Recently 2 people’s posts/ email arrived , both referring to Nalbinding. I have never taken an in person class called Nalbinding but was aware of it and I found out more about it in an excellent early textiles online course I took at the beginning of last year (2025). I followed this up with further research and zoom sessions and then realised some classes I had done a few years back were being put under the Nalbinding umbrella.
I already had some samples in simple looping, cross knit looping, sprang etc
Cross knit looping sample from a few years ago, worked 'circular'
The early textiles course was by Sally Pointer who has recently published a book called Nalbinding. The introductory page says Nalbinding It’s not a knitting!
My second cross knit looping sample which I turned into a portable pocket some years ago . ie I put loops on the pocket and buttons on some of my skirts on the inside of the waistband so I always had a pocket for a handkerchief. (1)
So all this thinking about simple looping and cross knit looping encouraged me to make some more samples.
Recent simple looping worked around a mould. Again my plan for this was to make a slightly larger portable pocket.This is worked top to bottom.
Picture of this off the mould, washed and dressed as I would for knitting.
Notice the shape compared to the mould! It seems as I got more confident I tightened up the tension but this was not obvious on the mould….this is an important point for later in this post.
So then I turned to the cross knit looping. I started this on a mould and then took it off when it was large enough to manipulate in my hands. Again this was looser at the top, I have tightened up the initial threads.
Sally Pointer includes these techniques in Part Two of her book, Needle Tensioned Stitches. She notes that loop manipulated fabrics date back to 8,500 years ago (Mesolithic era). (2)
There are a number of differences between these techniques and what we call knitting, included in the general term Nalbinding by Sally Pointer in her book.
Looping and cross knit looping compared to knitting:
- Use one needle in their construction, not 2 or more as in knitting
- Uses short lengths of thread that need joining during construction, rather than the continuous thread in knitting
- Cannot be pulled out easily compared to knitting which can be pulled out
The pocket I made and have used as a pocket was not 100% successful, as the loops were too long and kept coming off the buttons, it was also too narrow. I determined to make some button holes in the actual looped fabric I completed recently.
This is the result. Cutting across, the stitches did not ladder down but would 'undo' horizontally. The insert is to allow the hole to be seen.
....and with button hole stitch which stabilised the holes easily by doing the stitch into one 'round' back. I think this could probably have been designed into the knitting, something to try! (This is the most uneven side as it will be next to the garment! I have pinned up the bottom as it too long and I will cut and stitch to shape later.)
But how might I improve the shape.?The shape I achieved was due to varying tension. Then I thought that this does not happen in knitting as needles of a constant diameter are used. If I thought of this perhaps so did the initial makers using these techniques, very many years ago. So I throw this idea into the thinking pot of Nalbinding transitioning somehow into knitting.
As I was thinking about this a researcher working on this came to my attention via a mutual friend in Yell, Shetland. (3)
The research is being done by Irene Waggener and she has a detailed blog which if you are interested in this sort of thing I suggest you read. (4)
As those who know me well, I love books. This one was referred to in a zoom talk about the Nasca People in Southern Peru. It includes some superb needlework from about 2000 years ago here they made intricate 3 figures in cross knit looping These were frequently used as borders on garments. Given the age of the work and the fineness it complexity blows a hole in myths that these peoples were primitive. I do not want to post any photos from the book, which is larger than A4 size and rich in photography. If you use a search engine to look for images of early Nasca cross knit lopping you should get several examples.
If you are interested in how knitting came to be, I would very much welcome comments or further links to read.
Notes
- I am one of those people who can’t go anywhere with a fine lawn or linen handkerchief and have a set I made over the years edged, by me, with crochet completed with a micro sized crochet hook where you can feel but see the actual hook!
- This is very interesting to me as the I have a dead horse chestnut root at the bottom of the garden that has brought up a range of flints and chalk. Some noted as being Mesolithic flint flakes. I need to find to chip away more at this potentially interesting heap.
- The Shetland fiend is Helen Hart of ‘Hart of Shetland’. If you are in Shetland do try and search her out, if you are not able to go to this wonderful place the you can find her on iG
- Blog for Irene Waggener is Stories from the Road – 106 Meters from the Road