A couple of days ago we got back from three weeks in Scandanavia. The last weekend I spent being a guest at a festival, and the rest was holiday time – half in Norway, half in Denmark.

While in Oslo we visited the Viking Ship Museum, where I picked up this book and a nalbinding needle:

I soon stumbled upon a yarn store (and I kept stumbling upon them throughout the trip) and bought a ball of yarn so I could have a try. I was a little doubtful. I tried to learn nalbinding from a YouTube video a few years back with no success. However, the promise of “The easiest, clearest ever guide!” held up, and I soon was nalbinding away happily – but keeping it to one hour max sessions so I didn’t stir up my RSI.

First up I made a test piece, then started on a glove that I soon pulled apart because it was too small. The next attempt fit right and eventually turned into these:

On the last day before we came home I found another store, and bought more yarn to make a hat. Nalbinding doesn’t seem to bother my hands as much as knitting does. It’s more of a stitching action. Though I’ve grown more proficient with practise, having to attach new lengths of yarn with spit/water joins all the time makes it a slow process. And it doesn’t unravel like knitting and crochet do, so it’s slow to undo mistakes.

But it is fun, and the fabric is makes has an attractive texture and robust feel.