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Nalbinding

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Edited by Richard Walker, Sunday, 3 Mar 2024, 02:27

You've probably met the Zen kōan of "clapping with one hand". Well, nalbinding is knitting with one needle. It is far older than knitting and examples from 6500 BCE have been found in a Judean cave. Wikipedia is full of information about the craft [1].

Nalbinding is also known from the Viking era, and the tradition is strong today in Scandinavia. Here's an attractive example fro the late 19th century. [2]


The word means "needle binding", and the common root of "nal" and "needle" may perhaps be related to ancient Greek νήθειν = "spin". This connection is appealing but I couldn't find any strong evidence.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A5lebinding

[2] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1_par_vantar_n%C3%A5lbundna_av_vitt_ullgarn_med_dubbelvikt_krage_-_Nordiska_museet_-_NM.0005802B.jpg

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