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