On a Knitting Kick.....

[purplequeenvt]

I've started the blanket for my little brother. Actually, I've started it 4 times. I tried 3 different patterns and then tore it out again because I had goofed something up and I wanted to change the needle size.

 

[Niele da Kine]

No worries, 'tinking' happens. 'Tinking' is when you knit backwards. Generally, it will take me several starts before the yarn, needles and pattern are all happy with each other. Changing at the beginning of a project is much easier than halfway through.

Knitting season is starting, isn't it? Hmm, what to make next? Maybe another shawl? The last one just sold at the shop yesterday so it's time to make another. Shawls are great fun, they start with a little 'tab' at the center back, I usually like about six stitches wide by however many rows the stitches the center design requires. Then pick up the stitches along the sides of the tab and that's the beginning of the shawl. This is for triangle shawls square shawls are like a big wide scarf.

 

[Kusanar]

I'm a crocheter not a knitter. I DO knit, but I grumble about it the entire time and I absolutely HATE purling so I am best when knitting in the round so I can just knit around without having to worry about changing anything. So far, I have spun up yarn and made a hat as my first completed handspun project, I am working on nalbinding a bag with more handspun though.

 

[Niele da Kine]

Pictures? It would be interesting to see what nalbinding looks like! More like knitting or more like crochet or not like either? Although, I suppose one could google it, but that wouldn't be as interesting as seeing something by someone who's making it that you can talk to.

 

[Kusanar]

Pictures? It would be interesting to see what nalbinding looks like! More like knitting or more like crochet or not like either? Although, I suppose one could google it, but that wouldn't be as interesting as seeing something by someone who's making it that you can talk to.

This is the bag with a drawstring I lucet braided for it. It really doesnt look like either. Technically this is the wrong side but it looks about the same on both sides. I'm going to put about another inch on the top with holes all the way around to run the drawstring through. I will finish the drawstring by putting a metal or antler bead on each end and then knotting the ends (to hold the beads on).

Please excuse the unevenness toward the bottom, I'm still a beginning spinner and the yarn is very thick and thin and then I was also learning to keep my stitches even so it's getting better toward the top where the spinning and nalbinding skills are getting better the further I go.

 

[Baymule]

That looks real nice to me!

 

[Niele da Kine]

What an interesting method! Nalbinding doesn't look knit, crocheted or woven, yet it has an 'authenticity' to it that just screams 'hand crafted with skill'. Anyone in the Society for Creative Anachronism would drool over it since it's very well made but not machine made. Very well done for a first spinning/nalbinding project.

Lovely color of wool? Alpaca? Was it from your critters?

 

[Kusanar]

What an interesting method! Nalbinding doesn't look knit, crocheted or woven, yet it has an 'authenticity' to it that just screams 'hand crafted with skill'. Anyone in the Society for Creative Anachronism would drool over it since it's very well made but not machine made. Very well done for a first spinning/nalbinding project.

Lovely color of wool? Alpaca? Was it from your critters?

It is a roving I bought. It is black Jacob's sheep wool. I imagine they were a little sunbleached because it is more of a very dark chocolate. I'm thinking about getting jacob sheep so I wanted to work with their wool first to make sure I liked it.

 

[Kusanar]

I had to make more yarn yesterday, so I may finish the bag tonight or at least this week. Need to start adding the holes for the drawstring to go through. You can chain as well as doing connected stitches (similar to crochet though not the same method) so I will mark places where I want the holes, then as I come to the markers, I will chain 2-3 then skip the same number, then reconnect and go on, this should leave little slits that the cord I braided will go through (I still need to wash and finish the cord, I made it with the freshly spun yarn without finishing it yet so it's still all twisty... lol) to be a drawstring.

I go to renaissance fairs, so this will be a belt pouch. I will probably make another cord and just put it through some of the slots in the back to hang it from the belt.

One of the bonuses to nalbinding is that because each stitch is actually a knot, if something wears out or breaks, you just have a hole, it won't just work loose and fall apart like crochet or knitting will if the yarn breaks somewhere in the middle. I'm really enjoying the process. It is really slow due to having to sew in every stitch and spit splice every 3-6 feet or so of yarn, but something in me just says "this feels right" when I'm doing it. No, I won't ever make a blanket or something big like that with handspun nalbinding, but I could possibly see doing a scarf and would definitely make a hat that way, I have a ton of hats though because they are fast and easy... I need to make something different. I also haven't figured out how to do a flat piece, it CAN be done, but it's a more advanced thing to do and I need to play around with it more, but I haven't tried since I first started with this bag, so after all of this practice (I probably have 8-10 hours or so in the bag so far) I might be able to see where I need to put the next stitch easier.

 

[Niele da Kine]

Knotting each stitch sounds like a much slower method of construction than knitting or crochet. But once done it will stay done, that's a good thing.

I use Hula Bunny yarn for most projects since it's the yarn using the wool from our bunnies. It felts since it's an angora/Merino/silk mix and the Merino isn't superwash. Which means it doesn't come apart when anything gets a hole in it since the fibers kind of become one after awhile. I'll 'fuller' woven items which is kind of a deliberate felting and that makes it a fabric that doesn't unravel.

Does the Jacob fiber felt? Once your bag was done, it could be hand washed in hot soapy water to felt it a bit and make it even more unlikely to ever unravel.

How are you spinning the yarn if it's only in 3 to 6 foot long pieces? Or is using a short piece of yarn part of the nalbinding process?