One Man's Meat...

I spend time, now and again, wondering why it is that we like things.  Usually I'm thinking about books, I'll admit.  Why is one book by an author....China Mieville's Perdido Street Station, for example....a book I just dive into and swim in and love and another, even by the same author....Mieville's The City and The City, for another example...one that I struggle with?  Or, more broadly even...I love to read...always have...but you wouldn't catch me dead reading a romance novel.  Why are those words on the page different than any others?

It's the same with yarn.  Barring allergies, why does one person prefer wool and another only enjoy knitting in cotton?  And why is there so much of a love-hate dichotomy over Noro?  There must be a discussion a month on Ravelry about Noro..."Why doesn't everyone love Noro?"  "How can anyone bear to knit in Noro?"  "Noro....love the colors but the yarn is scratchy!"  "I hate Noro!"  "I love Noro!"

I come down firmly on the pro-Noro side of things.  (In the interest of full disclosure, let me say that what prompted me to write this post is the chance of winning a copy of the new Noro magazine.)

I love Noro yarn.  I mean, go here and scroll down.  Look at those colors!  Look at those gorgeous lilacs and purples and that delicate "Hello-I've-just-sprouted" spring green in the socks...the sunny yellows with the touch of peach in that bobbly pullover....the somehow serene-but-still-electric blues in the lacey cardigan.  Just beautiful.  Is the yarn scratchy?  Well, the Kureyon isn't merino, perhaps, but it's perfectly wearable...and it's about the scratchiest of the lot.  Is there vegetable matter?  An occasional piece of hay or grass perhaps...easily removed.  Are there knots?  Perhaps I've been lucky, but I've found more knots in other brands of yarn.




































And you know, it wouldn't matter...load it up with knots and grass.  I'd still buy it and knit with it happily.  Eisaku Noro is a wizard with color...and color is something I love.  For whatever reason, it pushes all the right neurons.

(Picture lifted from the Noro website...look at those hues!)

Having now spent some time reading through the Knitting Fever blog, I also have to link to this post of theirs.  I love Mirasol yarns...and here's a great incentive to keep buying their yarns.  What a wonderful story.