IS #12: Malabrigo March

Malabrigo Yarn was the first 'nice' yarn I ever bought and my first favorite yarn company. Likewise, the Malabrigo Junkies group was my first 'home' on Ravelry, the first discussion board in which I spent a lot of time and actively participated. They are also wonderful supporters of indie designers and often feature budding designers' work. As such firsts, I will always love Malabrigo (I have 67 finished projects using it!) and Malabrigo March will always be an exciting, knit-filled month.

Malabrigo Rios, colorway Aguas, purchased in anticipation of Malabrigo March!

So what is Malabrigo March? From the Junkies Info & Map thread:

"There will be around 20 KALs and CALs, 10 or so contests, and a whole lot of cast on craziness all month long. Big fun! Malabrigo Yarn company generously sends us prize yarn, which goes to contest winners and to some random winners (swatching, posting your WIPs and FOs, participating in -alongs… these are all good ways to up your chances of winning a prize!)."

If you like KALs, you'll love Malabrigo March. You can join as many as you'd like and cast on March 1st. Posting swatch photos, progress photos, and finished object photos in the appropriate thread and tagging your projects with the correct tag will up your chances of winning a prize. There are pattern-specific KALs (I like this, and this, and this) as well as general KALs, which I'll probably be participating in because most patterns I had queued for Malabrigo are not the specific KALs.

I love the entire atmosphere of Malabrigo March: the stash enhancing/stash busting, the racing to the finish line, the challenging oneself with new techniques, and mostly the uncontrollable adding of patterns to your queue/favorites. In a nutshell, it's a really great way to discover gorgeous patterns and knit them along with a bunch of fun people. Many designers provide discounts off their patterns for the month of March so it's also a good excuse to support indie designers if you've had your eye on something for a while.

All of my patterns are 20% off from now until the end of March with coupon code 'YayMal13'. Nearly all of my patterns would work well with many Mal yarns, but here are some samples I have made of my designs using Malabrigo yarns:

1. Syrinx Shells cowl in Rasta
2. Dissipative Cowl in Twist
3. Beribboned Wrists in Worsted
4. Giving Comfort in Chunky

And here are some projects I've been inspired to knit in the past solely due to Malabrigo March:

1. Susie's Reading Mitts in Silky
2. Speedy Cabled Beret in Rasta
3. Scrappy Mitts in Twist
4. Star Crossed Slouchy Beret in Twist
5. Saroyan shawl in Twist
6. Crooked Paths in Rios

I hope I've inspired you to join along in Mal March, it's a lot of fun! You'll be hearing much more about it as I get my projects together... What's been inspiring you lately?