The Return of Noro: A Horror Story

I totally didn't finish these ages ago.

Oh no, these are fresh off the needles! (Say whaaaat?)



Alright, I admit it. I finished these ages ago. I may be the worst liar on the face of the planet. But, I assure you, I'm not lying when I say that these mitts, the camp out fingerless mitts, are my new favorite mitten pattern ever. The cuff really makes the construction just interesting enough to really make me love the pattern. A definite win in my book, especially when paired with a color changing yarn like Noro. I can definitely see myself making quite a few of these in the future.

That being said, this yarn was a dud. I made it out of Noro Kureyon and I absolutely *hate* it. I knit this to match my entrelac scarf and while it matches enough to suit my sensibilities (which I have to admit, sometimes resembles those of a stubborn three year old), it's not perfect. When I knit the entrelac scarf, I noted that the yarn was by far overpriced and over-hyped for being such poor quality. The sheer amount of veggie matter, knots, and joins were ridiculous for the overall accepted price. On top of that, the yarn was barely soft enough for me to wear. I told myself that I wouldn't purchase that particular type of Noro again.


(Oh, hey, there's the scarf in question!)

These mittens weren't any better. While I did use a different yarn (Kureyon rather than Taiyo), the quality issues were actually worse in terms of softness. It was like wearing Brillo pads the first time I put them on. To say I was frustrated was an understatement. Nevertheless, I decided to try to soak them with conditioner to see if it helped matters any.

It did- slightly. Instead of feeling like Brillo pads, it now feels like I'm wearing mitts made brush bristles. Not unbearable, but not like wonderful softness I've felt with practically every other wool I've used. So I'm chalking this up to another line of Noro that I won't be purchasing again.


(Please ignore the iPod in my cleavage. I'm such a classy dame.)

Another thing I've noticed with the two balls is that the color I deem the ugliest in the colorway is invariable the one that is the majority of the skein- half of the skein I used for these mittens were brown! Ugh.

Overall, these are definitely wearable. I can actually see myself wearing them quite often- aesthetically, they rock. They yarn just didn't meet my expectations of quality.