Noro Yarns

Noro was launched in Japan in 1972 by Eisaku Noro, whose artistry in blending colors and fibres remains unsurpassed. Wearing a garment created with Noro yarn is like wearing a work of art! Noro yarns seek to harmonise natural unevenness, asymmetric patterns and complex colour to portray the beauty of the nature using natural fibres such as cotton, wool, silk and cashmere.

"We strive to produce yarn that is natural and gentle to people and nature. We hope our yarn will provide joy and happiness to people who use it."

All animal fibers that are used in the yarns come from certified organic farms, from international sources such as Australia, the Falkland Islands and South Africa. Noro carefully selects raw materials from nature and care is taken to produce yarn that retains the natural properties of the material. Impurities in the raw fibre are carefully removed by hand without the use of chemicals or machines, preventing damage to the fibres.

The different fibres are then blended, utilising Noro's deep knowledge of the characteristics of each material, to manufacture yarn with the best possible texture that combines softness, lightness, strength, touch, colour, lustre and ease of use. Materials are blended by a method original to Noro to avoid damaging the characteristic of each batch, and thus the actual blend ratio may differ from that stated on the label.

Colour is the most important factor for Noro yarn. Colours must be beautiful with a strong lustre and richness of quality. At the same time, they must also be robust to prevent them from fading easily, discolouring, or staining. Research conducted over many years, continuously going through a process of trial and error and by using an abundance of the highest quality dye, Noro has attained beauty and durability in the colours of their yarn.

The basic principle for Noro yarn is "spin yarn by hand" using machinery only for what cannot be done by hand. This hand-spun yarn is made from finely dyed wool, lined faithfully according to colour and weight, carefully maintaining the slow spinning speed by the artisans. Since the human hand is used in the spinning process, the natural lustre and texture are obtained without considerably impairing the wool fibre. Lining up the yarn by hand results in irregular arrangement of fibre, thereby giving the yarn more bulk.

Characteristic features of Noro yarn are lightness, softness, and loftiness, with thickness of the yarn as an average value. Because it is a handmade yarn with raw materials being weighed and lined by human hands, there are areas that are thick and areas that are thin. There are areas where the strand is tight and where the strand is loose, so please knit gently and discover the joy of knitting Noro yarns.

About knots: unlike other yarn, handmade Noro yarn cannot be continuously spun without knots. The spun yarn is finished by rolling up at about 80-90g then the yarn is knotted together in a ball or hank. Please understand that in some cases there may be a knot or two in your ball or hank of handspun Noro yarn.