Nalbinding is an ancient Viking method of knitting.  It's done with just a large bone, horn or wood needle and wool yarn.  What is unique about it is that you can actually cut it with a scissors and it won't unravel like crochet or knitting do.  When done with a thick wool yarn the hats, stockings and gloves are very thick and warm!  If you check out the hats on my website you can see that many are made with the nalbinding technique.
Recently I was challenged to use up some of my yarn stash so I decided to try nalbinding socks for the first time!  Here is how they started out:
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Here you can see that I left an opening for the heel and went back to fill it in.  That was something new for me, but I figured it out!
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Both socks are finished.  The heels turned out more square than I wanted, so I decided to felt them.  Felting is done by agitating the wool in hot soapy water and then cold water.... just like accidentally shrinking a wool sweater.  I concentrated on the heels as they were way too big; while the rest of the sock was only a little too big.

Here you can see that the heel in the top sock is felted and the rest shrunk a little too.  Now I will felt the bottom sock so it is the same size.  These are pretty thick, so I think they will be slippers as they are too thick to fit into my boots!

Here are some of the hats I have made.  I sell these online and at events I attend.  I also teach classes on how to nalbind; let me know if you are interested!

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  Yesterday my husband and I decided to take a road trip from our home just NE of Des Moines to the Loess hills, a geographically interesting area in western Iowa.  I spent hours the week before looking up interesting things to see and visit (for me), food (for us), and B roads (for him).  The whole route was about 7.5 hours of driving, so perfect for a day trip.

We left home about 10 am after sleeping in and doing chicken/duck chores.  We had decided to take the White Pole Road so we headed south.  Our first stop was in Dexter, IA at Drew's Chocolates.  This little shop was located in the basement of a residential house.   It is so small that the sign on the door asks you to wait outside if there is another car in the drive!  We walked down some stairs and in the door to see a beautifully decorated for fall room.  The display case in front of us held all their hand dipped chocolates and we were immediately offered samples by the friendly owners.  They told us all about their history and family recipes, how no palm oil was added to their chocolates and the posted sign said that chocolate was good for our hearts.  Of course, for the sake of health, we bought several boxes!

We continued to drive down the White Pole Road to Adair, where we had to get on Interstate 80.  It's fast and efficient, but boring!  Next stop was  Doe's and Diva's Dairy.  We traveled down some winding scenic gravel roads to get there and found a very Covid compliant outdoor store, selling soap and lotions and yarn on the honor system.  Their products looked lovely but we were unable to buy anything as they only take cash and checks and we had not had the foresight to bring either, so be aware of that!  By now we were hungry, so we traveled another 10 minutes to Stanley's Snack Shack.  This delightful little outdoor cafe was built from a storage container!  The menu features goat cheeses and seasonal goodies.  We had the best BLT's we had ever had!  Fresh tomatoes, cucumber salad and fried potatoes were all delicious sides.  I also checked out the restroom.... small but very clean and cute.  I highly recommend stopping here!
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Back on the road again, we drove up the old Lincoln Highway to get onto the Loess Hills Scenic Byway.  Of course we had to try a little off-the-main-road side trip and took The Sawmill Hollow loop (a level B road) where we discovered tranquil ponds and beautiful scenery.
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​The next stop was the Loess Hills lavendar Farm where we met two wonderful ladies who were delightful to talk soap and lavender with.  They gave us samples of lavender jelly and fudge, and of course we went home with jars of jelly and some liquid lavender hand soap.  It smelled divine!

We continued on the byway to the Loess Hills Scenic Overlook and we were not disappointed by the views, they were breathtaking!  We continued to explore the B roads in and around the park and enjoy the fall colors.  The trees were starting to turn, although I imagine the colors will be even brighter next week.
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By this time we were hungry again, so we drove back to Pisgah to Dave's Old Home Café where we enjoyed home made hamburgers and Cokes.  From there we drove north to hit the Lincoln Highway again and headed back home.  By now it was dark, so not much to say about the trip home.  Hope you enjoyed hearing about our road trip!