Yarn and Philosophy

There are those who love Noro (Kureyon specifically), and those who don't. I think a lot of it has to do with the way that the knitter looks at life. I think that Noro yarns can be seen as a metaphor for life, as we create fabric from a single thread.

There are some who say that everything should be like "Karaoke", the SWTC yarn (50% wool, 50% soy silk) with its regular repeats, its evenness, its predictability.

This is why I love kureyon, and how I relate it to life:

Kureyon is unexpected. The colors in the ball that you see aren't all the colors in the yarn. It's the unexpected flash of red on brown or deep green that is interesting. It's the random-seeming color repeats that give a project sparkle and shine. It's the unexpected that makes life interesting.

Kureyon is uneven. The thick-and-thin spots add texture to the resulting knitted fabric in a way that is never expected, but always seems appropriate. Sometimes life is easy, sometimes it's hard. Looking back, it's all the differences between the times you had to eat ramen, beans, and rice and the times you could afford a nice filet that make you appreciate whatever your current condition is.

Kureyon is scratchy. Well, until it's been washed. Change is hard. Change is uncomfortable. But after you've made a change, and lived with it for a while, it 'softens'. It grows on you. Time heals all wounds, they say. Time also softens the scratchiness of the wool.

Kureyon has straw in it. Yes, and you pick out the big pieces and leave the little bits that don't matter. The straw is the little irritations that we put up with every day. Traffic, work, bills. You take care of the things you can take care of, and you live with the things you have no control over.

This is why I say, embrace the Noro. Life's not always predictable. Life comes as it does, and if you get too uptight about the changes, the unpredictability, the uncomfortable times, the little irritations, then what's life for, anyway?