There are so many words used for this one technique: nalbinding, nalebinding, naalebinding, naalbinding, needle-binding, knotless netting, knotless knitting, single needle knitting, and nail-binding. Here at Historic Crafts we will try to stick to calling it Nalbinding. Nalbinding is often talked about as the predecessor to knitting and crochet. Often mentioned as Viking knitting it was in fact also a technique also used by the Romans.
The thing that defines nalbinding is that each row of stitches is self contained. Unraveling is really difficult as you will basically have to retrace your steps. On the other hand you can cut into a row and the other rows will remain unaffected. Furthermore, nalbinding is not produced with a continuous yarn. Instead you cut a length of yarn which you thread onto your nalbinding needle. A common issue is therefore how to add a new thread – Nadelbinden has a solution to this depending on how well your yarn felts.
Stitches:
There are many different nalbinding stitches. I have seen people mentioning that there are 20 or 30 different stitches. I also went to a talk about Roman nailbinding and was told that there are in fact over 80 different stitches. I think we can concluded that there are enough. Here is a list of some of the more well known stitches:
- Oslo Stitch
- York stitch
- Broden stitch
- Mammen stitch
Resources
- Dilittante nalbinding resource – with Oslo Stitch Instructions and bibliography
- Genvieve – about the Coppergate Sock
- Nålbinding 101 – The Ålse Stitch
- Meilke’s Fiber Arts – sells nalbinding books and needles
- Shelagh Lewins methods of constructing a sock
- Nålbinding Socks worked in the Brodén Stitch
- Miraculous Needlebinding’s list of handouts
- The history, origins, construction and use of ‘needle-binding’, with specific reference to the ‘Coppergate sock – by Regia Anglorum
- Nadelbindin – German site with an English translation
- Directions for the Coptic (Tarim) Stitch,the Button Hole Stitch and the Danish (O/UO)
- Flinkhand – German site with no translation
References
Barber, E. J. W. 1992. Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages with special reference to the Aegean. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
Irena Turnau, 1991. History of Knitting Before Mass Production. Polish Academy of Sciences
Hald, Margrethe, 1980. Ancient Danish Textiles from Bogs and Burials: A Comparative Study of Costume and Iron Age Textiles. Copenhagen: The National Museum of Denmark
Read our posts on nalbinding:
