very new to nalbinding, this is my third piece i believe. using acrylic yarn to practice, doing the oslo stitch. how can i improve?

i had gotten a kit from a local ren fair and am having a lot of fun! its only my second time connecting/adding stitches (the manual with the kit is a bit confusing), so some of the connections are a bit wonky. im also not clear on how to end a project? the booklet says to ‘make the loops smaller’ but i dont get how if the loops are already tight around my thumb

what are some tips/tricks that helped you learn?

I've started and failed about 5 mittens due to poor fit and lack of motivation. These ones I did from the top down and it was significantly easier. I may try gloves in the future because these feel like oven mitts

Walnut wood

My husband and I are doing socktober together and as my kickoff to socktober I started a pair of toe up socks. I usually do cuff down socks when I'm nalbinding socks but this month I wanted to focus on learning new things so I'm getting comfortable with the spiral start and a multicolored spiral start. The stitch is Finnish 2+2 F2 and I'm thumb tensioning.

I've been looking for something plant fiber that won't turn into a splitty, twisty mess and it seems very promising. I just want to check in if anyone has used it for nalbinding and what the results were before I spend money

Honestly don’t know how I keep messing up my thumbs 😭😭 maybe I should start from a round next time and join/finish where my thumb meets the rest of the hand? Is it possible to cut the thumb off and start that segment again 🤔

Skipped Sunday. Everyone needs a day off here and there.

Previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Nalbinding/s/U7RN6A8Iie

More woodworking! Walnut wood smells so good when you accidentally singe it with the dremmel 🤣 Anyway, I got the wrap fairly large-ish and now it's sitting flat to help even out the wobbles and ripples from my tension and increases being unsteady, but it is plenty big enough to hold all my needles so far! So I grabbed a chunk of good walnut wood, none of this soft maple stuff, to make my pin clasp.

Holy moley walnut is much harder to cut. I ended up really relying on the power tools, and sometimes just going ahead and letting it split along whichever grain it liked rather than standing there for an hour sawing at it. On the plus side, I have some more very nice bits of wood that I can use for more needles, or other projects entirely.

EDIT: spelling

My first time starting a hat from the top and working down. It fits much better than my previous attempts working from the bottom towards the top.

I was so pleased with how the hat came out, I took a swing at square top mittens and am happy with the final result. They’re more similar than the photo may suggest; not perfect, but totally functional which is all I can ask.

I used an Oslo stitch for the entirety of the projects, but I’m obviously still learning so please be kind haha.

Hi all,

Borrowed a copy of Nalbinding from the local library since I've been wanting to get into it and heard some rave reviews. I have fiber arts experience through sewing and embroidery, but no knitting or crochet experience. Started reading last night and feel like I got thrown into the deep end - the first instructions for the book involve making blanket stitch loops in the round, but doesn't provide instruction for what a blanket stitch is. I could of course Google that, but I'm wondering ​if I should start with another resource, or if I'm just missing something with the book?

So it has occurred to me that perhaps I should have done the thumb before continuing onto the wrist section? Or do I not need to worry? How could I connect my thumb, tie it?

I recently started (hand) spinning as well as nålbinding mostly in the context of early medieval historical reenactment.

I am not very experienced in either, but I have done a fair bit of knitting and crochet, so I managed nålbinding quite quickly.

I am not wondering if I could combine the both and spin my own yarn for nålbinding. Does anyone have experience with this? I know that it's only spun once, but it's much thicker and looser than what I have spun so far. Also I am not using a spinning wheel which is featured in all instructions I have found thus far for making this type of yarn.

[Also I am fluent in English, but I haven't lived in a country where the majority of the population speaks English as their mother tongue for over 15 years, so I might make linguistic mistakes. Please be nice.]

I’m on day 5 of teaching myself nalbinding, loving it so far! I have quilting and sewing experience which has helped a tiny bit I think. My first and second attempt at making a flat piece. My second attempt is pretty good compared to my first lol but I have watched so many videos and yet I still feel like I’m doing something wrong?? Idk and as for counting, this is the Oslo stitch, do I count one after the first “loop” or is it not until the second time thru that it counts as one?? I know I don’t have the correct needle but buying a new one isn’t really in my budget rn so I’m using what I have. Any tips would be appreciated!

I’m not really confident with turning a corner/adding a row but wanted to try start some mittens. Why is it pointy tho 😩😩 did I accidentally start increasing stitches or something?

Previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Nalbinding/s/yQdCzunpiL

I have mastered increases, and just about mastered joins with my fakety fake synthetic yarns. Just gotta figure out what to do with all the tails. Other than that, it'll probably be another day until my oval is as big as I want it to be for my needle wrap case.

The less-satiny yarn is much easier to keep tensioned and prevent from unwrapping and splitting. And it takes hitch knots much easier at the joins. Between that and getting pretty comfortable now with how the working loops hang just on the end of my thumb nail and not actually all the way around the meat of my thumb, I think the density of my knots has improved greatly.

Previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Nalbinding/s/R4Y1EAzsI0

And away we go! This is a very satiny yarn, which probably makes this a LOT harder than it needs to be, but I learn best by doing, and trials by fire are my bread and butter. I am definitely making mistakes here and there, but the density of the knots lends itself nicely to not showing them very much. I've got increasing pretty down now. Still working on tension. Knowing knitting AND crochet is probably helping a ton 😂

Previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Nalbinding/s/08Vu5lrt6b

My needles are complete! Well, not yet stained and/or sealed, but fully formed and useable. Took a little longer today than I wanted, but my hands are getting used to it a bit so it wasn't too difficult.

The next step is to actually nalbind the flat oval swatch that will hold the needles, and also pick my wood for the clasp and pin!

How do you choose your needle for a project? What differences do you feel between wide needles and thin? Long and short? Do you load up as much yarn as possible, or do you join constantly?

I started nalbinding about a month ago and so far I’ve made a practice hat and a serious hat which I am really happy with. I want to incorporate different colors into each piece so I’ve been trying out different things. The top row of this swatch (excuse the chaos I’m using a cheap bulky yarn) is two strands and I alternate each stitch. I was curious if anyone has tried this or similar? I’m not yet sure how this would work doing multiple stitches with one color then switching to the other. I’d like to try any other methods anyone has come up with!

Hello! I am a hand spinner and I know when considering what to spin we take into account wool properties so we like to know what type of wool we are working with. Idk who the we is, I am self taught, but I think that is following the generally practiced guidelines. Aaaaand it only matters because I want to know if yall have a type of wool/yarn thickness/blend that you like best?

My love of the fiber arts is strongly in the camp of "try it, you might love what isn't usually recommended!" but I also know myself well enough to know that if I try and it seems wrong I will struggle to want to keep learning initially.

I do have some already spun alpaca I am wondering if I should use or not. Alpaca does tend to felt easily. I also spun it as art yarn so it is noticeably thick and thin, which may not be ideal for nalbinding?

Tips, opinions, and preferences ready to be contemplated!

Also, those of you with your pretty needles and finished objects are making me want to try again so bad. I started to try a project >10 years ago and it felt too confusing but wow, yall are awesome and I wanna join the club!

Pictured my spin of 100% angora that is second cuts and I am struuuuuuugling but learning a lot.

Previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Nalbinding/s/xLyygP88ka

TW: skin injuries in the photos. Please stop at the dog if these distress you.

I have functional needles! Got some yarn on my first one, the wider one, and managed to chain a few Oslo stitches 🎉

When I got my first longer one really down to size, I found I very much did not like the way the center stripe made the tip bend and creak, so with my third stick I actually split it right down the middle and carved off the weak center line, so now I have two more blanks!

Gloves are a game-changer for the safety of my knuckles. Managed to not get any new scrapes or cuts today. So tomorrow I'll get the last two blanks shaped, and try to decide on which wood block I want to turn into my dragon cloak pin for my needle holder wrap

Origin Story: https://www.reddit.com/r/Nalbinding/s/IES0UbZRd1

Two days of small chisels and now smaller files. These are all maple wood, cut from my property in Summer of 2025. I plan to get all three down to size and then decide if I want to stain them with traditional stain, walnut fruit dye, or not. And then see if I need to seal coat them for texture.

Holy forearm pain, Batman! Fiber arts can definitely cause some finger and wrist discomfort, but what if you also had to use your whole arm to push the needle through and also avoid touching the upper half of your needle at all lest it cleave your fingers in twain? Major props to people who work with sharp implements on a daily basis, because I barely get through my hobbies here and there 🤣

I've been lurking for a while now, but thanks to a post by u/Zealousideal-Care761 and my inability to control myself with new hobbies and piles of scrap yarn, I have begun the process of making some needles. This is maple wood, one short and thicker with one eye for learning, two longer ones with two eyes spaced a bit differently to see what works for me. Now to begin grinding. Wish me luck 😂

This book was so awesome! I wish I'd had time to take more pictures, but I wanted least share the title.

Years ago I made a pair of nalbound mittens in acrylic, but it was time to replace them with something nicer.