RAM Vikings – Textile tools

Viking age needles, spindle whorls, and loom weights from the RAM exhibit

In May 2019 I visited Edmonton and the Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) to see the touring Viking Exhibit from Denmark.

Nålbound bag

Finished naalbound tote bag

In an earlier post, I showed off the work-in-progress photo of a bag I was making using the nålbinding technique, that I displayed at an indoor Artisan’s “village”.

Nålbound hats for sale

Selfie wearing my new spiral-striped red and blue naalbound hat and grey wool hood

You’ve already seen in previous posts that I’m selling off some of my fabric stash – well today I’m posting some Naalbound items I have for sale as well 

Spiral naalbound hat

Selfie wearing my new spiral-striped red and blue naalbound hat.

When I took a class at the SCA Twelfth Night event on nålbinding, I asked the instructor about the spiral design I’ve seen by a few other textile artists. While the instructor didn’t have advice, since she hasn’t used that design yet, I was still inspired to give it a whirl myself all the same.

York stitch nålbound hat

Selfie in a blue wool naalbound hat.

When I took a class at the SCA Twelfth Night event on nålbinding, the instructor taught us the York Stitch. I ended up not quite following her directions, but adapted what she taught to a technique that felt more natural to me.

The stitch is the same, it’s only how I treat the working yarn that is different than her instruction. Her instruction was perfect though for someone new to naalbinding – to keep the steps clear.

In the class I was working on a hat, but the stitches were very inconsistent as I was learning the stitch. When I got home, I decided to put that project aside (since I only had the yarn from class, nothing that matched at home) and start a new project using the York Stitch.