Attempts at Nalbinding - Some of My Successes and Challenges!

Hey everybody!

Nevermind all of this lovely fall weather we've been having - I've been busy inside nalbinding, and thought I would check in to share with you some of my experiences so far.

I am quite pleased that the Oslo stitch that Linda taught us has stuck around in my mind. I practiced the stitch several times before I began with my 'good' yarn, and by the time I started to use it, I mostly had the stitch down and things were going quite smoothly.


I've been using one of the wooden needles that we made, and it has been serving me quite well. Each time I begin, it takes me just a few stitches to get used to it again, but soon I get into a 'groove' and I remember how enjoyable it really is! It's truly amazing, the calmn that a practice like this can bring to you. I have really been enjoying it, and think that I will be continuing - either with this or with knitting, in the future. The only thing that doesn't yet come naturally is the felting together of yarn pieces every few minutes after I have completed several stitches, and I have an uneasy feeling that this process will never really 'come easy'. Perhaps all of the work of felting is part of the reason why nalbinding is used so infrequently today!

Colourful yarn from Knotty by Nature

One evening I got so into the hat that I am making, that I went a bit further than intended - before I knew it, I had a large doily-looking item in front of me! I had forgotten while I was nalbinding that although it is necessary to use increasing stitches in order to make a hat, that you can't only increase or you will have one large and flat bunch of knitting rather than the slope that is needed in a hat. I am a little bit worried about the overall effect that this has had on my hat seeing as I had already made quite a large, flat, and round product.  I am now experimenting with some ideas and patterns of using primarily regular stitches, and only increasing approximately six times throughout the round of the hat.

Hopefully the hat turns out - but either way, many of you will get to see the finished product in person in just over a week!

Happy Thursday!

-KA