Naalbinding

April 12, 2009 at 9:21 am | Posted in Fiber Arts | Leave a comment

Looking at all of the wonderful projects that were entered in our Baronial A&S contest this year reminds me of my own entries a few years ago. I entered several skeins of variously dyed wool and a pair of nalbinding mittons. It’s funny, because the dyeing was what actually won the contest via the numbers, but it’s the mittons that everyone in the Barony remembers.

The mittons, seen below, were my first naalbinding project. At the time I had taught myself how to do it from books and the internet, and never actually seen an example. I’d also never seen or done any felting, so I decided not to attempt that aspect, which was often done to mittons and socks. Two years and more A&S experience later, and I wish that I had felted them. Not only would the general effect be nicer, but I think that the slightly jagged color exchanges in the stripes – an inevitable result due to the nature of naablinding in more than one color – would have blended together with a bit more finesse. Ah well, the next pair….

It appears that the file labeled “naalbinding documentation” on my computer is actually the documentation for the dyeing entry that I submitted at the same event. I’m going to have to hunt around for my paper copy, because the striped effect was based on a period example, but is slightly unusual enough that I know I’ll need to produce my references for people who are curious about the subject.