Noro Silk Garden | PDXKnitterati

And Modern Daily Knitting! I’m teaching online for them on Friday, June 26, noon to 2:30 pm Eastern. The class is recorded for rewatching, or watching for the first time if you can’t make it in person.

Entrelac looks woven, but it’s actually knit modularly, unit by unit, each one picking up on the previous blocks. We’ll learn how to make each of those units in class, including picking up stitches, and simple decreases.

We’ll be using Noro Silk Garden for its beautiful color changing properties. You can purchase this yarn with class registration, or on your own. You can use this or any other Aran to bulky weight yarn with a slow color change. I’ve also used Berroco Wizard for this project with excellent results.

Noro Silk Garden entrelac, Flower Power Entrelac scarf

The scarf above was knit with two 50g balls of Noro Silk Garden. It’s knit end to end, so you can stop when you want, if you’d rather seam it for a shorter round cowl. (Photos above are from the Modern Daily Knitting site.)

This is the only picture of my Noro sample that I have! I knit most of it on the plane to Nash Yarn Fest, and left it there for photography. I love how vibrant Noro colors are.

These samples are knit with one 100g skein of Berroco Wizard. Actually it’s just one long sample, pinned up to show you how shorter versions would work as a cowl.

And here’s an entrelac sample (Minerva pattern) knit with a gradient yarn. It takes longer to see the color change, but it’s spectacular.

Come knit entrelac with me! You can register for the class here.

I usually knit from a center pull ball. They’re tidy, and if you put a yarn sleeve on the ball, it doesn’t collapse into a messy heap. Yarn sleeves shown above. And you can make your own! See this post.

Some yarns require a little more strategy. I’m currently knitting with Noro Silk Garden, and the high silk content makes it not very elastic. I could see that the ball was going to collapse, yarn bra or not. I decided this was a good candidate for knitting from the outside of the ball. The original put-up was very loosely wound, so my first move was to rewind it on my winder to tighten it up.

I usually knit sitting at a table, so I decided to try the Yarn To Go Carousel from Twice Sheared Sheep. I received this in my teacher’s gift bag at Vogue Knitting Live in 2025, so it’s been waiting for a while! Like I said, I’m usually a center pull knitter.

The wooden carousel comes in 3 pieces. On the left, you can see the spindle and base plate for holding the yarn. There’s a loop at the top for an optional wrist strap, but I’m not one to try to knit while walking. I’m a klutz! Maybe just standing, to take a break from sitting? You can use these 2 pieces by themselves, or add it to the spinning carousel.

The carousel piece on the right has two magnets on top, and revolves (on inner ball bearings?) as I knit. It spins very easily and doesn’t require a big tug to unspool the yarn. The platform itself is a little thick, but not a big deal since it’s sitting on a table and not weighing me down.

knitting and yarn on a yarn carousel from twice sheared sheep

The ball is rapidly shrinking, and I am absolutely charmed by the sheep appearing as the yarn ball gets smaller.

I think for brioche or colorwork projects, I’m still happy with my 2 center pull balls with yarn bras. Two spinning carousels seems like it would be quite a production. But for this single ball of Silk Garden, it’s a good choice for me.

If you want to get a Yarn To Go Carousel, they’re available from Twice Sheared Sheep. They also come in a sunflower and mandala design, instead of sheep. The links are affiliate links, so if you purchase through the link, I get a commission. But this review is my honest opinion of this unsolicited gift!

No, my shawl isn’t done yet. But I needed to make this Noro swatch for an upcoming teaching project. Heading back to my brioche now.

Soooo are you Team Center Pull, or Team Outside the Ball? For me, it depends!