The Noro Virus

(with apologies to anyone who has an upset stomach and got here by accident)

Type: Disease
Textbook symptoms: compulsive knitting of the Lizard Ridge pattern characterised by a continued repetition of the phrase "just one more row; look, it's changing colour!" and the need to use the Noro to the exclusion of all other yarns, including handspun sock yarn.

Other discernible symptoms:

• detailed examination of the internet to discover what other Noro colours exist and the planning of excuses which could lead to trips to those stockists.
• continued protestations that a finished blanket/house cozy is "really needed because it's cold", when the thermometer has been above zero for several days.
• the acquisition of a set of digital scales, ostensibly to help with accurate fibre division for spinning; used mainly to acquire statistical data as to the weight of each Lizard Ridge square.
• application of that statistical data to the leftovers to see how many more balls might be needed/validly acquired by the patient.
• trying to pass off each finished square as knitted art to H, a real artist.

Treatment: Alas, no cure has yet been discovered but physicians may reassure the patient and families that no long term damage appears to be caused by this virus and it is not life threatening. The virus has been known to abandon the host on the completion of 'the project' but is more likely merely to enter a dormant phase, activated by the patient making fingertip contact with the Noro.

However, as the virus results in a plethora of hand-knitted items, those in warmer areas might be advised to consider moving further north, or investing in air conditioning/ a very large fridge.

I've finished two more squares:



This one is colour 188 and it is a Blackcurrant bush - from the bottom you get dusty soil with wood ash, then the fallen over-ripe berries on the ground, then the leaves interspersed with levels of berries, getting riper as you get nearer the top.


This one, 229, is harder to classify - I love the colours and I've not seen this colourway in the UK. I think it is the archetypal jewel tones; emeralds, sapphires, rubies and amythests; it's the handful I imagine at that crucial moment when Julia examines the tennis racquet in Cat Among the Pigeons, so I'm calling it a Good Wife's Weight. It is one of the prettiest squares yet.

And trust me - there are more to come.