Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2004, Síða 197

NÁLABINDING í FØROYUM?
195
Fig. 3. Needle to make shoe liner, Bjorkvattnet, Swedish Lappland (From: Campbell, 1942).
Estonia (Ahlbiick, 1943: 139). Labourers,
such as lumberjacks, fisherman and hunt-
ers, appreciated mittens, socks and other
footwear made in the nalbinding technique
(Campbell, 1942: 114;Odstedt, 1953:430).
The great regard of the superiority of such
mittens was perceived in the Finnish say-
ing: ‘He who wore knitted mittens had an
unskilled wife’ (Kaukonen, 1960: 48). Nal-
binding was still practised among Swed-
ish-speaking islanders along the Estonian
coast in the 19th century (Soderbeck, 1940:
113).
Until recently a nalbinding technique
was used to make milk strainers out of hairs
of cow-tail or goat in Sweden, Norway and
Iceland (Hald, 1950: 313; Eldjárn, 1960;
Nordland, 1961: 108-112; Ankert, 1982;
Hjárpe and Olsen, 2001). ‘The women
sieve the milk through tofos planos [flat
matsj made from the hair from cows’ tail,’
Carl Linnaeus observed at Abacka in Vás-
terbotten in May 1732 (Linnaeus, 2003:
30). During the early years of the 20lh cen-
tury, fishermen from the Danish West Coast
still made shoes and other garments in the
nalbinding technique during the winter.
Margrethe Hald writes about an old man,
who during a stay on the island Føhr had
learned and used nalbinding in his youth
(Hald, 1950: 310-311).
The needles used for nalbinding in the
historical records were often quite large
and they were made of wood, bone, antler
or metal. It was common to use fibular bone
from swine (Sits scrofá) for needles. Some
needles were made of the fibular bone of
sheep (Ovis ciries). Also needles of hare (Le-
pus timidus) bone is known (Hylten-Caval-
lius, 1868: 123; Collin, 1918: 73; Ankert,
1982: 64; Dahl, 1987: 343; ULMA 8933;
ULMA 2424: 3), see fig. 3. The eyes were
usually in one end or in the middle and the
needles were blunt, in contrast to awls or
prickers (Campbell, 1942: 114; Kaukonen,
1960: 52).
A contmon feature for nalbinding need-
les is that they vary in material, size and
design. The nalbinding needles used nowa-
days are usually made of wood, antler from
elk (Alces alces) and reindeer (Rangifer
tarandus) or plastic, but any hard material
will do. Those who make use of the nal-
binding technique seem to agree upon the
fact that the form, material and design are
subordinate. Many practitioners actually
seem to find joy in making their own per-
sonal design, see fig. 4.
Since the 1970s, there has been an in-
creasing interest in nalbinding for making
mittens, socks and caps; and we may talk of
a resurgence of the technique in the Scandi-
navian countries. Nalbinding-needles and
descriptions are readily available in handi-
craft stores and practical handbooks are
available in Danish, Swedish and English