Remembering Eisaku Noro

September 3, 2022 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

Eisaku Noro, the creator and founder of Noro Yarns, has died. Noro was immensely creative and developed his namesake yarns with luscious color combinations that are often imitated but it’s still possible to pick out a garment made with Noro yarns from a crowd.

An announcement posted on Knitting Fever’s Facebook page said:

With regard to quality or artistic expression, Noro-san did not compromise. This was reflected in all he did, from the unique, eco-friendly and painstaking production methods, to the thoughtful selection of fibers from farms where animal stock is treated humanely. Noro’s vision for creating yarns was that they should inspire joy while remaining true to their natural heritage.

Knitting Fever has distributed Noro yarns since the 1980s. The post described him as “tall, regal, with a sense of humor and full of passion, here was a true artist who painted with fibers to create yarns unlike any on the market at the time.”

Noro’s eye for color and texture has inspired countless knitwear and crochet designers, including me. When I was working on my book Colorwork Knitting I knew it was time to finally knit a sweater that had been on my mind for years. Shown above, it’s called the Color Belt Sweater in the book, and is worked starting with the linen stitch waistband, then the bodice is knit onto one side and the bottom of the sweater on the other. I knew Noro Silk Garden was the only yarn to bring this vision to life and it remains one of my favorite sweaters (you can check it out on Ravelry.)

Noro’s creative spirit lives on in his company, which is in the good hands of his son, Takuo Noro.

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Christmas Sock Knitting Patterns

Why should the fireplace get all the fun? Instead of knitting stockings this year, why not whip up a pair of Christmas themed socks? These Christmas sock knitting patterns are lots of fun to make and you can wear them to holiday gatherings for years to come.

For our friends in the southern part of the world, there are the Christmas in July socks from the Kiwi Lodge – Kylie (Ravelry link). These shorty socks are covered in Christmas trees and have bright pink heels and toes for a tropical feel. There’s also an option to make a longer sock if you celebrate somewhere it’s colder.

Twin Stitches Designs (Ravelry) has a fun pattern with mix and match colorwork motifs you can use to build your own cozy Christmas socks. From the sample socks I see Christmas puddings, trucks hauling trees, Santa belts, ornaments and a couple of different borders. There may be more patterns included but the listing doesn’t say. Make a pair that matches or use different motifs on each foot for extra holiday cheer.

If you want to stick to Christmas puddings on your holiday socks, check out this cute pattern from Stone Knits. These lovely socks feature a band of puddings around the leg and a bit of holly by the toes.

These vintage holiday light socks from Grey Owl Knits by Sarah are classic looking and lots of fun at the same time. I love this color combination but of course you can make your lights and stripes whatever colors you like or have on hand. They’re worked using stranded knitting.

And if you’d like even more of a mix of patterns for your socks, try Barbara Ceglédi’s Christmas Chaos socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. The pattern includes 25 little motifs you can choose from, ranging from snowflakes and Christmas trees to elf hats, reindeer and hearts.

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