash, and the one to felt.
Below worsted, Arroyo is superwash merino at a sport-DK gauge for shawls and lighter garments, Caprino blends merino with cashmere, and Verano is hand-dyed pima cotton for summer. Rasta is the super-bulky single — a hat in an evening. We keep dye lots together on every Malabrigo order and stock the colour cards knitters ask for by name.
