Nalbinding -- first steps (and noobish commentary)

I guess I did decide that it's time to learn nalbinding.

I'm doing foundation chains in Oslo stitch, practicing until it becomes smooth and the stitches consistent.  Then I'll learn the various joining options to make circles or cylinders or whatever, i.e., turning this from a cord to a fabric by joining lengths of cords.  (which is how it overlaps with narrow wares and also some types of basketry, straw hats, etc.)

People kept telling me that it was like crochet but in reverse, sort of.  Nope, it really feels like sewing, not at all like crochet.  It seems to consist of sewing loops that intersect with other loops to lock the loops in place, using your thumb as a tensioning and loop-sizing device.  The different stitches seem to be different ways of intersecting the active loop(s) with previously made loop(s).

Since I've started, I'll keep going, at least until I can make the kinds of things I want to make -- hats, bags, mats, baskets, that kind of thing.  Dunno if I'll bother with mittens and socks and other shaped things.  I am curious to test out a nalbinding hat vs a knitted hat to see if the nalbinding one is more wind resistant.

I'm also curious to try out the different things done with nalbinding by different cultures.  It's one of those "everyone did/does some version of it" kinds of fiber technologies.

I'm using one of my knitting tapestry needles and random lengths of whatever worsted-weight yarn I have lying around that is already in short lengths.  I know that a lot of people like using fat single-ply wool.  A friend of mine who spins and does nalbinding says that in her experience 2-ply works as well or better than single ply.  I also see lots of artifacts made from non-animal yarn (i.e. bast cordage and yarns), so I'll just continue doing whatever I feel like doing, at least for now.

No photos yet -- I keep undoing my yarn and then repeating, to gain practice.  My tension is still inconsistent.  Every now and then I get a brain fart and can no longer identify which loop is which, and then I undo my chain and start over.  Sooner or later I'll be able to get that figured out.

I'm not sure if any of the books out there are worth getting.  I'm watching youtube videos and they are painfully slow.  Sometimes that's very much appreciated, of course -- watching the path of the needle and yarn can help me see what's going on.  I'm also checking out websites.  This is another fiber/textile arts community that is quite international and a lot of very interesting sites/videos are not in English.

I'm sure I'll get much better at the terminology as I go on.  For now, I'll ignore it since I'm not sure which system is more commonly used or which I will want to use.  Oslo stitch has the needle going through one loop behind the thumb and one loop in front of the thumb.  It's considered a nice easy stitch for beginners to learn.

Yay, me.

Dunno if I should use a different needle.  Can I rig up something from a piece of wire or a paperclip?  I know I have plastic tapestry needles around somewhere, though the metal one works perfectly well.  Or I could make a few -- whittling/carving, 3D printing, getting a friend who does laser-cut wood things to do it, etc.

Some of what I want to do with nalbinding are the simpler/earlier variants -- the kinds of simple looping and looping-with-an-extra-twist stuff that is somewhere between nalbinding and netting and basketry.  But I do also want to learn Oslo stitch and some of the other stitches that are used to make, say, warm hats and solid-ish bags and mats.

I'm still wanting to learn netting, but that too seems very straightforward to get started in.  We'll see, I suppose!  A family member has a netting shuttle and some learning materials, and I can use a ruler or paint stirring stick as a gauge to get started.  I can probably learn netting at the same time as nalbinding while also exploring other things I'm gaining skills/experience in.

A few idle thoughts

There's really nothing much in this post.

Trenzas por lazos is the term for fingerloop braiding in Spanish, or at least in Peru/Chile.  (There are some really fun braid-related websites and social media accounts and videos and stuff in Spanish)

I'm thinking that it might be time to learn nalbinding on more than an idle/occasional basis.  The people I know who do it mostly don't live in the area any longer, and there have been requests for classes.  So I think I might go back and learn it well enough to teach others.  Well, as long as it doesn't annoy me too much.  Should that be in this blog or in my knitting blog?  I write about sprang in this blog, and nalbinding is in the category of weird specialty techniques, so maybe it should be here.  Ditto for netting, which I do plan to keep in this blog.  And ply-splitting, too.

But it's traditionally used to make fabric-like items such as hats and mittens/socks, which would put it closer to the knit/spin/dye/weave/crochet subjects that I discuss in the knitting blog.

Dunno.

I'll probably keep it here, because it overlaps with a lot of other techniques that I write about on this blog.  I could always start a new blog for things that aren't quite narrow wares and aren't quite modern.  But I'd rather keep thing simple.  Nalbinding isn't knitting, crochet, or weaving.  That means that basketry will probably be included in this blog, too.  (Hmm, did I write about my foray into learning how to make wa'paas a few years ago?  Or other basketry research and explorations?)

I've been asked to demo braiding this weekend at a Scottish festival, but I'm thinking maybe not this year.  I might still change my mind, especially if they need more people to demo stuff.  But I've had a lot of busy weekends for the past several months, and there are some household things that need to happen soon-ish and that can only happen on weekends.

Again, dunno.

I have a requested tablet weaving commission but it's not due for a few months.  It should be wide enough to be a belt or instrument strap (1" or so) and should look reasonable on both sides.  I'll probably do something rainbow-ish again.

I still have a long list of things I want to do -- braid a few belts, do more sprang, learn netting (as in bags and fishing nets and hammocks), do some more complicated tablet weaving, and plenty more.  I am doing a fair amount of knitting and spinning at the moment, so it's not like I'm completely idle or anything.

I mostly wanted to write this post to include the Spanish term for fingerloop braiding.  It was an advertisement for a class and the video that accompanied it showed fingerloop braiding, so I'm pretty sure "trenzas por lazos" is it.  Braids with bows.

A narrow rainbow striped tablet woven band

This was done as a gift.  It's a simple pattern but of course very effective and fun to weave.  I did this on 14 tablets, all 4-threaded, all warped with just one color per tablet, 2 of each color (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) and 1 tablet of white on each edge, to match the white weft.  Orientation is alternating / and \ and the turning is all forward.  It looks the same on both front and back.  The warp and weft are all big-box-store #10 crochet cotton.

The band ended up being about 1.5cm wide (9/16") and about 230cm long (about 89-90").  I hope the recipient likes it.

And I suppose it's a color wheel band as much as a rainbow band, depending on what one thinks about the blue/indigo/violet continuum and why the rainbow was defined as having 7 colors in the first place.

There's not much else going on.  I did teach two classes last weekend.  It was fun!

I'm not 100% sure about how I taught lucet.  I taught the no-turn method first and then the turn method.  I think I should have done the opposite, mostly concentrating on the turn method and then at the end showing how it can be done without needing to turn.  Well, I wanted to follow my friend's teaching plan since I was subbing.  And I haven't taught lucet in a class-like setting before.

Someone else at the event showed me something obvious yet very helpful when doing the no-turn method -- instead of wrapping both sides of the lucet and then pulling the old thread over the new, wrap one side, pull thread over, then wrap the other side, pull thread over, etc.  It makes conceptual sense, makes it easier to control tension, and in my opinion, shows more clearly how both the no-turn and the turn methods are really the same.

People learned how to work a lucet and they all seemed to go away happy, so hopefully I was sufficiently effective as a teacher.

The other class on disk braiding (8-strand Z-spiral kongo gumi) went well, too.

What next?  Quite possibly sprang or braiding, though I never really know for sure what will catch  my fancy.  I have such a long list of things I want to do, across so many techniques.

My 200th post on this blog went by last month.  Clearly I didn't notice so didn't do any kind of summary of the past or plans for the future or anything else.

I've learned a lot over the years.  I hope to keep learning.  And of course, having fun in my narrow minded way.

Dunno what I'll do if Google gets too weird with blogspot, but I guess I'll worry about that if and when things start getting weirder.

Some August Ramblings

Wow, August already, and almost to the end of it!  The light has turned and the daylength is changing rapidly.

What have I been doing since my last post?  Well, not a lot of stuff, I guess.  I've been busy with non-narrow-ware tasks.

I have a new tablet weaving commission, something that should be simple yet effective for its purpose.  That'll be for next month.

But first, I am doing some teaching this weekend, yay!  A friend was going to teach, had to back out, and I offered to take over and teach the already-planned classes.

One is on lucets.  I can do basic lucet cord.  I'm no expert but I don't need to be for this class.  I'll teach both the no-turn and the turn method.

I did a little research about lucets since I know there's some argument for how old the technique is.  Most of the argument is about which archaeological artifacts might have been lucets.  Eh, lucet cord can be made using all kinds of things, even one's fingers.  However, I cannot yet find any definitive evidence of cords made with this technique.  Cords made on a lucet superficially resemble cords made from a few other techniques, but even so, it has some unique characteristics that hopefully someone would have picked up on.  Cords and other narrow wares are woefully understudied, alas.  Maybe I'll find something, or maybe the evidence doesn't exist yet.

The other class will be on disk braiding, and in particular, an 8-strand braid, which I've decided means the Z-spiral kongoh gumi braid that is well known, popular, and works well on a disk.  If there's time and interest, I might show people how to reverse the spiral direction and make zigzags.  Or have them set up a couple of different color/texture patterns.  The friend likes to use weights for disk braids, so I'll discuss that, too, even though I tend not to use them myself.  (I do use them on a marudai.)  I'll mention how this braid can be expanded in multiples of four strands and that all kinds of cool color/texture patterns become possible with more braiding elements.

Kongoh gumi isn't a very old braid, either, as far as I can tell.  It's not a fingerlooped braid.  It can be made freehand.  But in the Japanese kumihimo tradition, I believe it arose with the development of braiding stands.

Once I have free time again, twill braids and sprang are high on my to-do list, along with some fingerlooped braiding, netting, and the other usual things I tend to obsess over.

Sprang project #5: lattice stitch (aka under-3 interlinking)

I've been feeling like I wanted to make some simple garters or a belt or something in sprang.  (plus bags, as always)

Anyway, I was noodling around on the 'net and found something posted in the Sprang Facebook group on June 4, 2024, by Marie Voipio.  https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=25893897496890294&set=gm.3668821430000117&idorvanity=1657374241144856

She writes, "Sprang in Finland in the 19th century: “toispuoleinen viitelöinti”, one-sided or maybe “one-directional” or “single-directional” sprang. This is a variant of plain interlinked sprang, and seems to be more common than the basic version. It only has *one* row, the one that’s sometimes called a II-row in basic interlinking. Every row starts by picking two threads up from the lower shed, then one down, one up, one down…until at the end of the row you obviously have two down. The result is a fairly flexible band that one of the Finnish writers calls twill - every thread crosses two threads before the interlinking, instead of twining around the nearest available warp thread."

Sharon Frank Wichman commented, "Carol James calls this "under 3 interlinking" as each thread goes under three threads. In comparison, basic interlinking has each thread going under three threads. Peter Collingwood calls this "lattice sprang." I like this stitch a lot because it as almost as much stretch as basic interlinking but makes a much thicker cloth."  I assume that one of those mentions of "under three threads" should have been a number other than three, but the meaning is reasonably clear anyway.

Well.

That looked interesting!  So I grabbed some cheap acrylic and tried it.  I did the one Marie Voipio did, in pink and white -- when starting the band, the top threads are all white, and the bottom threads are 1 white, 6 pink, 1 white.  In other words, start and finish with 2 whites, but alternate pink and white for the rest, for 8 sets of elements or 16 total elements.

It's easy and cute, for sure.  Not as elastic as regular interlinking, I don't think, though I wasn't working with a lot of threads and I was trying to pack the elements fairly tightly.

It spirals like crazy, which is not atypical of sprang.  So it would need to be blocked vigorously to lay flat if that was desired.

This will be a fun one to play around with.  It would make good bookmarks or garters or a belt (maybe done one-ended) or a strap, or if worked on more elements, a bag.

It was hard to get a picture showing the elasticity.  I think it would have helped to have had three hands.  Or someone else to help pose the band.

What's next?  Not sure.  I still want to play around more with twill braids (the Skjoldehamn 12-strand and the Whitehorse Hill Cist probably-13-strand one).  I want to do more sprang, too, as well as the usual litany of fun things I write about on this blog.

Another S-sign tablet woven band

A friend was teaching a class on this band, so I warped up and went to the class because that's what friends do!  (No heckling, just support.)

Then I took it home and finished it.  It'll be given away.

The colors are red and gray (I want to say cardinal and gray, but that's old habits).  It's big box store #10 crochet cotton, as usual.

The unblocked band is about 1/2" wide and a smidge over 65" long.  I messed up the last few picks because I wasn't paying attention but that's OK, it's not very noticeable.  I didn't even notice until I went to measure it.  (no, the mistaken area is not in the above photo)

There's not much to say about this band.  I've made it before.  It is very cute and of course, very historic.  I used the chart in  Applesies and Fox Noses by Maikki Karisto and Mervi Pasanen, "5.  The S-Sign".

One of the students in the class borrowed my set-up for a few minutes and did their first-ever tablet weaving.  Since they are already an accomplished inkle weaver, their band looked spectacular right away, at least as far as consistency (even edges, even picks, etc.) and the usual things beginning weavers need to work on.  I hope they are inspired to take up tablet weaving after that promising start.

As usual, I'm not sure what I'll be making next.

A 9-strand braid from the paper on Lieto Ristonpelto Grave 86

This is a 9-strand braid that is shown in the paper about Lieto Ristonpelto Grave 86.  It has a few errors, but that's OK; it's a learning piece.  As I wrote in the previous post on something from this paper, the source is here:  https://muinaistutkija.journal.fi/article/view/138060/91515 which is "Liedon Ristinpellon haudan 86 nauhat -- uusia havaintoja ja ennallistuksia" by Jenni Sahramaa, Krista Wright, Maikki Karisto & Mervi Pasanen.  I think this is the source: Muinaistutkija 4/2023: 39–62

I can't quite tell if this braid is an artifact in the grave, or if it's a general example showing how to recognize twill braids and their innate structure.  I'll have to translate more of the paper to see.  There's definitely a similar style of braid that was found in the grave, though it has 21 strands and the one above has 9.

There are a lot of these twill-like braids out there, with various over-2-under-2 configurations.

It took me a few minutes to work from the diagram and figure out the easy/obvious way to braid it.  That's because I'm still a noob.

Here's the original diagram from Maikki Karisto (p. 43):

So....  There are many ways to do this, some of which are more fiddly than others and/or don't give the right color progression.

The easy way is probably incredibly obvious to anyone who does a lot of braiding.

This is done with an odd number of strands.  And the element always goes from the outside to the middle.

One side has 5 strands and one side has 4.

On the side with 5 strands:  Take the outer element.  It goes over 2 elements, then under 2 elements, and drop it in the middle (it's now on the other half of the braid).

Repeat on the other side, since it's now the side with 5 strands.

Etc.

I did use the pic to set up the braid so that the color progression would be the same.

The 21-strand braid later in the paper is made the same way -- with 21 strands total, one side has 10 and one side has 11 strands.  The side with 11 strands takes the outermost element over 2, under 2, over 2, under 2, over 2, then drops it in the middle, so that the other side is now the side with 11 strands.

And yes, this generalizes to just about all odd numbers.  It can be over/under different numbers of strands, of course -- both of the above braids are a multiple of 4 + 1, so the over 2 under 2 pattern fits neatly into the number of strands.  It can be done with an even number but the middle gets slightly fiddly since it's gonna be inherently asymmetric -- see the braid from Hedeby Apron Dress Fragment for an example with 6 strands.

So I am very pleased with myself that this all seems nicely obvious now.

Other than that, I'm doing a bit of tablet weaving (destined to be a gift) and contemplating what else I'm in the mood to do.