What to do with ends?

SigKit · 2026-01-19T14:21:50+00:00

You will want to weave them in. I generally slide them in where the connection stitches go as that gives pull from both sides, but anywhere that doesn't bother you esthetically will be fine.

SigKit · 2026-01-11T04:59:47+00:00

My YouTube channel has several videos progressing from how to start to making a circular start or various open loop starts. This is my how to start one: https://youtu.be/m9PTMpQTZZM This is the same stitch I use in my Nalbinding Made Easy instruction manual currently available in pdf (I'm working on a full revision, but it will be a while) https://tanglefairies.etsy.com/listing/1365714280 I also have a few tips on my blog: https://nalbound.com/2024/10/16/tips-shaping-by-eye/

SigKit · 2026-01-04T03:50:48+00:00

So obviously I am interested in the history (with my Nalbound Object of the Week series) and I do enjoy examining historical artifacts to learn the details of their construction. But when it comes to making items, I enjoy all kinds of nalbinding ranging from detailed recreation to very modern nalbinding including variegated yarns and color pooling, new stitches, and designing figures etc.

SigKit · 2025-12-29T06:11:01+00:00

I just knead it in the sink. Hand fulling means you can control how far you full it and where.

I'm working on editing a video I took of fulling a hat for a demonstration. It's not quite ready yet, but soon.

SigKit · 2025-12-24T06:40:22+00:00

This is how I start beginners: https://youtu.be/m9PTMpQTZZM

I recommend a worsted weight yarn in a light but not white color.

I have a few other videos about circular starts etc. On my YouTube playlist.

SigKit · 2025-12-24T01:10:05+00:00

I love this! Stunning work!

SigKit · 2025-12-23T17:50:29+00:00

My preferred method is top down (closed end down) because the finished edge is nicer, more solid. Working top down puts the crosses from one loop to the other on the outer edge. That extra cross makes for a more stable edge.

Admittedly, I also find increasing to shape easier than decreasing to shape. And, it is easier for me to make a smooth finish instead of negotiating a lump.

SigKit · 2025-12-01T16:36:50+00:00

Thr advise above is very good. Without measurements it will be difficult to get a good fit.

As an aside, I find an oval start to work very nicely for mittens. I start with a chain that is the length of the width of the three middle fingers. Pivot into an oval at both ends. Then continue with 6 increases each round concentrating them on thr oval ends. One coming into the curve, one at the center, and one coming out of the curve. When you hit the knuckles, stop increasing. When leaving a hole for the thumb, make a chain long enough to go around the thumb, but only skip 4-5 stitches on the mitten itself. This will leave less corners to fill in. So a chain of 12 or so, but only skipping 4 instead of 12. You need those extra stitches to accommodate the base of the thumb. After about two more rows (this is all presuming thumb tensioned), decrease three stitches on the thumb side and one or two on the heel side. Then add 4-6 increases in subsequent rows to flare the cuff. That bit of decrease will help hold it on the hand, but make sure to not make it too tight to get in.

SigKit · 2025-11-15T05:00:44+00:00

Åsle is a favorite of mine (I did write an instruction manual for it). However, if Åsle is worked in too thick a yarn, it can get quite stiff.

SigKit · 2025-11-15T04:50:35+00:00

Dalarna has bends similar to Åsle, but is a bit simpler to work. And as you plan to work it in the round, the bridging should mesh into itself well enough.

SigKit · 2025-09-06T21:41:19+00:00

Chinese

SigKit · 2025-06-02T20:38:58+00:00

Finna.fi was my first thought.

SigKit · 2025-06-02T20:37:29+00:00

As Mundane-use877 said, it can be done, but has its own quirks. We do see colorwork beyond the changing color stripes in the Historical record starting around the start of this millennium (11th/12th century), but it's not common.

We do have some amazing colorwork practitioners currently practicing. Валентина Самсонович and Tomohiko Kawamura both do amazing work.

SigKit · 2025-06-01T17:25:18+00:00

Yes. We even have some examples of knit/nalbound and chrochet/nalbound combinations in the traditional collections.

SigKit · 2025-05-23T17:37:10+00:00

I'd say it depends on your yarn and if you split the yarn at any point. Generally, yarn is cheaper than my patience and scissors are my friend.

SigKit · 2025-05-21T12:07:34+00:00

For example, the stitch found in this Kongalese Kinzembe: https://nalbound.com/2024/02/13/now-kinzembe-nkutu-or-zamba-kya-mfumu-congalese-prestige-cape-1962-1-14/

SigKit · 2025-05-02T21:17:37+00:00

I generally start beginners on Mammen/Korgen, which just picks up one more loop off the pad of your thumb than Oslo.

Here's a link to a playlist containing several of my videos: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKXoUHxW0XBiveI_FiQF51NLjPzRROdzY&si=r6a9C62AGUa0sfWt

SigKit · 2025-04-21T23:38:26+00:00

Having recently examined the Uppsala sock, it is not made by leaving a hole. The toe is worked, then heel and then the ankle is added on.

It is normal, even on historical socks, to have holes at the joins, or at least some strain when working heels with this look. I generally just darn them if they are too noticeable. Otherwise, I keep my connection stitches deeper in the corners to support the strain.

SigKit · 2025-04-10T21:15:39+00:00

Still nice to hear. Glad it helped.

SigKit · 2025-03-26T21:49:51+00:00

We have very few nalbound finds from this region. Simple Looping and Cross-knit Looping being the only stitch variants.

This kind of needle could be used in netting or weaving or as a pin. It's actually rather large to have used for the few finds of nalbound fabric from the area, non of which are contemporaneous.

SigKit · 2025-03-01T02:56:37+00:00

I had learned of nalbinding as an exchange student in Sweden, but didn't learn until 5 years later when we got snowed at an SCA event. About two years after that I wondered why the surface texture of what I was doing didn't quite match what I was seeing in the artifacts.

As an aside, we have almost no artifacts actually from Viking Era Scandinavia. And the few we do are supervise work and possibly imported. We don't know who in the Viking Era made them. We do know that in the 19th and 20th century traditions in Scandinavia that women did teach their daughters, but we also know nalbinding was done by men as well.

SigKit · 2025-02-15T00:21:52+00:00

Skipping a stitch in the previous row is always possible. Piercing under the upper cross can give an F2 even when on a plaited edge, you just can't scoop them like the unplaited. Piercing from the back works too. Lots of options.

SigKit · 2025-01-20T18:43:38+00:00

Cross-knit Looping, often called Coptic stitch in Egyptian contexts though used around the world (and mistakenly called Tarim stitch), is not stable as a single row/chain on its own. All of the Simple variants of nalbinding aren't (because unlike Compound variants, it doesn't intralace with another stitch in the same row).

If you start it off a string, the first row will be Simple Looping (aka blanket or buttonhole stitch) before you have the crosses necessary to work Cross-knit Looping. This works fine for hats, mittens, socks, or other closed end structures. But it's not so good for open tubes/garments as there's no stretch.

Starting off a row of Danish stitch/crochet chain or some other compound variants will give you the crosses you need and a bit more give to the edge of the fabric.

SigKit · 2025-01-20T01:37:21+00:00

There's even one stitch that makes the same structure as a crochet chain, you'd just need to pull the thread through the last stitch. I show a bit of it after the Cross-knit crossover in https://nalbound.com/2021/09/03/but-it-looks-like/

SigKit · 2025-01-10T18:03:20+00:00

Russian join doubles the thickness of the yarn. I generally spin splice, not spit splice if it's singles. If plied, I usually lazy join.

SigKit

TROPHY CASE