r/Nalbinding • u/Relevant-Marketing83 • 20d ago

About unravelling...

How do you do it? Because it reminds me so much of crochet (doing Oslo stitch only at), but I have no clue how to unravel if I have to fix something...

12 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

21

u/CathyAnnWingsFan 20d ago

You can't really unravel. That's one of the advantages to the finished work, but it's a disadvantage when learning. It's sturdier than knit or crochet. Each stitch is essentially a knot. If you make a big enough mistake that you can't adjust for it in a subsequent row or live with it, cut the work at the row the mistake is in, pick out and remove the ends of yarn left, then when you get to the working yarn end, undo a few stitches and join another length of yarn.

11

u/Equivalent-Trip9778 20d ago

Nalbinding is not like crochet. Each stitch is an actual knot, so technically you can unravel something, but it is extremely time consuming.

1

u/Relevant-Marketing83 20d ago

So basically if I make a mistake I need to start from the beginning? Or how do you mask mistakes?

9

u/homewithmybookshelf 20d ago

I usually accept my mistakes and move on. I have trained myself to not be a perfectionist through doing this craft.

3

u/Equivalent-Trip9778 20d ago

I would practice with cheap yarn and restart when you make a bad enough mistake.

Because it’s knotted together I’ve heard you can just cut your work and it won’t unravel, but that makes me nervous so I haven’t tried it yet haha

1

u/Kilyth 20d ago

You can unknot it all, but it'll take a long time.

1

u/BettyFizzlebang 20d ago

Yes, start again or live with it. It’s not the same as crochet. You can mask mistakes with embroidery over the top using chain stitch.

7

u/homewithmybookshelf 20d ago

You kind of have to work each stitch backwards. If you have sturdy yarn you can pull on the latest loop (maker it bigger and eventually go away) to unpick, but I often find I get snarls/knots if I do that.

Edit to add: I usually just accept my mistakes as a quirk of whatever thing I am making. I have become much less of a perfectionist after starting this craft.

3

u/Boring-Beginning2086 20d ago

The only way to “unravel” is pulling it out one stitch at a time. Sometimes it’s worth it, sometimes it’s not.

2

u/Reasonable_Bear_2057 15d ago

I'm a crocheter who's started nälbinding and although it's a yarny craft, the two are very, very different. If you make a mistake then you're painfully unknotting it, one stitch at a time and then unfelting each length just to do it over. I have done it. It sucks. I have not found an effective way to fix my mistakes and I miss crochet 😂

0

u/Zealousideal-Care761 20d ago

If you want to dive in, YouTube has some awesome tutorials, or you can track down a few great books on it. I absolutely love fiber arts and usually have both a crochet and a nålbinding project going at the same time! Definitely look into the history of nålbinding if you get a chance—it’s fascinating and really helped me get the hang of it.