Killing time on part of our family cruise to Bermuda (July 05), my Mom caught me nalbinding a mouse, and asked if I could teach her. Though she is left-handed, I did manage to teach her a basic stitch while on the boat, that she could take back to her fellow Floridian fiber fans. After the cruise we spent some more time in Massachusetts, and went to visit Plimoth Plantation. Among the many sights, Mom also purchased some wool yarn in the gift shop since wool is difficult to find in Florida. I sent her a few links to pages I had learned from and left her to her own devices.
For her first project, she started on a wool purse while still in Mass. She experimented with a few patterns, and ended up felting the finished project and decorating it with shells from Hawaii. She also added a button loop closure, and even has an unplanned but useful outside loop for hooking pens or a clipping on a cell phone.
I'm so proud of her.
But then she confessed that in addition to having a hard time finding the materials, she also found working with wool in Florida a bit too hot and uncomfortable. I told Mom that I had heard of, but not tried, rugs made using basic nalbiding stitches, called toothbrush rugs. Instead of wool, mom could use scraps of cloth, which are much cooler to work with. I told her to try Google and see what she could come up with. I'm not sure which of these links she used the most, but she did make her own toothbrush rug in classic UNC Tarheel colors.
Even a non-scadian, non-living historian living in Florida can find a use for and joy in nalbinding. My Mom is just the coolest.
