[Artemisia] nalbinding?

[S CLEMENGER]

Morgan, "nalbinding" is a loan word from, I think, Norwegian.  There are 
several alternate spellings, such as "naalbinding," with 2 a's.
The "nal" is a needle.  It translates, roughly, to "single-needle knitting." 
Except it's not actually knitting--it can look like it, though, if you're 
not familiar with the technique.  This has resulted in a number of pieces 
being mislabeled as knitting in the previous century.
It's a technique that shows up in all kinds of different places, from Egypt 
to Peru, to...Scandinavia.  It predates the existence of knitting, and while 
a slower process, does make a fabric that won't ravel the way knitting can, 
if the nalbound piece is worn through or snagged.  It's most often used to 
make smaller items--socks, mittens, hats, etc.
The Coppergate Sock is one example of extant naalbinding....I've actually 
seen it at the Jorvik Viking Centre in York, England.
Nalbinding's actually pretty cool.  I've learned how (thanks to HL 
Ygrainne), and even have some handmade needles (from antler, iirc) made by 
HL Bjorn.
(including some links for you)
--Maire, who WILL get some socks made one of these days!

http://www.florilegium.org/files/TEXTILES/naalbinding-msg.html
http://www.regia.org/naalbind.htm
http://www.havenonline.com/moas/northstar/vol1no3/Naalbinding%20web.htm
http://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/artefacts/sock1.htm



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "morgan wolf" <morganblaidddu at yahoo.com>
To: "Kingdom of Artemisia mailing list" <artemisia at lists.gallowglass.org>
Sent: Saturday, May 16, 2009 8:44 PM
Subject: [Artemisia] nalbinding?



So, just out of curiosity, what is a Nal, and why would one bind it?

Morgan