Nalbinding

Nalbinding is a Viking needle art. Created with a large needle and wool yarn, the stitches resemble loops.

Nalbinding predates both knitting and crochet. The earliest known example of nalbinding was created 2000 years ago in Scandinavia. Ancient samples have been misidentified as knitting by archaeologists and hopeful textile historians. Fragments of fabric with the appearance of knitting, excavated from third century AD Dura-Europos, in the Middle East, turn out to be nalbinding. Samples of toed anklet socks from fifth and sixth century AD Egypt are also examples of nalbinding that were previously misidentified as knitting.

Nalbinding as a practical needle craft survived longest in Scandinavia before it was supplanted by knitting, which is less difficult. Nalbinding was regarded as a superior craft because it required more skill to produce and the fabric created was thicker and warmer.