{"id":1511,"date":"2018-06-12T20:28:51","date_gmt":"2018-06-12T18:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/?p=1511"},"modified":"2018-06-16T18:34:19","modified_gmt":"2018-06-16T16:34:19","slug":"nalbinding-socks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waltin.se\/josefinwaltinspinner\/nalbinding-socks\/","title":{"rendered":"Nalbinding socks"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of my favourite textile techniques is nalbinding<\/a>. I have made lots of mittens in nalbinding and showed you glimpses of the technique. In this post, though, I go a bit deeper into the world of nalbinding. This is my first pair of nalbinding socks.<\/p>\n

An ancient technique<\/h1>\n

Nalbinding \u00a0is a simple technique where you seam with a blunt wooden or bone needle with your thumb as your gauge. It is an ancient technique, dating back at least to the Viking age, but probably further back in pre-history. It is basically a sewing technique, since the thread goes in loops through each other. There is no way to rip the seam, you have to pick it up stitch by stitch. When you are out of yarn, you simply join in a new yarn and felt it together by rolling the ends together between your palms with the addition of a little saliva. Perfect for handspun yarns! It might be a good idea to practice joins in a subtle way if you are amongst people. I am a master of subtle joins. The resulting fabric is dense and sturdy and lasts for a long time. If you waulk your project, it will basically last forever.<\/p>\n

Stitches for all tastes<\/h1>\n

While the basic technique stays the same, there are lots of different stitches to choose from. In the beginning, I chose between the few stitches I could get access to in a leftie description<\/a>. After the initial learning period, I advanced to the whole spectrum of stitches and learned how to make them from the right-handed descriptions<\/a>. Lately, I have made most projects in the Dalby stitch.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Nalbinding close-up using the Dalby stitch. The technique leaves a sturdy fabric, perfect for socks and mittens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I love the rhythm of the Dalby stitch \u2013 pick, pick, over, under, back in a cross and under again, hold the threads with your thumb and pull the yarn to a new thumb loop. It is like a choreographed dance. It also makes a quite dense and firm fabric, great for mittens and socks.<\/p>\n

Here is a quick tutorial of the Dalby stitch from a leftie’s perspective.<\/p>\n