How to Knit Like the Vikings

Have you ever come across a pair of mittens that looked different, but you couldn't put your finger on why?

You may have come across Nalbinding, a fabric-making technique which originated in Scandinavia and pre-dates knitting.

Nalbinding items are made with a single needle, using short pieces of yarn which are pulled through previous stitches, creating dense and warm items which don't unravel the way knitted items do.

Vikings took short pieces of yarn left over from weaving and crafted them into smallish items like mittens, hats, socks, nets, sieves, and bags. 

Nalbinding spread from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean. Outside of Scandinavia nalbinding became a lost art, but in Scandinavia it has continued uninterrupted as a craft up to the present.

Video and Written Instructions

Below are several videos by Erika Strandjord, who gives clear instructions and offers a wonderful introduction to the art and craft of nalbinding.

If you'd like to dive deeper into nalbinding, a good book on this technique is Nalbinding - What in the World is That? by Ulrike Claßen-Büttner. 

Sanna-Mari Pihlajapiha, a Finnish crafter, began to learn nalbinding in 2009. Fortunately for us, she’s keeping this tradition alive, maintaining a website that covers the history of nalbinding. Her site offers .pdfs that explain nalbinding techniques with drawings and photos.  You'll also find comprehensive explanations of different types of stitches, and links to excellent tutorial videos with a voiceover in both English and Finnish.

You'll find lots of information about nalbinding on Sanna-Mari Pihlajapiha's website.

Finally, head over to Nalbinding, and consider joining a Nalbinding group on Facebook or on Ravelry.