FO & Yarn Review: Knit Night Hat and Gloves in Noro Kureyon

At the end of October, I was contacted by a representative from Yarn Canada (an online supplier located in Vancouver, BC). They were offering up three balls of Noro Kureyon in exchange for a yarn review here on the blog.

Free yarn? Why not! So I picked out a colour and sat back to wait. 

The yarn arrived on Thursday, and you know I just had to cast on that night. I didn't have a lot of experience with Noro... I've only knit with it once before, and that was with Silk Garden. On first inspection, the Noro seemed very rough - especially after all the fine yarns I'm use to handling.

But it wasn't so much rough... as rustic. It's a single ply, spun a little thick and thin, but unlike other similar weight single ply yarns I've used (like Mochi Plus), it was more compacted - almost felted. That will help it against pilling (a major downside of single ply yarns.)

Because of it's texture, I was curious how itchy it would be. So I stuck a ball down my shirt to find out. Surprisingly, it wasn't bad.

Now it was time to get knitting. The pattern I chose to showcase the yarn was Knit Night Hat...

... and Knit Night Gloves...

(Details of my minor mods are on my Rav page) The rough, uneven texture and graduated striping of the yarn was nicely showcased in both the simple slip-stitch patter at the bands, and the plain stockknit throughout.

The Noro wasn't bad to knit with - it didn't have the bounce of a highly spun merino, but other than a tendency to be a little sticky on my wooden needles, it wasn't hard on the hands.

While my experience with Noro wasn't vast, I've heard other knitters, and the two biggest complaints I've heard is knots and veggie matter. Only one of my three balls had knots (there were two), and while there was some veggie matter, it was easy enough to pick out as I came across it. My biggest complaint was how the yarn compared to the colour card I chose it from.
This is the swatch on the website for Colour 170 I chose...

Now, I expect some difference in shades (computer monitors all display colours differently), but as you can see....

The yarn is predominately teal and burgundy. The hat used a ball and a half, and went through the colour sequence almost twice. There's no purple, very little yellow and no orange - which changes the look considerably.

But aside from that. It was a quite enjoyable yarn to work with. It's perfect for hats and mitts. This set is quite toasty.  I know lots of people  have made afghans from Noro, and I can see the appeal - it would make one snuggly warm blanket. The striping nature of the yarn keeps even the simplest knit interesting, because you want to knit "just one more stripe" and watch the colour emerge.

Noro comes in a wide range of colourways, (it was hard to choose when the offer came up) so really, the project opportunties are almost endless. I imagine the Kureyon would felt well too!

While I haven't ordered from Yarn Canada yet, I plan to. It's nice to have a supplier that offers yarn in Canadian dollars (and with free shipping over $35).  I'd like to thank them for the yarn, and the opportunity to provide this review to you!

This set is going into the Christmas box, but I like that hat so much, I think I'm going to have to make another one!