Nalbound hats using the Oslo stitch

Behold the story of the creation of two nalbound hats, entered in the Passing of the IceDragon A&S Pentathlon AS52; Category: Fib5 Nalbinding. The hats originated from two questions: can energized yarn (a common beginners mistake) still make something useful? is it practical to re-purpose warp-weighted loom waste for nalbinding? Both questions were answered with a resounding yes, and I have a suspicion not only could WW loom waste easily be used, but that this is what it was used for.

What is nalbinding

Nalbinding is a textile technique usually done with a needle and thread, in which loops are connected to form a fabric. As opposed to working with a needle and tread as a seamstress or embroiderer to mend or embellish existing fabric, someone using nalbinding is creating new fabric. It is a technique still found practiced in many (lesser developed) parts of the world. (Claßen-Büttner 2015, 9)

Selected historic finds from Scandinavian context

The oldest nalbound fragment, supposedly a piece of a mesh sieve made of plant fibers, is from a cave in Israel, Nahal Hemar, approximately 6500 BCE. Fragments found in Denmark date from 4200 BCE. (Claßen-Büttner 2015, 32; neulakintaat.fi)

 

Cloak tab with silver and gold nalbound decoration from 10^th century Mammen, Denmark.

In a grave of a man buried with expensive clothes in Mammen, Denmark (970-971 CE) were found pieces of nalbinding in gold and silver wrapped silk threads. (Iversen 1991,132)

  

10^th century nalbound sock from York / Yorvik, UK.

An intricate Viking Age artifact is the nalbound sock discovered during the Coppergate excavations in York from 1976-81. Archaeologists from York Archaeologist Trust (YAT) were surveying the ground underneath a demolished factory ahead of the shopping centre being built, and discovered incredibly well-preserved remains of streets in the principal Northern city of Viking Britain.  Waterlogged, oxygen-free soil had stopped not only 1000-year-old timbers from rotting away, but had also preserved a huge selection of Viking artifacts, large and small. The stitch type used in this sock has not been found anywhere else, so it is called York Stitch or Coppergate Stitch (also Jorvik Stitch), based on the place where it was found. (yorkarchaeology)

    Finnish Viking Age nalbound mittens.

Another Viking Age find from Finland includes mittens made with nalbinding. The find also included a pair of shields and helmets, a pair of shoulder brooches on the shoulder, a pair of chain cuffs, a pair of twisted cuff links, bronze twisted ribbons, and two rings on each hand. On basis of the jewelry and money, tomb 56 is dated to the very end of the Vikings. Possibly, English money outside the neckline is from coins of the youngest tomb. The coins were beaten in 1018 AD. (translated from Finnish by author; Vajanto 2003, 22, 24)

 

[above] An 11^th century mitten found in Oslo, Norway. It is made using the Oslo stitch, the same stitch I used on my hats. The material of the mitten is unknown, but likely wool. (Claßen-Büttner 2015, 46)

[below] The nalbound hat of Saint Simeon, from Trier, Germany of around 1000 AD. The material of the hat is undyed wool. The linen fabric and tablet woven border on the edge were added later. The hat was believed to provide a miracle cure for headaches. (Claßen-Büttner 2015, 49) 

My project

I made two nalbound hats using the Oslo stitch. One hat is made from homespun dyed and undyed wool, plied into an energized 3 ply for a stretchy hat. The other is made from commercial single ply warp-weighted loom waste, plied into a 4 ply. It is thought that because of the nature of the nalbinding technique, which uses short pieces of yarn as opposed to a continuous yarn like knitting, nalbinding would be a great way to re-purpose loom waste that otherwise would be too short for use.

Hat number one:

I used my first hand spun yarn for this hat (California red roving a friend had processed). As I had a bunch of small dyed balls of roving lying around from a previous Natural Dyeing A&S practice I decided to spin that, about twice the diameter as the white single, to ply together to create a pleasing visual texture. I used my brand new spinning wheel to wind the white single on two bobbins, and the colored single on one, and then plied all three together to make a 3 ply yarn. Unfortunately, I had misunderstood the plying instructions and added twist in the same direction both times. This resulted in quite an energized yarn (more like an elastic band, than a yarn!) full of rat tails. I figured, stretch in a hat is not a bad thing, so let’s make this a learning moment, and go with what I have... and as I hoped, it indeed made an awesome stretchy hat, which fits many heads.

                        

 The highly energized yarn showing many 'rat tail' tangles.

The dye colors came from several different dye baths, including madder, cochineal, copper, iron, onion, logwood, tumeric, black walnut etc. The dyes were all leftovers from the 2017 Gulf Wars fiber classes which I brought back up North for a natural dyeing A&S practice.

Hat number two:

I used loom waste singles of about 3 feet long, this is a typical length for loom waste from a warp-weighted loom as there is quite some length between the top heddle bar (above which is woven) and the hanging weights.

First I tried with a 3 ply, but the grey loom waste singles are thin and with my bone needle (the width determines the loop diameter) it made for an open structure. Next I made a 4 ply and that worked well. At first I plied them with a drop spindle and set them in hot water, but when I realized they would twist themselves, I just put them in hot water in a bundle of four by themselves to twist and turn to their hearts content. It made very nice, fluffy yarn and worked beautifully with my bone needle. I added a small white trim as that was the yarn I used in the selvage of my weave.

       Working on the second hat – the beginning top circle.

The Oslo Stitch

After taking several classes on nalbinding, none of which took, I got lucky with a hand out my sister shared with me. The images in the handout did it, and I learned I do not nalbind using my thumb, which is what most classes teach. I keep the loop between my fingers and use the gauge or diameter of the bone needle to determine loop width.

The Oslo stitch is a simple stitch, described with O/UO: this means ‘over’ / ‘under,’ ‘over’ or the needle goes first over the thread of the loop (or bottom row of stitches), then under, and then over again of the previously made stitch.

 From 'Basic Naalbinding:' the beginning steps to make a circular loop using the O/UO Oslo stitch. This loop would become the top of the hat (the tail is pulled to the inside).

Forming shapes with the nalbound technique is a matter of adding a second stitch to a loop, or skipping a loop (stitching two at the same time). This will increase or decrease the diameter of the fabric. It takes a bit more attention to make a flat hat, than it does to make the typical pointed Viking ‘Hershey’ hat. I made one of both for this project.

 

Both hats on display.

Observations:

- energized yarn makes awesome hats

- I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to ply singles, and what a nice yarn it makes

- loom waste is great for making nalbound projects

Next up, I am challenging myself to make socks, like the Yorvik sock shown earlier in the documentation. It will be interesting to see if I can make a matching set.

Side note:

Yes, I made the bone needle myself. I used a metal hack saw to cut strips from the leg bone, a file to shape it to a point, and sand paper. The hole was drilled prior to filing, and then sanded out. It is from the leg bone of one of our backyard goats. I find bone needles to handle more pleasantly than metal or smooth wood, especially if the bone still has some file marks to give it texture.

Previously published in the AEthelmearc Gazette as Nalbound Hats:
https://aethelmearcgazette.com/2018/04/27/nalbound-hats/

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ulrike Claßen-Büttner (2015) Nalbinding What in the World is That? History and Technique of an Almost Forgotten Handicraft. Norderstedt: Books on Demand (BOD).

Sarah Goslee (undated) Basic Naalbinding

http://www.stringpage.com/naal/basicnaal.html

Mette Iversen (ed.) (1991) Mammen Grav, kunst og samfund I vinkinetid. Jysk Arkaeologisk Selskabs Skrifter XXVIII I kommission hos Aarhus Universitetsforlag. Højbjerg, Denmark: Jysk Arkaeologisk Selskabs.

Sanna-Mari Pihlajapiha (undated) History of Nalbinding

https://www.en.neulakintaat.fi/17

Krista Vajanto (Master’s thesis) (2003) EURAN EMÄNNÄN NEULAKINTAAT, TUTKIELM A LUISTARIN HAUDAN  56 NE ULAKINNAS FRAGME NTEISTA (Euran Shoulder Needles, research from the fragments of the area of Luistar Hauda 56) Kulttuurien tutkimuksen laitos Arkeologian oppiaine.

http://www.vajanto.net/gradu/euran_emannan_neulakintaat.pdf

Artefacts discovered during the Coppergate excavations in York 1976-81

https://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/resources/picture-library/picture-library-2/viking-age-coppergate/

JORVIK Viking Centre brings the Vikings to life in York once again (2017)

https://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/2017/04/jorvik-viking-centre-brings-the-vikings-to-life-in-york-once-again/

IMAGES

York sock image (as the museum images are now only for sale)

http://www.genvieve.net/sca/nalbound-socks.html

Oslo stitch mitten (probably from Nordland 1961, and also on page 45 of Claßen-Büttner 2015)

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/369576713144528185/

Hat of saint simeon (image from Claßen-Büttner 2015, 49 but in color).

http://naalbinding.blogspot.com/2017/12/naalbindingowa-czapka-z-xw-hat-of-saint.html

Felt - nature's nurture

Felt, the oldest known textile used by mankind, is not woven. It uses no loom to make, and needs no special equipment or ingredients. Technically, it does not even need mankind. Take a wild sheep out frolicking in the rain and sun, and felt will inevitably happen. Early man would have seen this too: this matted wool hanging off the sides of sheep, shed wool stuck to branches subsequently formed by the elements into a mass of fibers. And maybe one day a clever one thought: my rawhide shoes hurt, I wonder, what would happen if I pad it with some of this soft, bouncy stuff lying about?

 Icelandic sheep in need of some TLC.

            This is the stuff of myths and legends - and quite literally. Making felt is older than spinning and weaving and many cultures have legends about how felt-making was invented. Sumerians claimed felt-making was invented by their legendary traveler and warrior hero Urnamman of Lagash. Christian legends speak of Saint Clement, the patron saint of hatters, and Saint Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, fleeing from prosecution and footsore had packed their sandals with wool. At the end of their arduous journey, the movement and sweat had turned the wool into felt socks. A favorite with children is the story of Noah’s ark, where the animals herded together in the Ark shed their fleece and during the voyage trampled it underfoot. When the animals left the Ark, Noah was amazed to find the floor carpeted in felt! In Persia the discovery of felt is attributed to Solomon’s son who was a shepherd. Having seen matted wool up close and personal, he was sure it could be made into fabric without the aid of a loom. But try as he might he could not make the fibers stick together, and stomped about on the fleece crying large tears of frustration. Lo and behold! He had discovered felt. Of course, the archaeological evidence points to the existence of felt long before Christian times. Felt is considered to be the earliest man-made fabric, and was critical to the survival of many early communities. However, the legends do contain an element of fact: they all refer to the three things necessary to produce felt – fleece, moisture and agitation.

In history, felt played a central role in the lives of inhabitants in Central Asia, Mongolia and parts of the Middle East. These tribes made clothing, saddles, and tents from felt because it was strong and resistant to wet and snowy weather. They also buried their dead covered with felt, and some of the earliest felt remains were found in the frozen tombs of nomadic horsemen in the Siberian Tlai Mountains and date to around 700 BC. Felt found in the frozen tomb of a nomadic tribal chief from the fifth century BC shows a highly developed technology of felt-making. The earliest felt found in Scandinavia was also found covering a body in a tomb in Hordaland, Norway, and is believed to be from about 500 AD. The Roman and Greeks knew of felt as well, and Roman soldiers were equipped with felt breastplates for protection from arrows, as well as felt tunics, boots and socks.

            Because of its weather resistant properties felt is still in use in many parts of the world, especially in areas with harsh climates. Traditionally, the yurts or tents Mongolian nomads live in are made from felt. Nomadic tribes from South Central Asia also uses felt as tent coverings, rugs and blankets. In Scandinavia and Russia, felt boots are produced and widely used. The kepenek, a Turkish shepherd’s cloak, is thought to have been in use at least since medieval times and protects the wearer from heat in summer and cold and wet in winter. And in the province of Agri, Turkey, men still wear the traditional kullik, a conical felt cap made from lamb’s wool.

14^th century Lappvattnet medieval hat from Sweden, thought to be one of the best preserved medieval hats in Sweden, Scandinavia and possibly even Europe.

             It is generally assumed all felt is made of wool. This is not necessarily the case: for instance early hat-making felt was produced using animal fur, generally beaver fur. The fur was matted with other fibers—including wool—using heat, pressure, and moisture. Beaver felt hats were made in the late Middle Ages and were much coveted. By the end of the fourteenth century hatmakers in the Low Countries started mass producing them, thus driving down the price. A process called ‘carroting’ was invented in the middle of the seventeenth century by which skins were dried in an oven (over-heated fur would turn carrot-orange), stretched and sliced off the fleece. This process used a solution of the mercury containing compound mercuric nitrate and this toxic solution, and the vapors it produced, resulted in widespread cases of mercury poisoning among hatters. The phrase "mad as a hatter" might be more literal than generally realized!

           

Flaundryssh bever hat (Flemish beaver hat)

The Merchant in the Ellesmere manuscript of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, ca. 1410.

The medieval technique of using water to felt fibers is called wet felting. Only certain types of fibers can be wet felted; including most types of fleece (like sheep, alpaca and camel), mohair (goat), angora (rabbit) or hair from rodents such as beavers and muskrats. The reason why these fibers can be felted and others not, is because these fibers are covered in tiny scales. Moisture, motion and heat within a fleece cause the scales to open, and agitation causes them to latch on to each other, creating felt. Plant fibers and synthetic fibers will not do this and thus do not wet felt. A more modern method of felting uses needles to create the felting effect without using water. The needles have notches along the shaft of the needle that catch fibers and tangle them with other fibers to create felt. Needle felting is used in industrial processes to create large sheets of felt, and in crafting to create three dimensional shapes and adornments.

When choosing felt to recreate medieval garments and accessories, it is good to realize the difference in technique of wet felting and needle felting between modern commercial felt, and felt used in medieval times. Medieval felt would mostly be wool or fur based and wet felted, while modern felt is mostly made of synthetic fibers and needle felted. Keep in mind that while felt is made from scratch, fulled fabrics are first woven and then wet felted, to create a sturdier and more weatherproof woolen fabric. Thus a woolen fabric can be fulled, but is not a felt; and (pre-)felt is fulled to make felt. Not to be confusing, or anything.

How to make your own sheet felt.

Start with roving (wool prepared for spinning) of a type of wool that felts well. Not all wool felts equally, and a simple but effective way to test this is to take a bit, dampen your palms, and rub both hands together with the roving in the middle. The friction, combined with moisture, will create heat and the wool roving should compact and shrink, and thus felt.

 Workshop Felt 101: Layering the roving.

            On a large piece of plastic lay out thin layers of fibers pulled from the roving, all pointing the same way. Expect shrinkage of about 30% so adjust your size accordingly. When you’ve made your first layer (left to right), add another layer on top – now going the opposite direction (perpendicular, thus up and down). Having the layers of fibers cross each other helps interlock the fibers more firmly. When you have about 3 to 5 layers, spray warm soapy water over the whole piece, concentrating more of the water in the central area then at the edges. All fibers should be dampened, but not soaked; a little water goes a long way.

With your hands gently rub the fibers together, like a relaxing back massage. Imagine pressing the water into and through the fibers. If you like, lay some tulle or netting - like the bags used for bulk onions or oranges - over the fibers to help with friction. When the fibers start to tangle, or interlock, take another piece of plastic and cover the top. Roll a pool noodle over the whole piece while flat on the table, up to a hundred times. The piece can be flipped over and rolled from the opposite side as well.

Then take your noodle, and wrap your fiber package around the outside of it, and wrap a towel around that. Secure and go sit down and watch a good TV show, while continuously rolling this fiber-towel-roll randomly underneath your feet, in front of the couch, for about a hundred times and more.

When you think it is done, unroll the piece and gently pull on a little bit to see how well it has tangled. If the fibers are overly wet it can tear easily, so be careful when removing the plastic. Check for wrinkles which can develop if the piece is not rolled firmly and smooth them out. Remove any excess water by rolling and gently pressing with the towel. Move on to the next step, or let it dry to use later, either on the table or draped over a chair or drying rack. You have just made your first piece of pre-felt.

 

Rolling the pre-felt with soap and pool noodles.

 

Rolling the pre-felt with feet.

To full or shrink pre-felt down to its final size.

• Remove the pre-felt from the plastic and gently wring it out. If it does not seem very soapy, add some more soap. Wet with hot tap water and wring out again. Rub the pre-felt between your hands until it begins to feel as if it is shrinking. Open it up and check to see how it looks and rub to shrink areas as you go.
• This is the fun part: throw the felting piece into the sink about 100 times. Do this at random, letting the piece move around so it hits the hard surface differently each time.
• Put some cold water and vinegar into the sink (the acidic vinegar neutralizes the alkaline soap). Submerge the felt and let it soak for a few minutes.
• Empty the sink; rub the pre-felt and throw it some more to shrink it even further.
• Heat up water to the boiling point, pour into the sink, add the felted piece and let it soak for a few minutes. Add some cold water until it is just cool enough to put your hands in. Swish the felt around and press the water out.
• Drain the sink and fill again, this time with real cold water, and add the felt. Swish around until the felt is cool.
• (repeat the previous two steps if you think it necessary)
• Gently press out the water and roll the felt in a towel to remove excess water. The felt can be further dried by ironing it, putting it in the dryer for circa half an hour, or simply by hanging it to dry. Steam can be used to set a three dimensional shape: a stock pot steamer for felt stuffed with newspapers works; a steam iron works just as well (for more info see links below).

Home made sheet felt has many uses: a thick mat can be used to sleep on when going a-Viking Hiking, or used to make armor. A small piece can be added as insoles to thin-soled turnsole shoes. It can be used to make rabbit-fur edged Viking hats (with or without the rabbit fur). It can be doubled over, with plastic in the middle, to felt into a bag. It can be molded over a bowl, or a ball, to make all sorts of hats. The possibilities are as endless as your imagination…

           

DIY pictures are from a workshop I took this summer at ROC Day, organized by the Black Sheep Handspinners Guild of Ithaca, NY. The felting information is summarized from the accompanying handout Introduction to Felting Workshop ROC Day 2018.

For more information on making hats:

http://www.hatshapers.com/Felting_Instructions.htm

- Modern felting instructions on making a felt hat from fibers.

http://willscommonplacebook.blogspot.com/2013/09/

- Tips on making medieval hat reproductions.

http://www.larsdatter.com/bycokets.htm

- Links to medieval manuscripts showing many period hats.

http://www.amagyarjurta.com/index.php/scythian-inspired-felt-hat/

- How-to on making a Scythian felt hat, based on a Scythian archer pictured on a Greek vase.

For more on the history of felt:

http://www.feltcrafts.com/history.html

http://www.historyofclothing.com/textile-history/felt-and-feltmaking-history/

https://www.feltmakers.com/history/

Images:

Icelandic sheep portrait https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/541065342706742022/

https://themedievalhunt.com/2015/03/19/the-lappvattnet-hat/

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Merchant_-_Ellesmere_Chaucer.jpg

Workshop photographs by me.

Previously published in the AEthelmearc Gazette as Felt: Nature's Nurture, May 3rd, 2018.
https://aethelmearcgazette.com/2018/05/03/felt-natures-nurture/