Ugh, this blog post smells of paint. Sorry about that. I’ve been painting the sitting room walls and my hair. To be honest, I’ve been painting the sitting room for the past nine months, budging toys, furniture, guests, and small children out of the way as I went. One of the many, many downsides to this DIY technique is that now that I’m close(ish) to completion, I’ve noticed that the wall I painted first is getting decidedly scruffy again and could do with, well, a lick of paint. Sigh. Two words spring to mind at this point: ‘Sisyphean’ and ‘wine’. Mostly wine.
But I’m not here to talk about DIY. I’m here to apply my paint-fume-addled brain to the not-small matter of Noro sock yarn. Yes, yes, I know I was late to the sock-knitting party, but now I’m here, well and truly ensconced in the kitchen, helping myself to the pretzels and waxing lyrical about assorted types of heel construction to anyone unfortunate enough to wander in here and listen.
Have you knitted with Noro?
I know Noro comes with a love-it-or-loathe-it reputation. Tales of having to pick bits of straw from amongst its strands. Tales of its general stroppiness and propensity for knots at crucial moments in its colour shifts. But I found some Noro Kureyon Sock in a clearance bin and I couldn’t resist. It’s made of 70% wool, with a massive 30% nylon to keep the woolly craziness in check and prevent super-fast wear. 30%? That’s a bit much, I thought. Until I realized what I was up against…
Just in case you haven’t come across the stuff, Noro is a Japanese producer of the most wonderfully colourful variegated wool/silk/alpaca/angora/mohair. So far so beautiful, but in their attempt to give it a homespun feel, they perhaps go a little far. I’ve never encountered homespun that feels as homespun as this. This stuff is crazy. One minute you’re knitting with something the weight and twist of sewing thread, then eight inches later you’re grappling an untwisted bundle of bulky fluff that wouldn’t have seemed out of place in that very first bulky garter stitch scarf you knitted in your teens. Except that the bulky bits are so untwisted that they pull apart at the slightest tug, which isn’t great for someone like me who tends towards brutality with my yarn when transitioning from one DPN to the next in order to avoid ladders.
Back to the socks. My knitting is decidedly untidy due to the massive variation in thickness, but the colour shifts are divine and really, you go to Noro for the colours, don’t you? (Think of the Noro scarf.)
I don’t doubt these will be beautiful socks, but the thin bits of threadlike yarn are going to wear horribly fast. I think these will be both my first and last Noro socks.
Any thoughts? Have you knitted with Noro? Did you grumpily pick out bits of straw from its fluff or did you admire its divine silkiness?
Lots of posts are queuing in the wings, by the way: a review of Sarah White’s Colourwork Knitting, a post on the Stylecraft mill, the pattern for the house-bag. Tonnes of stuff.
Yep, I’ve knitted with Noro, like you said you either love it or hate it. I used to love it, but for some reason I’m not so keen anymore. It might have had something to do with the needles I used (I’ve bought better ones since I last used it) because it seemed hard to knit with. Maybe I need to try again….
Ah, delicious Noro. I’m a lover. Here’s the first item I have made with it – this ludicrously beautiful number http://athousandtimestooshort.com/2015/02/15/todays-post-is-a-story-about-me-and-a-scarf-and-a-designer-and-a-hula-hoop-and-an-old-lady/ – but I do have dreams of future Noro projects. Living in Australia, wool isn’t all that necessary, but the colours and appearance of Noro mean I don’t really care about necessity. I have a pattern for a Noro hoodie that I know will be too warm to wear, ever, but as you say, the colour changes! Thinny-thicky fun and knotty oddness aside, the colour changes outweigh every Noro niggle. Make more socks!
I have knitted with Noro sock yarn, but I didn’t make socks, as I don’t like the idea of socks that have to be handwashed. I made a scarf and a wonderfully mismatched pair of fingerless mittens which still make me smile every time I wear them – and they’ve had a lot of use. (Incidentally, some lovely hand-dyed yarn has recently pushed me to handwash-only sock knitting – I may live to regret it!)
“or someone like me who tends towards brutality with my yarn” – this made me laugh! I’m in your camp… I take no prisoners, especially with the DP needles.
Haven’t knitted with Noro yet but I’m always impressed by their colours and will definitely buy a skein or two at some point!
Ladders: I switched to using 4 double points instead of 3. This way each needle is at 90 degrees from the next one, vs. 120 degrees with the 3-needle triangle. It is what Lucy Neatby prefers and now me too. Fewer ladder issues. And every 4th round, I like to shift by 4 stitches, keeping the position of the ladder zone ever moving. That helps too!
Never tried Noro, can’t comment. I like Opal and Trekking, both are 75/25. But my most favorite is Lornas Laces sock, the 80%merino/20% nylon. Feels fabulous.
Glad you caught the sock bug. 🙂
Noro colours are gorgeous – and the ones in your socks look fantastic! I’ve made two pairs of socks with it, but gave up in the end because of the knots and complete colour-breaks that ruined the subtle shifts between colours. So frustrating!
As an admirer of color, I’d definitely go for that stuff, but one of your photos reveals wild variations of thickness, so it’s possible I’d have to make a cap to cover the head from which I had torn all the hair…
im knitting with Noro at present. i seem to drop a lot of stitches, which doesn’t happen ever with other yarns. its as bumpy and fuzzy as a dogs hind leg. Lumps of fluff are coming off stitches pretty much constantly.
and the stitches, the actual knitted parts, are soooo u tidy. im all frogged out, i refuse to undo another stitch. im sure by the end of knitting this garment i will have a Phd in Noro
When I decided to make my dad a pair of socks for his birthday, I splashed out on some gorgeous looking Noro. It was a lovely blend of earthy, slaty colours and the socks were going to look spectacular.
Then I started knitting.
The differences in the thickness of the yarn were one thing; the horrible roughness of it was another. After knitting the ribbing for the cuff, I decided there was no way I would want anyone to wear socks made out of such rough, prickly and generally horrible stuff, so I started again with some other sock yarn I luckily had to hand. It wasn’t as nice colour-wise, but at least you could wear it without wanting to scratch your feet off.
I must say, though: my mum spins her own yarn and I think she’d hang her head in shame if it ever ended up like Noro.
I haven’t knit with Noro, but that thick/thin mess would drive me nuts. I’ve got some yarn like that and I refuse to knit with it. I’m going to find someone who will honestly enjoy working with it and let them have it.
The colors are beautiful. I wonder if there is another yarn that comes close to having the same colors.
You’ll be surprised once you wear them. My Noro socks are my favourite knitted things. In the snow, these socks are 10 times warmer than any others. They just feel luscious. I wear mine with my gardening shoes in summer. Happy making!
Haven’t used it- combination of the price tag (I’m a student!) and the massively mixed reviews!
I do like Noro, but have never done socks with it. Your socks are lovely. 🙂
Your socks are beautiful, but I think the yarn is more hassle than it’s worth for me!
I’ve not used Noro although I have been sorely tempted by the colours. I have nearly finished my first ever sock though!!!
Those socks are gorgeous! The blogging can wait 🙂
I’m a Noro hater for the reasons you posted, but your socks are lovely.
I’m a lover, not a hater. I do love some noro, and my noro socks are extremely fluffy, comfortable, soft socks. I really think something beautiful happens when you wash noro. Pretty hard wearing too. That being said, I’ve gone off noro a little bit in the past year or two. Why? Because….at this point it feels like there’s nothing new under the sun. The colorways that used to thrill me to pieces all seem like something I’ve already seen. (I am sure it has nothing at all to do with the 32 different skeins I used in my Lizard Ridge project.)
Those are some gorgeous socks! I doubt that Noro, DPNs, and I would get along though. You are wondrously brave. 😉
I’ve never knit with Noro before but your socks look great. Maybe you could find some cute sock blockers and hang them on the wall. They won’t wear out that way.
I do not like scratchy sock yarn. If I start a sock and it’s bothering me with just my hands, I take pity on my poor feet and give it a miss. I also do not want socks that wear out on the first wearing! I don’t get ladders for some reason (one of the few things I have avoided in my 20+ pairs of socks). I use Signature Needle Arts DPNs in a US 1 or US 1.5 and I only use three. There is so much AWESOME sock yarn out there, there is no need for Noro (sorry Noro).
HI, Ihave and do knit with Noro..it is sometimes hard going but worth the effort and once washed, the yarn is lovely – hang on in there and as you say, enjoy the fab colour ways! x
I have never knitted with Noro. I have rarely knitted. I am, by proxy, a consummate magpie when it comes to colours and this amazing yarn has me glued to my monitor, my beady little eyes are transfixed and I am stroking the screen saying random things like “Surely the moth-eaten sock under the bed wouldn’t notice a ball or two of Noro…” and “PRECIOUSES, narf77 NEEDS HER PRECIOUSES!”
Had to look up what ‘Sisyphean’ meant. I have no shame with my ignorance. I regularly attempt to hurdle the concept whenever I pick up my broom and attempt to sweep most of Earl’s hairy bits from the wooden floor or wave my duster in the general vicinity of the spiders webs in the corners of the rooms. I was right when I said that the wine would, and indeed “should”, be your vice of choice, as attempting to satisfy that need to beat the Sisyphean hurdle would probably drive you nuts.
My solution is this. Give the toddler twinage a brush each and let them knock themselves out. Whenever someone (wide-eyed and startled) makes ANY kind of comment about the state of the room or the quality of the painting job, just casually, as if you are dusting something distasteful from your sleeve, say “of COURSE I let my children paint the room…how else are they going to release their inner artistic potential if I don’t provide them with the raw materials for creativity?!” Your job is then to glance up at the ceiling, to sigh as if the questioner is obviously a doltish ignoramus, and to smile at them as if you are indulging their stupidity at a great cost to yourself. There you go, off the hook Ms Twisted!
I used the Noro sock yarn to make some Fair Isle socks, and they here so fun and funky with the color changes that it was a great experience. Here they are: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/fibergeek56/water-for-the-elephants
I am working my way up to making Noro-only socks, but I’m thinking of using the other side of the skein for the heel and toes so that I can get maximum color infused into each sock. 🙂
I’ve not seen that yarn before your post, but my oh my is it gorgeous. Those are a fun pair of socks you’re knitting, too.
Sorry about the paint fumes. Nasty business, isn’t it?
Not seen Noro, those colors look amazing
Thanks for the heads up. I shall keep my hard earned money for perhaps less colourful yarns but ones which I can actually knit and wear!
I love the colors of Noro, but don’t have the patience to knit with it. Actually I have a hatred of knitting with all singles [I have a pair of sock in my time out box, singles, fuzzy and no stitch definition], just can’t deal with it. Maybe if I paired it with something else?? But I do adore the colors.
I knit a scarf in Silk Garden but had to give it away as it was too scratchy to have next my neck. I knit a pair of gloves years ago in Noro Sock Yarn and had the same doubts re the thin patches and thick patches – I remember spit-felting some of the fluff to subdue it, and even doubling up fluff onto ‘thread’ to make a more even yarn. I never expected the gloves to last long but I have to say that years later they are still going strong. I think in wear the stitches have partially felted to their neighbours, creating a warm glove that hasn’t developed any holes.
Interesting. Yes, I guess the stuff is quite feltable, which is probably the only thing that saves it from holey oblivion. Glad your gloves are still going strong.
Ah I thought I was alone in hating Noro yarn, knitted some anniversary socks but it was awful to use. I was so disappointed at the quality of the spin I sent Noro some feedback and they were most dismissive. The socks didn’t last I stick to Opal or German sock yarn now. Some pairs are 9 years old in constant rotation n still going strong.