Noro Madara (which means mottled in Japanese) is a beautiful, lightly speckled yarn with a lustrous sheen with rich, saturated colors, thanks to a generous helping of silk.  A medium to bulky weight that knits up knits up at a gauge of 15-17 stitches per 4 inches, it makes a wonderfully cozy and soft fabric. Madara has a nice twist that gives it great stitch definition and shows off the color and texture of the darker semi solid tones and the speckles that show in the lighter shades.