New Project

 Ceilidh is behind us and the Holidays loom near on the horizon, and I have a new project to plan and execute.  It focuses on that dreaded word...Research.  Thankfully not the dusty tome type--Hermione Granger, I'm not.  

This is a trip down a side road off of my St. Eligius display in 2023, where I introduced the research of Cary Karp and Anne Marie Decker into three items in the  Museum der Kulturen, Basel. (Initial trip mentioned in Anne Marie's blog here.  A Copy of Archaeological Textiles Review No. 64 in which their paper on their findings is here.)

My current question comes from:

 - Given: Nalbinding is a marvelous craft. Unlike knitting or crochet, an item made this way will not unravel if cut or develops a hole.

 - Given: Based on Cary Karp's and Anne Marie Decker's research, some nalbinding stitches look exactly like front-loop slip-stitch crochet.  It is only by examining the final project can one determine how the item was made.

 - Question: If they are similar in structure, then does front-loop crochet also not unravel?

 - Corollary Question: Does the nalbinding stitch that slip-stitch resembles also not unravel?

To test this question I will need to use 100% wool that is not Superwash.  As I don't have any at home I will be making a trip to the yarn store (Gasp! Not the dreaded yarn store!, says my wallet.)  I will probably get two colors to more easily identify each technique.

Then I will have to:

  > Create multiple samples of each technique

 > Cut one sample each and see what happens

But should I somehow give the samples some 'wear and tear' before cutting?  The assumption is that nalbinding which has developed a hole is, by definition, being used.  Does a newly created object not unravel.  Do all nalbinding stitches not unravel?  Is this nalbinding voodoo just hearsay?  Who first came up with this idea?  (Warning! Book Research ahead!)

I need to stop the flow of questions before I drown in them.

~ Marjorie