My two cents? It depends on the Noro yarn, but personally it wasn't my first yarn for knitting either. Mine was just normal Cascade yarn for my first project, then I went into similar type yarn - a bit thinner, but really great for my first double-pointed project - for knitting a baby hat. It's only been with this shawl project that I've really began experimenting with the more delicate yarns and, as you can see, I'm using sock yarn until I really get used to working with lace.