Do you sell to consumers?

No, we only sell to commercial enterprises like fashion producers, designers, wholesalers and yarn shops.

Can I use machine knitting yarn for hand knitting?

In principle yes. But the great yardage of the fibres (called "yarn count" for industrial yarns) makes hand knitting very tedious. Please keep in mind that the gauge of industrial yarns is a technical measure used for flat bed knitting machines. It is a different measure than the needle size used in hand knitting.

Noro industrial yarns are distributed on cones: 1 kg of the yarn is wound around a conical piece of cardboard.

I know the hand knitting yarns from Noro. Are the industrial yarns identical?

No, the industrial yarns are designed specially for usage in flat bed knitting machines and therefore thinner compared to hand knitting yarns. The machine knitting qualities are mostly different in material composition and technical data. There are only a couple of qualities which have similar counterparts in the range of hand knitting yarns.

If you are interested in Noro's hand knitting yarns, please visit the websites of the distributors for the US, Knitting Fever Inc., for the UK and Europe, Designer Yarns Ltd., or for the German speaking countries, Designer Yarns Deutschland.

How do I get a pricelist?

Please ask for pricelists by using our contact form or by mailing.

Please tell me about your conditions of delivery. Do I have to pay customs and turnover taxes on imports?

Every order will be delivered to you straight from Japan. Shipment is free with the expection of orders below 5 kg. For deliveries below 5 kg slight extra charges are applied.

Most shipments will be delivered through courier service FedEx. Depending on the material composition of yarns or felts and depending on the country you live in you have to pay customs. In most countries you have to pay turnover taxes on imports as well.

Customs and turnover taxes are billed by FedEx on delivery so you usually don't have to deal with customs separately.

For our products the customs tariffs of the EU are between 3% and 7% of the value of goods (including shipping costs). Swiss authorities use the weight of products to charge customs. Tariffs are less than CHF 1,00/kg.

The turnover tax on imports usually equals the domestic V.A.T. This turnover tax on imports can be reclaimed with your annual tax declaration like you do with payed V.A.T.

I would like to know more about Eiskau Noro, his company and his yarns. Where can I get further information?

On our profile page we offer a link to a very comprehensive report covering the production, selection of raw materials, ecological aspects and much more. You can also just click the following image to view or download the 13-megabyte PDF file:

Excerpt of a background report about the yarn production of Eisaku Noro Ltd.

Sorry, I couldn't find an answer to my specific question. What can I do?

If you have any further questions, please use our contact form. We are happy to help you.

Cone

Cone is the name for the conical cardboard (or plastics) core on which yarn is wound after spinning. Therefore we speak of yarns delivered "on cones" (instead of yarns delivered in balls).

Ganpi

Ganpi is a unique Japanese art paper material. It is made of the precious natural fibres which are gathered from the eight year old Wistaria trees (Wikstroemia sikokiana) found in the higher altitude of Japanese mountains. Wistaria trees are hard to cultivitate and therefore the wild growing sources are used. Ganpi is rare, very tough and has a beautiful luster.

Another Japanese term for ganpi is hishi, which means "beautiful paper". Ganpi is often called "king of papers" as well.

Ganpi is a unique Japanese artpaper material made of the bark of the Wistaria tree

Gauge

Gauge is a measure for flat bed knitting machines. These machines are produced in ranges from 2E to 14E. It measures the number of latch needles a machine features per inch (= 25,4 mm).

The gauge is a completely different measure than the needle size used in hand knitting.

Kasuri

This term is used in some quality names and means that this is the multi-coloured version of the yarn. The yarns are coloured in a way that special patterns emerge when knitted.

Lace yarn

Lace yarns are usually thin fibres with great yardage designed for (hand knitting) needle sizes between 1.25 and 3 mm. They are called lace yarns because they are especially suited for knitting and crocheting lace fabrics.

Men

This term, as used in some quality names, is the Japanese word for cotton. We use the word in several quality namens, for example in "Ganpi Mensilk". This is not silk for men ... but a fibre made of ganpi, cotton and silk.

Nm

Unit of the yarn count. "Nm" means "number metric". 1 Nm indicates that a yarn has a run length of 1 meter per gram or 1000 meter per kilogram. Often the number of threads the yarn is made of is indicated after or before a slash as in "Nm 9.5/1" oder "Nm 1/9,5". Noro industial yarns are usually made of one thread.

Yarn count

The yarn count is a measure for the fineness of a yarn. The metric yarn count "Nm" indicates how long a fibre of a certain mass (weight) is. The lower the yarn count the rougher the yarn. The higher the yarn count the finer the yarn.