Nalbinding isn’t the only corpus that is spread out across many institutions. Recently a number of museums have added to their online collection databases and we are now able to see quite a few more blue and white knitted artifacts from Egypt.
In 2019 I had the opportunity to go to the Museum der Kulturen Basel to study the nalbinding they have in their collection. While there, they shared a few pieces of their blue and white knitting with me as well. As they were putting it away, I got hints that they had an extensive collection. The Museum der Kulturen Basel has just recently put their collection online and there are some amazing pieces. Their database does not have permalinks to individual artifacts, so you will need to search via the Object Number for more details on each piece: https://www.mkb.ch/en/museum/sammlung.html
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I hope everyone had an excellent Worldwide Nalbinding in Public Day! I know I did. In our planning of this particular research trip, where exactly we would be today was a bit amorphous as we planned to explore a variety of small museums around the Four Corners region searching for nalbinding and basketry of the Cliff Dweller and Ancestral Pueblos peoples.
It turns out, the Grand Canyon is a glorious location to nalbind in public.
Holly Dawn Hewlett filmed Anne Marie Decker Nalbinding in Public at the Grand Canyon on the 10th anniversary of International Nalbinding in Public Day.Anne Marie Decker Nalbinding in Public at the Grand Canyon on Worldwide Nalbind in Public Day 2025.
I am looking forward to nalbinding in public this coming September 1st on the tenth anniversary of Worldwide Nalbind in Public day. Exciting plans are beginning to form. Find your string and get your needle ready.
The International Nalbinding Day or Worldwide Nalbind in Public Day was started in 2016. I missed the first few years, but here’s a review of what I’ve been up to for the last few.
In 2024, I had the pleasure of nalbinding in two venues: online on Zoom in our weekly Nalbinding Get Togethers with friends on three continents and later at a wedding in a beautiful venue. Facebook has also kind enough to remind me of where I was nalbinding on previous Nalbind in Public days.
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Nalbinding has officially become popular enough that AI is now being used to create nalbinding craft books for sale that will likely trick beginners looking for a cheap entry level instruction books. Unfortunately, the results of using AI to write a nalbinding book currently read like a badly mangled plagiarized scraping of internet blog posts combined into sections that don’t have any logical flow. Not only do the instructions not have the insights from an established nalbinding instructor that are necessary to enhance learning, they actively are wrong and do not make any sense. Add to that, their history sections and stitch name to classification cross walks are all mixed up.
Do not waste your money. These two books appear to be entirely AI generated. They contain random text about nalbinding that clearly has been scraped from internet and put together into erroneous claims. One is completely without pictures and the other only has two pictures. The text is illogical and grammatically messy. Measurements alternate between cm and inches without any logical reason. The pictures on the front covers are clearly AI generated. The picture on the left looks more like a bad interpretation of crochet. The picture on the right is not a recognizable stitch and has a very odd thumb. Unfortunately, it is not possible to learn nalbinding with the help of these books.
For a craft where there is already both insufficient and diffusely produced research, no consolidated corpus of historical artifacts (I’m working on both of these1), and limited modern craft instructions available,2 these AI produced books do nothing to contribute to the craft. In fact, they are likely to convince people to not even continue to try learning what is a beautiful and widely diverse craft.
Do not waste your money on AI written nalbinding books. If you’d like to learn to nalbind, there are several venues suitable to multiple different learning styles. If you like videos, there are a lot on YouTube. My videos can be found here: Nalbinding by Anne Marie Decker, but Sanna-Mari’s cover a wide variety of stitches: https://www.en.neulakintaat.fi/. If you prefer static diagrams or pictures, there are several instruction books currently on the market produced by real live people that have experience teaching nalbinding. Besides my own instruction manuals mentioned in the footnotes below, some of my favorites are: Maria Lind Heel’s out of Denmark (available at https://www.etsy.com/shop/HistoricalcraftsDK) and Kaupeyrir’s out of the UK (https://www.etsy.com/shop/Kaupeyrir). What are your favorites?
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My thanks to Ingela Andersson Lindberg for bringing these to my attention.
Edit (8/13/25): And three more, just in the last few days. One only has 3 pages. None of the cover art is even remotely nalbinding.
The insights available in a properly organized database are fascinating and clear even from the initial efforts. What is also clear is that we need a proper protocol for examining and reporting on the characteristics of nalbound fabrics as much of the published research is lacking details that facilitate any broader analysis. ↩︎
Fresh off the presses, we’ve got a new article that includes quite a few nalbound examples; including one I hadn’t seen before!
“Icelandic mittens from archaeological contexts” by Charlotte Rimstad, Ulla Mannering, Joe W. Walser III, Freyja H. Ó. Sesseljudóttir and Susanne Mueller includes some very nice photographs of several nalbound mittens; the one found in Iceland and several comparables from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
When they say click on the image, they mean click on the orange cover image with the pair of mittens on it. That is the only place where the download link is located. I have heard there are some issues with the image loading on some mobile devices.
Just before I left for Ghana, I received formal notice that my presentation proposal, submitted in September, has been accepted. I will be presenting “Knee-length nalbound stockings from medieval Scandinavia: Two previously unexamined examples” (abstract below) in the DISTAFF (Discussion, Interpretation, and Study of Textile Arts, Fabrics, and Fashion) and MEDATS (Medieval Dress and Textile Society) sponsored session “For Dress and Textiles (1): Tools and Techniques” at the upcoming (May 8-10, 2025) International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
K’zoo, as it is often affectionately called, is a three day conference that takes place every year on the Western Michigan University campus. Around 1500 presentations, workshops, and demonstrations will occur. Given my lack of a time machine, we will have to select only a few of the around 500 sessions offered to attend. Mom and I tend to focus on those sessions that are textile related. But if there are no textile session offered in a particular time slot, we have found that we often enjoy the environmental sciences presentations.
This year, in addition to presenting in the Tools and Techniques session, I will also be participating in the DISTAFF sponsored Medieval Dress and Textile Arts Display and Demonstration immediately following. Looks like I need to get to nalbinding. But first, find the right yarn…
Title: Knee-length nalbound stockings from medieval Scandinavia: Two previously unexamined examples
Abstract: Over fifty years ago, excavations in the affluent neighborhoods near the Royal Palaces in medieval Nidaros, modern day Trondheim, Norway, and in Helgeandsholmen, Stockholm, Sweden revealed the earliest known knee-length nalbound stockings in Scandinavia. These extraordinary stockings underwent some conservation treatment but had not otherwise been examined in detail. This paper will address the results of recent examinations.
Both stockings exhibit evidence of wear. The toes are damaged or missing. They also share a type of heel, similar to the one on the Uppsala exemplar, that is first seen on socks and stockings of this timeframe. Nalbound knee-length stockings are extremely rare in the pre-Modern Era as most socks made using the technique of nalbinding are ankle length.
The 14th-century wool stocking found under the floorboards in medieval Nidaros is the earliest known example of the Dalby stitch, UOU/OUOO F1, and of what can provisionally be termed three-pass spiral intralacement. It is also the first instantiation of the so-called Russian family of stitches in Kaukonen’s classification system.
The 15th-century wool stocking from Helgeandsholmen is now in three parts, two of which are attached to the conservation mount (the leg and separate midfoot/heel). Examination to identify the specific stitch showed it to be in the two-pass family (Kaukonen’s Finnish family), not three as is the Nidaros stocking.
There is evidence of later re-use of the fabric of the stockings as both have regular holes that are brought into alignment by fold lines and were found with one or more sticks still in them. The area proximal to the holes shows compression, minimal fulling, and retains flexibility. A dark shiny substance appears to be embedded in the fabric more distant from the holes. With a layer of random fibers on the Nidaros stocking, this completely obscures the textile structure in those areas.
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For this week’s Nalbound Object of the Week, I’m delighted to be able to bring you evidence of the current tradition of nalbinding in Northern Ghana. I’d had hints that the technique might be found in West Africa, but nothing Ghanaian specific. Thus, imagine my excitement when I came across an example in the Accra Arts Center. I was initially concerned it might be an import, but seeing several others in Cape Coast and with some additional information obtained during bargaining, we’ve confirmed they are a product of Northern Ghana.
Object: Ghanaian bag with coiled base
Description: A cross-body bag with a solid bottom. All the versions I saw were various stripes of natural color, deep purple, and dark blue. This one had some purple going around the mouth and up the strap.
Dated to: 2024. Collected on 21 October, 2024 in the Accra Art Center
Find location: Accra Arts Center, in a stall selling goods from Northern Ghana. The sellers spoke Degaare, which indicates they are of the Dagaaba/Dagaati people. Additional examples were also spotted in a market stall in Cape Coast.
Material: a plant fiber, possibly jute, in natural, purple, and deep blue. The purple is water soluble and can transfer.
Stitch(es) used: Main body is Z-crossed Simple Looping, F1 O. There’s a bit of Cross-knit Looping at the center base and Coiling: Z-crossed Simple Looping around a bundle of carried sticks. Further examination is needed for the stitch around the mouth. (Stitch determinations by Anne Marie Decker)
Inventory number: N/A
Current location: Anne Marie Decker’s personal collection
Photographs:
View of the stripes and connections. Photo credit: Anne Marie DeckerCloseup of the base showing the carried stiffener material. Photo credit: Anne Marie DeckerThe base of the bag is stiffened. Photo credit: Anne Marie DeckerAdditional details of the bag in Anne Marie Decker’s collection. Another bag seen in Cape Coast. Photo credit: Anne Marie DeckerMore bags seen in Cape Coast. Photo credit: Anne Marie DeckerThe handles of the bags in Cape Coast. Photo credit: Anne Marie DeckerThe cross-knit looping start before the stiffened section. Photo credit: Anne Marie DeckerMouth and handle attachment. Photo credit: Anne Marie DeckerDetails of the four similar bags seen in a market stall in Cape Coast.
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The shape of the cuff of this week’s Nalbound Object of the Week never really fit with the 10th century dating assigned to it when it was found in the late 19th century. Recent radiocarbon dating reveals that the mitten from Iceland is dated to between the late 15th to early 17th centuries CE which makes much more sense given its shaping. As more research is conducted on nalbinding, we begin to get a clearer picture of its usage, distribution, and dating.
Arnheiðarstöðum Iceland mitten Þjms. 3405 back on display after I examined it. Photo credit: Anne Marie Decker – 1 Sept 2022
Object: Iceland Mitten
Description: The mitten is densely nalbound of a two ply yarn made of wool fibers of two colors and crimps. Overall the mitten is currently a lovely reddish brown, but close examination shows that there are some darker smoother fibers intermittently mixed with lighter brown crimpier fibers bringing to mind the two coated sheep of Iceland. There is some damage to the cuff and a bit near the base of the pinky finger, but overall the mitten is in good condition. The thumb is rather large in comparison to the size of the fingers and lays flat with an extremely neatly worked connection. It is worked from the tip to the cuff. The direction of work spirals in an S slant fashion which gives the appearance of a right to left working direction when observing the current exterior. However, the stitch itself belies the thought that it might have been worked left handed and more likely it has been turned inside out leaving the technical front currently inside.
Dated to: Recently radiocarbon dated to 1480-1640 CE.1 The original dating of the 10th century had been estimated when the mitten was found in the late 19th century and was based on jewelry found nearby.2
Find location: The mitten was found in 1889 when they were digging to build a new house at the farm at Arnheiðarstaðir in the east of Fljótsdalshérað, Iceland.3
Material: Wool4 Two-ply with a diameter of just under 1/8th inch (3mm).5
Stitch(es) used: Oslo F1, F1 UO/UOO6 (Stitch determination by Margrethe Hald. Confirmed by Anne Marie Decker during her examination of the mitten on 1 September 2022)
Gauge: 6 stitches to the inch. 1 and 3/4 rows to the inch.7
Pálsson, Pálmi. 4. Tveir hanzkar in “Um myndir af gripum í forngripa-safninu.” Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags10. Reykjavik 1895. pgs. 34-35.
Rimstad, Charlotte, Ulla Mannering, Joe Wallace Walser III, and Susanne Mueller. “ICELANDIC MITTENS” Oral Presentation at the European Association of Archaeologists 29th EAA Annual Meeting in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 30 August – 2 September 2023 https://www.e-a-a.org/EAA2023/Programme.aspx?Program=3 click on the Abstract Book (30 Aug) link to find the abstract.
Photographs:
Arnheiðarstöðum Iceland mitten Þjms. 3405 Photo credit: Anne Marie Decker – 24 Jan 2019Display including the Arnheiðarstöðum Iceland mitten Þjms. 3405 Photo credit: Anne Marie Decker – 24 Jan 2019 Anne Marie Decker’s hand comparing size with the Arnheiðarstöðum Iceland mitten Þjms. 3405 Photo credit: Anne Marie Decker – 24 Jan 2019Tip of Arnheiðarstöðum Iceland mitten Þjms. 3405 and thumb. Photo credit: Anne Marie Decker – 24 Jan 2019Arnheiðarstöðum Iceland mitten Þjms. 3405 taken from above to better show the damage to the outer edge. Photo credit: Anne Marie Decker – 24 Jan 2019Photos taken when I first saw the mitten on display in January 2019.
Please note that sharing to other venues will likely be intermittent. If you wish to receive these each week, please remember to follow the blog. Patrons on Patreon receive early access previews, occasional extra details, and priority requests.
The museum made the decision to post the recent radiocarbon dating in the online catalog entry for the mitten https://sarpur.is/Adfang.aspx?AdfangID=323304 Accessed 27 May 2024. The online catalog entry also contains a link to the testing laboratory’s Report of Radiocarbon Dating Analyses: https://sarpur.is/Uploads/Files/2290209.pdf (Accessed 23 June 2024). The dating was presented in the Icelandic Mittens presentation given by Charlotte Rimstad et. al. at the European Association of Archaeologists 29th annual meeting in Belfast in 2023 which was apparently not recorded, but the dating is noted in the Abstract for the presentation (pg. 1079 of linked pdf). Apparently an article will be forthcoming in an issue of the Norwegian Textile Review this summer or fall. ↩︎
Hald, Margrethe. “Vötturin fra Arnheidar-Stödum” in Arbok Hins islenzka fornleifafélags, 50. årgang, 1949-1950, Island, pgs. 73-78 ↩︎
Maintaining a flat spiral in nalbinding can be challenging. There are limited instructional resources compared to knitting and crochet. Nalbinders often use instinctive strategies for increasing or decreasing stitches, considering loop angles. Proper alignment helps avoid ruffles.
Maintaining a flat spiral in nalbinding is something that people often find tricky in the beginning. Other looping techniques, such as knitting and crochet, have had many instructions published on the number of stitches to add in each round in order to build a flat circle at a variety of gauges. Nalbinding does not have that wealth of instructional history yet.
Many nalbinders rely on more instinctive increasing strategies, given the lack of pre-tested and published instructions. There are numeric strategies that one can use to help you determine the number of stitches, but they are affected by grist of yarn,1 stitch choice, and gauge used. While it can be a helpful guide, translating from the instructions for its looped cousins can also present challenges as they are often written for rounds, not spirals.
I tend to fall in the instinctive category of nalbinders. If it needs to get bigger, add more stitches. Needs to be smaller, decrease. But it’s not entirely just intuitive. I do pay conscious attention to the angles of my working loops in relation to the growing textile and that informs my decisions.
Specifically, I compare the angle at which my thumb loop intersects the line from the center of the textile through my connection point (where I take the next connection stitch).
When the thumb loop leans away from the center line, it needs an increase to keep the spiral fabric flat. When it is parallel to or just leaning away slightly, no increase is needed. Just take a regular stitch. If the thump loop crosses the center line, you have too many increases and likely need a decrease or two to avoid ruffling your fabric. It’s best to always stay just not quite parallel and never cross the line unless a ruffled fabric is what you are aiming for.
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