the twisted yarn

Knitting, crochet, running, and silliness.

Want To Win A Marvellous Noro Book? Yes?

by 85 Comments

Have you ever knitted (or hooked) with Noro yarn? If not, then this unique Japanese producer should be on your fibrous bucket list. You might love Noro, you might hate it, but you’re unlikely to be indifferent.

A quickish guide for the uninitiated: Noro produces s-l-o-w-l-y colour-shifting self-striping yarns in various combinations of wool, silk, cotton, and alpaca. Here’s a very old and dodgy photo from my little-more-sophisticated-than-a-chap-sitting-inside-my-phone-drawing-a-sketch phone camera:-

noro yarn knitting socks dpn

Colours are rich, thickness and texture varies within each ball, and although I don’t have personal experience of this, plenty of folk have reported finding pieces of straw in their skein. Here are some socks that I knitted in a Noro yarn. (Yeah, old and dodgy photo again.)

hand knitted home made socks noro

Anyway, their yarns being unique, a Noro-specific book of patterns seemed like a good idea. And the resulting book was such a success that they’ve just brought out another one, and have kindly sent me a copy. Introducing Knit Noro Accessories 2, by… well it’s by a number of people, but we’ll get to that in a minute. It’s just recently been published by Sixth Spring, so shall we take a wee look?

Knit Noro Accessories 2

So what’s inside? Well, there’s a whole hairy load of colour, as you’d expect. (You like your knits plain white? This is not the book for you, dear minimalist.) There are 30 projects, all for accessories: shawls, scarves, cowls, gloves, hats, boot toppers, and a lone pair of socks. They’re bold and pretty:-

The thing about Noro yarns is that they tell their own story, and are best shown off in a simple pattern. There’s nothing more complex here than a spot of cabling and some lacework. Almost every pattern is by a different designer, which at least means that the patterns don’t all feel samey. But this also makes it tricky to summarise the collection. All of the designs are adult-sized, and there’s a massive bias towards patterns for women. Some feel more original than others. For example, the Leaf Lace Fingerless Gloves are striking, but one could put together a reasonably robust argument that the world doesn’t need another cabled beanie:-

This zippered capelet really shows off the delicious green colour progressions in this yarn:-

(Not that I’d wear a zippered capelet, personally, but that’s just me and my prejudices.)

I think the book would appeal particularly to a Noro-loving intermediate-level knitter who plans to make Christmas gifts for a rum bunch of all-different-style friends. I’m afraid that on this occasion, I didn’t make any of the projects, so I can’t directly comment on the quality of pattern instructions.

Visually, the book is a treat for anyone who enjoys a good ol’ colour-fest. I didn’t see any sign of the apocryphal pieces of straw, though.

So would you like a copy of this book, regardless of where in the world you call home? OK, let’s have a giveaway. Sixth & Spring have very generously offered a brand shiny new copy of Knit Noro Accessories 2 to one lucky winner of this blog. (Thank you, Sixth & Spring.) Usual Twisted giveaway rules apply if you’d like to win. Enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this blog post. To gain a sneaky additional entry, make sure you have ‘liked’ The Twisted Yarn’s Facebook page, and then scroll down to leave a comment on the Facebook post about this contest. I know, I know, I’m making y’all work so hard, but it’ll be worth it if you win the book.

Entries are open worldwide RIGHT NOW, and will close in a week’s time, at 12.00 noon UK time on Tuesday 11th July 2017. The winner will be selected at random using the clever app from random.org, and I’ll contact them to request an address for the publishers to send out the prize. If I don’t hear back from the winner within a week, an alternative winner will be selected at random.

That all OK with you? Right, let’s GO!

(Yes, I was given this review copy for free, but all opinions are very much my own.)

Comments

  5. I love Noro. Have made a few items already but have plenty more skeins in my stash waiting to be knit into something special.

    Reply

  6. I love the look of the yarn and have never had a book of patterns to go along with a certain yarn. I have some similar yarns but much more crude. Would love to win the book. And get someone to drive me to the store to get yarn.

    Reply

  9. Oh, yes please! The colors are gorgeous! I’m sure one of the projects would grab me. And my needles! Thanks for chance to find out!!!

    Reply

  10. I wish I could give Morag my entry. Seriously though, although I love this yarn with a passion that wells up in me like my adoration for chips (that’s some SERIOUS adoration right there!) I am not even vaguely qualified to knit anything as fancy as those delicious patterns. When you have a noro yarn worldwide giveaway, I will be doing my best to climb up on the back of my fellow commenters like an Aussie sheepdog on sheep and run to the front of the line with great gusto but at this point I will graciously decline this seriously tasty offer in the hope that someone more worthy than I wins and is able to create some wonderful deliciousness and share the love around. Can I even get noro yarn here in Australia?!

    Reply

    • Yes you can. There are a number of shops (at least in Victoria) who stock it and also a number of on-line suppliers.

      Reply

      • Thank you Denise :). I live in Tassie and my daughters are heading over to Melbourne next month. Looks like I might have a few places for them to visit then 🙂

        Reply

  11. I love the book and the yarn but since I won yarn this year for the first time in my life I think I’ll be out of luck this time. Hope someone is going to be so happy with this gift.

    Reply

  13. I have a stash of Noro Silk Garden yarn, bought years ago and have no patterns… if I was fortunate enough to win the book, I would knit Christmas gifts for my daughters who live in NZ. Small knitted items would be ideal to post without paying a fortune in postage costs! Fingers crossed!!

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  14. I’ve had straw in mine! And I would love to win this book, zippered capelet notwithstanding.

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  16. Sounds like the kind of book I like: lots of not too large, not too difficult patterns. Also, very pretty!

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  18. I do love Noro. The beautiful colorways are one of the things that inspired me to learn knitting. My very first project was a hat knitted with Noro. It was a scary thing but that wasn’t the yarns fault. Thanks for this giveaway..

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  24. I’d very much like to win this book. But I would probably use some other yarn than Noro. Being honest here.

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  25. My friend loves the Noro socks I knitted her and I would love to explore the uses of the wool more. This book looks just right and I’m strangely drawn to the zippered caplet haha ?

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  27. Fabulous colourways, I would wear a zippered capelet in Canada, in fact have been looking for a suitable pattern, this might be it. Wishiing myself luck!!!

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  28. You always tempt me with lovely yarns, I still working on the moose cowl… Those gloves are so pretty, I’d love to give them a try… so enter me in the contest and should I not win I hope there’ll be a link for the yarn and for the book.

    Reply

  34. Hope this isn’t a dupe, but my (brand new, just bought yesterday!) computer hung trying to submit my comment. Although I get 99% of my yarn from thrift shops, I have run across Noro a few times, and snatched it right up. It can be as problematic as is gorgeous if you try to squeeze it into a pattern designed for a smooth, evenly spun yarn, so patterns designed for it’s unique textures makes a lot of sense. I’ve never run into any straw. Thanks for a wonderful giveaway. KittenWhiplash on Ravelry.

    Reply

  35. I have been using Noro to make a bunch of Christmas hats. I love COLOUR! I would love to have some other patterns try.

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  39. I’m in. I have a stash of Noro itching to be used. Some skeins have knots in them and another random color tied on so sometimes there is a break in the slow color progressions. I’m willing to take that chance.

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  40. I’ve looked at Noro yarns many, many times. Either I couldn’t find the colorway I liked or my pocketbook wasn’t cooperating at the time. One day I will get lucky. Appreciate the opportunity to win.

    Reply

  42. Looks fantastic. Not knitted with Noro (say that 20 times fast) but have some in my virtual stash. I was given Noro Knits 2004 by my friend Glynn who got it from his partner’s mother in Guernsey. I am tempted but would love to start with a smaller project given Nero’s Marmite reactions! Perhaps my first pair of socks …

    Reply

  46. It looks wonderful. I’ve not tried Noro yarns yet but the colours looks amazing and I really want to now!

    Reply

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