I am loving knitting with the Noro Kochoran! It’s knitting up into a wonderfully soft fabric that’s a little fuzzy, but not furry. I’ve had to tink out a few stitches here and there, and it’s not difficult to do as it would be with alpaca or mohair.

Since I’ve been concentrating lately mostly on socks, there’s one big difference I’ve noticed: US #10-1/2 feels like knitting with broomsticks! I’m so used to US #2 or #3. The big needles have slowed me down. I can’t seem to find my rhythm with them. But even so the sweater is knitting up quickly. I have about 3″ finished and I’m finding the pattern easy to remember and almost mindless to follow (i.e. good TV watching task).

In the lessons learned department: I’ve been knitting socks two at a time. I decided that could work for sweaters also. So, using three of my Noro balls, I cast on for both sides of the front and for the back all on one big circular needle. Now, it will be nice to have the cables on exactly the same rows on all three pieces, to know that the armholes match up and the V-neck starts at the same place on both sides, etc. But keeping three balls of yarn untangled is a talent that I don’t seem to possess. I have to stop every couple of rows and untangle everything. I should probably give up and to back to doing one piece at a time, but I’m too stubborn to admit defeat. Besides, I keep remembering how nice it is to finish both socks at the same time… and that never-worn sweater I knit when I was a kid that had a front 1″ shorter than the back because I got tired of the project long before it was finished and thought I could “fake it.”

With my short attention span, I think I’d better just keep untangling.

How do you keep your yarn straight when knitting with multiple balls?