Needles for Nalbinding (Nålbindningsnålar)

I have made needles for nalbinding with the help of my brother in law who has access to some woodworking machines. I asked him to prepare some pieces of wood, as blanks, so that I could make some needles for nalbinding. I did the shaping and the final "finish".

These four are made from ash. In old Nordic mythology the immense tree Yggdrasil was an ash tree. Since nalbinding in Sweden goes back to the Viking era I find it fitting to have needles made from an Ash tree.

These three are made from Beech. 

 These are made from wood from Thailand. I do not know the species.

Cowl in Tunisian Crochet

This cowl is made in Tunisian Crochet. I had thought of knitting a scarf but then got the idea to try Tunisian crochet instead. While planning the idea changed from a scarf to a cowl - since I like to make Tunisian crochet in the round. I was a bit hesitant about how to begin the cowl since I was not sure how to make a beginning that would not curl ... so I knitted a couple of rows in [1 knit, 1 purl] and after that I continued in Tunisian crochet.

The yarn used is dyed Blue Faced Leicester from Blue Moon Fiber Arts (about 170 grams for this cowl). They have yarns in fantastic colours and if they had been situated within the EU I would buy lots and lots from them. I am very pleased with this cowl. I got the drape that I wanted and the yarn is very smooth and warm.

I used a double-ended crochet hook size 5,00 mm for this project.