Needle binding

Needle binding is one of the oldest forms of making garments with wool yarn. It is found throughout Scandinavia all the way to the middle east. You can use it to make hats, mittens and socks. But also bigger garments can be made with it, like a sweater! I myself keep to the small things like socks and handwarmers. I learned it myself by watching some tutorial videos online. There are a lot of good ones out there! So this will not be a tutorial, more like a show and tell of what I have made in the last couple of years and to introduce you to the craft!

I made these on vacation in Sweden.

Compared to knitting you only use one needle and a short piece of yarn. You just simply felt on a new piece when you get to the end. Another awesome thing about needle binding is that it does not fray when an end gets loose. You can just simply pull the loop tight and make a new part onto it. This also works when you have a hole or tear in a sock. You can also use two strands of yarn, this way you make the garment a lot thicker, this is extra nice for things like hats and mittens.

A pair of handwarmers in the works.

When I start with a project it's usually because I get inspired by the wool that I have. Like when I get some new colors, I immediately think of new combinations and with which outfit it could fit. If I'm making it for myself. Sometimes I try to make sets for when market season comes along, so I have some stuff to sell. Although till now I mostly sold to fellow reenactors. Which is also really nice! This way I have some money to spend on Viking stuff: like woven bands, fabrics or other items.

A set of handwarmers and socks.

If you want to learn how to do needle binding yourself, I really recommend to go onto the internet and watch some video's. This really helped me to start! It was a real struggle at first, but just get some cheap wool and start messing around. When you get the hang of it, then you can get some more expensive wool. For reenactment you use 100% wool yarn. One that gets used a lot is from the brand Lettlopi. (Not sponsored.) It's beautiful Islandic wool, in the most amazing colors. I plan on getting some new colors soon. Even though I still have some. But it could be more!