So I thought I would have a go at nalbinding or needle binding. It's a very ancient way of making things with wool that pre-dates knitting. I spotted some "felting wool" going cheap in Lidl which seemed perfect for making a Viking beanie.
A bit of YouTube research found Mika Viinamaki who really demystified the whole thing and Neulakintaat who really nails the technical details.
First I made a needle from a bit of old bamboo flooring and then I just started exactly the way Mika shows in his video. Nalbinding produces tubes or spirals, so for a hat, it's a case of working from the top down or from the band up.
I ended up going upwards first then adding extra depth downwards.
The method involves passing the working end of the yarn through each stitch, so you keep adding on extra yarn as you go by felting the frayed ends together. It only works with real wool.
There are many different types of stitch; I just copied Mika and later found out that this is called Broden stitch.
The result is a superbly wonky bulbous thing that makes my children want to disown me. But it is incredibly thick and warm.
Z
A bit of YouTube research found Mika Viinamaki who really demystified the whole thing and Neulakintaat who really nails the technical details.
First I made a needle from a bit of old bamboo flooring and then I just started exactly the way Mika shows in his video. Nalbinding produces tubes or spirals, so for a hat, it's a case of working from the top down or from the band up.
I ended up going upwards first then adding extra depth downwards.
The method involves passing the working end of the yarn through each stitch, so you keep adding on extra yarn as you go by felting the frayed ends together. It only works with real wool.
There are many different types of stitch; I just copied Mika and later found out that this is called Broden stitch.
The result is a superbly wonky bulbous thing that makes my children want to disown me. But it is incredibly thick and warm.
Z
Last edited: