Little braiding and nalbinding twiddles

I've been playing around with nalbinding stuff, not really starting a new project yet, but exploring various stitches and technique/ergonomics ideas.

Many get unraveled and then I do something else.  But I still have the above two twiddles and I'd better record them before they too get unraveled.

I'm pretty sure the top one (brown) is Finnish 2+2.  (But maybe it's not?)  I tried some F2 and also F1 connecting stitches though those have been unraveled.  The bottom one (mostly white) is Mammen stitch -- 1 +2 F2.  I've also done some Korgen (1+2 F1) and Fåberg (2+1 F2, though I also played with F1) and also tried couple of others though I don't remember exactly what.  Did I do them "correctly"?  Eh, who knows.  I'm still a bit shaky on identifying loops at times.

At some point, I'll do York (aka Coppergate/Jorvik), but people seem to have a lot of strong negative opinions about this stitch and how it behaves.  A few people love it, of course.  But the ones who don't love it are vocal in their annoyance with the stitch.  It twists like crazy and is very loose.  Some of the looseness can be dealt with by tensioning/tightening the stitch on the needle.  I'm not sure about the twist -- I've seen some pics of pieces that look fine (mostly with a center start) and others where the person said that steam blocking had been necessary to get it to lie flat.   What I like about it is that it is so similar to Oslo stitch in how it's made, especially using one's thumb, and yet the stitch ends up looking and behaving rather differently.

I also want to play around with some of the really simple stitches that aren't much more complicated than a single loop, whether it's independent of its neighbors or does a loop-and-twist (such as the ones Sally Pointer shows in her youtube channel, or bilum string bags) or connects with the previous loop (Danish stitch).   The York stitch seems to be like that except that it seems to go through the two previous loops instead of one, though maybe I'll change my mind on that if/when I do it.

I'm not sure what other stitches I want to play around with in these fairly simple stitch families before attempting more complicated stitches.

I want to do another project soon.  I'm thinking a bag.  So.  That probably means doing an oval/flat start.  Yay, a new skill!  I can do center starts and cylinders already.  What stitch shall I use?  Hmmm.  Another hat would be good, too.

A question, which I can either try myself or look up to see if someone else has tried it -- is it possible (or desirable) to do the equivalent of a three-needle-bind-off in nalbinding?  In other words, can I take two pieces/sides of nalbinding and join them together with a connection stitch that takes a loop from the front and back pieces before (or as part of) making the next stitch? And if so, what does it look like, inside and out?  Maybe pick up loop from front piece, go through loop(s) behind thumb, pick up loop from back piece, finish the stitch by making a new thumb loop?

I also taught my first class in nalbinding earlier this week.  Yes, with approximately one week of experience, I taught people who were new.  They agreed to be guinea pigs knowing that I was a near novice who wanted to test my own understanding.  It went reasonably well, though each student had a point where they were ready to give up, hated everything and everyone, etc.

One person had 3D printed a few needles, which worked beautifully.  They had little cats on them and the hold for the yarn was in the shape of a heart.  So cute!  I didn't take any home, but now I know where and how I can get my own nalbinding needle(s) instead of using the metal yarn tapestry needle.

I wanted to teach Oslo stitch and hopefully get to the point where people could join their foundation chain into a cylindrical spiral piece.  We didn't get quite that far.  So that was good for me to understand.  There really does come a point in a class where people's brains are full and they don't want anything else before they process what they've just learned.

One person came up with an interesting variant on Oslo stitch.  Instead of flicking the old thumb stitch off the thumb to become the next behind-the-thumb loop, the person put the new thumb stitch over the old one, then flicked off the old one over the new one.  It adds an extra twist to the loop and tightens up the gauge.  I'm going to keep my eyes open as I start learning more stitches to see if I can recognize this as a known variant.  I'm also going to try it myself and see if I can wrap my brain around what it looks like in the Hansen-style notation.

Another thing we all though useful -- start with a smooth thick-ish cord such as macrame cord, and have everyone do the stitch maneuvers until they could identify which loop was which and what path the working yarn was taking.  After that, it was easier for people to return to fluffy yarn where they were using needles and all the loops and working yarn and everything are shifting and flopping around in all directions.  The existing loops shifting and the yarn flopping around in all directions and not being sure which end was which and where it ought to be is one of the big challenges for the new nalbinder.  I still struggle with it at times.

So.  If I teach nalbinding, how do I get people to the point where they can start making something in a class that is no more than 1-2 hours?  A series of classes rather than one?  Forcing people to turn their chains into cylinders even if they're not ready, especially if we're running out of class time?  Hand out a list of my favorite videos/websites/books and tell them they're on their own?

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In other string-related stuff, I did a quick sample of the Skjoldehamn braid, a 12-stranded braid in the twill style (i.e. elements go over/under more than 1 other element).  The real braid uses 2 strands for each braiding element.  Mine is a simple experiment so I did single strands.  I used two colors to help me keep track of things better as well as to show the braid structure more clearly.

I'm doing it freehand, nothing tensioning it beyond me adjusting the braid tension after each pass.  I did a few complete repeats and then got bored.  Dunno if I'll do anything more with how it's set up now or if I'll try a different braid or braids, change around the colors and then resume this braid, etc.

The Skjoldehamn 12-strand braid:  The outer element on the right goes over 3 and under 2.  The outer element on the left goes over 4 and under 2.  Repeat.  You don't really have to count the 3 and 4 -- just go under the 2 strands closest to the center.

Now I can check that off my list of things to try.  I could teach this at a class pretty easily -- it's a very straightforward braid.

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I still have my long want-to-do list and need-to-do list.  Dunno what'll happen next.  But I really do want to be able to comfortably teach a nalbinding class.  And I want to continue learning, make more real things, and all that stuff.  I might even want to make my own needles from random twigs and prunings that can be found in my area.

First Nalbinding Project -- the Classic Oslo Stitch Hat

I think it's done.  I'll let it sit for a while to be sure, but it fits and is long enough to cover the ears.  If I make it much longer, it may start becoming a slouchy hat instead, which is not what I've intended.

As I wrote in an earlier post, the yarn is a fairly thick single ply yarn, Aran or bulky weight.

My joins aren't always smooth.  Hopefully some of that will even out with time.

But I like it.  I always thought that nalbinding looked crude and primitive compared to knitting, but it has definitely grown on me over the years.  The texture now strikes me as interesting.  That's true in knitting, too -- I'm now a lot fonder of seed stitch and moss stitch and garter stitch and other textural patterns than I used to be.

I didn't measure my gauge as I went.  Not that it really matters since every project is gonna be unique for a while.  But I did measure it after taking the above photo.  My gauge with this stitch and this yarn and my current experience level is roughly 3.5 stitches per inch horizontally, and between 1/2" and 3/4" per row vertically.  The hat is roughly 8-9" deep and probably about 20-22" in circumference.

So that I don't need to go look at a bunch of other posts:  This is a hat made in Oslo stitch, a stitch which is sometimes referred to using 1+ 1 F1 and other times as UO / UO O F1.  I used my yarn tapestry needle and my thumb to make it.  It is my first real nalbinding project.  I did a circular start, increased for about 5 rounds, then continued with no further increases or decreases until the hat was Long Enough, about 14-15 rounds or so total rounds.

It's probably just as well that I do a lot of knitting from mental templates rather than explicit patterns.  I don't have trouble making things up as I go.  If I ever do fingerless mitts or socks, I'd better do them at the same time, though, so I have a better chance of getting two things to be the same size.

What's next?  More hats, probably.  And bags or baskets or hot pads/mats.  Maybe fingerless mitts but maybe not.  Maybe some little spheres that I can stuff and turn into cat toys.

I might also make some samplers in different stitches.  They can double as wristbands, I guess, or beverage cozies or little rings of no useful purpose.

So, a progression....  (to my noob brain)

First, there are simple buttonhole-stitch loops (aka half-hitches) that don't connect to each other horizontally, which is found worldwide and to me seems connected to basketry and netting as well.

Somewhere just after that are the simple looping and simple looping with a twist bags that are on Sally Pointer's youtube channel.  Bilums (string bags from Papua New Guinea and surrounding areas) might be sort of in this category, too.

Then there is Coptic stitch (aka Tarim stitch), where loops don't connect horizontally but do interlock a bit more vertically ( -/- O F1B1), and which is very common worldwide.

Then there are loops that connect to one previous loop horizontally, which at least some people call Danish stitch (O / UO).

There are other variations on all of the above, of course.  Some seem to split plies, which means, to me, that there are some affinities with ply-split braiding.  I mean, not really, but the idea of ply-splitting a perfectly good plied thread/cord is common to both.

Eventually one works up to Oslo and York stitch, which both have one loop in front of the thumb and one behind (i.e. horizontally linking with more than one loop) and many variations.

And then there are tons of stitches with more loops in front of and behind the thumbs, going into them in different directions and/or different interweaving patterns, different connection methods, etc.  And then more, but that's in my future and I don't know enough to understand differences and patterns and possibilities.

I may well change all of my conclusions as I continue exploring this.

Also, it seems like some things are conceptually a little bit different if you think about them in terms of making loops in front of and behind your thumb, vs making loops with freehand sewing through a line of loops where you explicitly keep track of going over/under/around with your needle.  I want to be able to think in both systems.  That's been kind of a fun thing as I romp through the current internet offerings about nalbinding.  Some people only use thumb methods, some only use freehand needle methods, and some use and discuss both.

And that's enough noobish blathering.  I want to do some braiding soon, and eventually I need to make the tablet-woven band that someone has requested.  Plus all the other things on my want-to-do list, including knitting and spinning.

First Nalbinding Project in Progress -- the classic Oslo stitch hat

I finished the last strand of random cotton and called my practice piece done.

The top three stripes were done using the F2 connection maneuver. They are a little tighter than the bottom stripes, but I don't know how much is due to doing F2 instead of F1 and how much is due to me getting a bit faster, smoother, and more consistent as I learned.

And then I started my first real project.  A hat using Oslo stitch with  the F1 connector stitch (1 + 1 F1) is a fairly common first project.  So why not?

It looks like a hat, yay, and very much like the hats I see people around me wearing.

Dunno if it's gonna be too big or too little.  If so, I'll find someone who fits it and/or will flip it upside down and turn it into a basket/bowl or a bag.

The yarn is probably acrylic.  It's a fairly chunky (a bit thicker than Aran weight) single ply yarn.  And I'm using my yarn needle again.

I started with 8 simple stitches into a center loop, then pulled the loop shut.  The stitches weren't made around my thumb -- I used the needle, with each new loop (buttonhole stitch aka half hitch) going through the center loop and the previous loop.

Then I switched to Oslo stitch.  One loop over the thumb.  One loop behind the thumb.  The working thread coming out from underneath the front loop.  The new loop goes through the back loop (front to back) then swivels around and goes under the front loop and working yarn, making a new loop over the thumb.  The old thumb loop becomes the new back loop, and continue.

I used the F1 connection maneuver -- the new stitch goes into the top/front loop of the stitch in the previous round, from front to back, before going into the back thumb loop.

First round -- two stitches in every stitch.  (i.e. increase in every stitch)

Second round -- two stitches in one stitch, one stitch in the next.  (i.e. increase in every other stitch)

Third round -- same as the second.  I noticed that the center round was forming a little point and wanted something that would lie flatter, so I did another round with a lot of increases.

Note to future me -- use more stitches in the initial starting round next time.  Many people use 10-15.

Fourth round -- two stitches in one stitch, one stitch in the next two stitches.

Fifth round -- two stitches in one stitch, one stitch in the next three stitches.

I decided that the hat was plenty wide enough at this point and then continued without any further decreases.

I don't really know how many stitches I have.  I'll have to count at some point.  I'm pretty sure I wasn't too consistent in where I stopped one round's increase pattern and started the next.  Not that it really matters, but I would like to have some idea of my gauge, just for fun.

Since this is acrylic yarn, I'm pretty sure, I kind of did a half-assed join where I sewed the ends through each other for a few inches.  It's not a perfect join and the yarn at those spots is a bit loose and fatter than the neighboring yarn.

The next nalbinding post is likely to show the finished hat.

After this, chances are I'll play around with different stitches.  Even the Oslo stitch has a lot of interesting things one can do with the stitch and with the connection options.  I'd also like to do some  flat-sewn nalbinding or at least figure out how to adjust tension for thinner yarns.  Around my thumb works for fat yarn but historically a lot of nalbinding is made from fairly fine yarns.  Plus the whole way that the loops get connected to each other is kind of interesting, and I want to understand the connection between the interconnected loops and how the thumb method helps keep that organized properly.  Maybe a thin rod of some sort (or the needle) was used to make smaller loops?

It feels weird to post a hat in my narrow wares blog.  But I did write, at the very beginning, that this blog was for things that didn't fit in my knitting blog.  My knitting blog is mostly well-known crafts and this one is more obscure crafts, apparently.

Today's Noobish Nalbinding Report

Nalbinding continues, yay.  After the black stripe, I switched from doing the F1 connection to the previous round, to the F2 connection, going through two stitches on the round beneath (the current stitch and the previous stitch) instead of one.  It seems to have a slightly tighter gauge -- look at how the work narrows in the red and white areas, though honestly, it might just be me getting a bit more comfortable and more consistent with doing the moves.  A lot of websites/people do say that the F2 version does lead to a denser fabric, though.

Also, it might be an illusion -- if I do a bit of wiggling of the sampler, it stretches out and all the stripes are the same.  Maybe they're a bit less elastic.  Another possibility is what I've seen in a few places, that one's gauge often tightens up a bit after a few rounds even when one isn't a complete noob.

I'm not sure which I like better.  But I'm expecting that to be true of nalbinding in general.  The different variations and stitches will be different, whether subtly or obviously, but all are fine.  They may have different properties in terms of elasticity, warmth, appearance, durability, etc.  I guess I'll find out with time.

I also have started doing an overlap when adding new yarn rather than tying a knot.  The new yarn traces the same path as the old yarn for a loop or so, and then I drop the old yarn and start the new, just being a little bit careful until the new loops are locked into place.  For "real" pieces, I'm not sure if I'd darn them in or just let them dangle and slowly get felted/fulled into place.  My expectation is that there's no such thing as a free lunch, and it's my choice if I want to spend my time spit-splicing or darning in ends.  (Ditto with all other crafts -- we can decide where we want to spend our time, and where we'd rather take the shortcut in one area that makes more work elsewhere.)

I don't particularly like the looseness of the weave.  Using the thumb as a gauge for the loops leads to a fairly open texture.  It's likely to be a lot tighter with thicker yarn.  I could try nalbinding around a thin dowel or something, or see if I can tension the loops around the needle rather than my thumb, I suppose.

I have one more blob of green cotton left, whether I use it on this piece or try something else.  If I use it on this piece, I'll probably do a few increases and/or decreases just to confirm that they are what I think they are.  Dunno what else to play with for the last round or two.

Then it will be time for a real project.  I'll do either a bag or a hat, probably.  Oslo stitch because it's a classic beginner choice.  Almost certainly the F1 connection version, since I like the hats I've seen on Ravelry where the nalbinder made that choice.  Probably top down, though I haven't decided for sure yet.  I'll probably use some bulky (or at least Aran weight) acrylic.  I'm sure the first project will have oddities and weirdnesses and inconsistencies and mistakes, but the only way to get better is to do the noobish stuff and gain experience.

Then I'll explore some of the other common stitches.  And maybe start using wool.

My beginner sampler almost works as is for a wrist-warmer, though I'm certainly not going to make another one!  Dunno if I'll turn this into a little bag or just toss it into the sampler pile.

Noobish Nalbinding cont'd

Here's the current bit of nalbinding noobishness, and the first pic I've taken.  I've done a foundation chain in Oslo stitch and have started a new round of Oslo stitch, yay, using only one loop from the previous round.

There are still plenty of oddities, as one would expect.

I'm using some random cotton that's lying around and tying knots to join the pieces.  It's a noob piece; I don't care.

Plans are to keep going until I get bored.  I might do a few increases or decreases, but really, those seem to be exactly how it's done in crochet or knitting, so I don't expect any conceptual difficulties.  Reality might be a bit different, I suppose.

And then I guess it's time for an actual useful-ish project.  After that, I'll experiment with some other stitches and stitch variations, and also do more projects and try different materials.

It still feels like sewing.  I guess there's a bit of magic in sewing interconnected loops into a 3D structure.  I wonder how much chain mail takes inspiration from nalbinding structures and vice versa.

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.