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.