Nalbinding – It's Not Knitting
Heritage techniques for the contemporary textile crafter
Nalbinding – It's Not Knitting Heritage techniques for the contemporary textile crafter
Description
Put down your knitting and pick up something new – and old – with these 20 projects teaching needle-looped stitches from across the millennia.
Nalbinding – loop-manipulated textiles that use just a single needle – can be traced as far back as the Mesolithic period and is still popular in Scandinavia. The results of the various techniques can resemble wool knitting or be worked as an open mesh akin to netting; it can be dense and warm or light and airy; and can use thick woollen yarns or be worked in thin, smooth plant fibres.
This guide containing modern-day designs will teach you various nalbinding techniques and stitches dating from the Stone Age, through the Bronze Age, Ancient Egypt, into medieval Scandinavia and beyond. Sally Pointer's photographic step-by-step instructions will show you how to create your own knotless netting shopping bag, drawing on a Neolithic textile fragment; craft a messenger bag using Oslo, Mammen and Dalby stitches; and knock up practical old favourites such as pixie hats, socks, slippers and, of course, mittens!
Table of Contents
Part One: Background and Basics
- PROJECT 1: Make Your Own Nalbinding Needle
Part Two: Needle-tensioned Stitches
- PROJECT 2: String Bag (simple looping)
- PROJECT 3: Shopping Basket (looping around a core)
- PROJECT 4: Phone Case (looping around a core)
- PROJECT 5: Dice Bag (looping around a core)
- PROJECTS 6 & 7: Festival Socks (Coptic Stitch, Tarim Stitch)
- PROJECT 8: Sock Toppers (York Stitch)
Part Three: Thumb-tensioned Stitches
- PROJECT 9: Moebius Scarf
- PROJECT 10: Oslo-Stitch Hat
- PROJECT 11: Spiral Stripes Hat
- PROJECT 12: Hot Water Bottle Cover
- PROJECT 13: Gauntlet MIttens
- PROJECT 14: Fingerless Mittens
- PROJECT 15: Tablet or Journal Case
- PROJECT 16: Knotwork Capelet
Part Four: Socks, Technical Information, References
- PROJECT 17: Short Row Heels
- PROJECT 18: Flap Heels
- PROJECT 19: Tongue Heels
- PROJECT 20: Squashy Socks
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References
Resources
Index
Product details
| Published | 23 Mar 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Paperback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 160 |
| ISBN | 9781789943061 |
| Imprint | Herbert Press |
| Illustrations | Illustrated in full colour throughout. |
| Dimensions | 280 x 216 mm |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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