Another hobby (as if I didn’t have enough already)

As I’ve been working on my Norse kit over the years and trying to flesh out the details, I’ve learned about Nålbinding.

The beginning of a Nålbinding garment.

Nålbinding is a way to make stretchable fabric that predates knitting or crochet. The Norse used Nålbinding to make hats, mittens, and socks.

And honestly, wearing socks from Target inside my turnshoes has always struck me as weird and ridiculous.

So I’ve been trying to learn this craft for about a year now and I’m finally making things I’m willing to share with the world.

My hat.
The matching mittens.

The process is fairly simple. Yarn is looped around itself to make a series of knots. When you have enough knots in a chain, you loop the chain and stitch the next row onto the previous row. Do that enough time and you can make something.

The start of the hat
Off to a slow start

The real killer for someone like me is that patterns aren’t really possible. The size of each stitch is determined by the size of your thumb, your needle, and your yarn. Change one factor and the entire garment is a different size.

Frequent test fits.
Lots of test fits

Maybe at some point I’ll figure out how to calculate a pattern.

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Author: rexplex

With a bachelors degree in history, I turn wrenches for a living. I’m most at peace when I hear the wind in the trees or the gurgle of a brook. I’m a believer in the Renaissance Man, as epitomized by DaVinci engineer, artist, soldier, statesman. As Heinlein said, “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyse a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

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