Purlsy is a craft project tracker built specifically for fiber artists and makers. It gives you a dedicated place to log knitting projects, crochet works-in-progress, weaving, spinning, embroidery, sewing, quilting, tatting, and more. Think of it as a personal project journal with craft-specific fields, photo galleries, time tracking, and optional public sharing.

What crafts does Purlsy support?

Purlsy supports nine craft types: knitting, crochet, weaving, spinning, cross-stitch, embroidery, sewing, quilting, and tatting. Each craft type has its own set of relevant fields tailored to what that craft actually needs.

Is Purlsy a Ravelry alternative?

Purlsy is a modern alternative to Ravelry for makers who want a focused, more personal project tracker. Unlike Ravelry, Purlsy is focused entirely on your own projects with no forums, no marketplace, and no social pressure. You can import your existing Ravelry projects directly into Purlsy.

Can I import my Ravelry projects?

Yes. Purlsy supports bulk import from Ravelry using your Ravelry data export ZIP file. Project names, craft types, status, dates, notes, and photos all come across. The import runs entirely in your browser.

How is Purlsy different from a spreadsheet?

Spreadsheets have no understanding of crafts. Purlsy knows what a knitting project needs versus a weaving project. It handles photos, time tracking, progress logs, public sharing, and craft-specific reference tools built in.

Project tracking, time logging, photos, and basic stats are free and will always stay free. What you have access to today will not be taken away. We may introduce optional premium features down the road, but the core of what makes Purlsy useful will never go behind a paywall.

Your data belongs to you. Private projects and profiles are never visible to other users or search engines. You can delete your account at any time and all data is permanently deleted immediately. Purlsy does not sell your data.

Nålbinding is an ancient fiber craft that creates fabric of interlocking loops using a single blunt needle and short lengths of yarn. It predates both knitting and crochet, with the earliest known fragments dating to roughly 6,500 BCE.

How do you pronounce nålbinding?

The å is pronounced roughly like the "o" in "more." A reasonable English approximation is "NOHL-bin-ding."

How is nålbinding different from knitting?

Knitting uses two or more needles and a single continuous strand of yarn. Nålbinding uses one blunt eyed needle and short lengths of yarn that are felted together as the work grows. The fabric is denser, warmer, and does not unravel when cut.

Is nålbinding hard to learn?

The first hour is steep. After that, most makers find it clicks. There are no patterns to follow in the traditional sense, which many people find liberating.

What yarn is best for nålbinding?

One hundred percent non-superwash wool in an Aran or worsted weight. The wool needs to felt at the joins, which is why superwash and most plant fibers are tricky for traditional work.

What can you make with nålbinding?

Mittens, socks, hats, cowls, slippers, bags, and historical reenactment pieces. Anything that benefits from a windproof, hard-wearing, slightly felted fabric.

Did Vikings really do nålbinding?

Yes, although it is older and more widespread than the Vikings alone. Surviving Viking-era examples include the 10th-century Coppergate sock from York and finds from the Mammen burial in Denmark.

Nålbinding: The Ancient Fiber Craft That Predates Knitting

A guide to the 10,000-year-old single-needle craft that built the textiles of the ancient world, and how to start your own first project today.

What is nålbinding?

Nålbinding (also spelled nalbinding, naalbinding, and nålebinding) creates textile fabric from interlocking loops using a single eyed needle and short lengths of yarn. Unlike knitting or crochet, it does not use a continuous strand pulled from a ball. Each arm-length piece is joined to the next by felting the ends together as the fabric grows. The result is a dense, flexible, knotted fabric that does not unravel when cut.

A brief history

The earliest known nålbinding fragments come from the Nahal Hemar cave in present-day Israel and date to roughly 6,500 BCE, thousands of years before the first evidence of true knitting. Finds have also come from Egypt, Syria, Sudan, Peru, and China. In medieval Scandinavia, the craft flourished: the 10th-century Coppergate sock from Viking-era York and the Mammen burial finds from Denmark are among the most-studied surviving examples.

How it differs from knitting and crochet

One blunt eyed needle, not two pointed ones.
Short arm-length pieces of yarn, joined by felting.
The whole working yarn passes through every loop.
Fabric does not unravel when cut.
No traditional patterns or gauge: shape work as you go.
Best worked in non-superwash wool so joins felt cleanly.

Common stitches

Oslo, Mammen, York, Korgen, Brodén, Finnish, Coptic, Russian, and Tarim are among the most commonly worked stitches. Each is named after a place where a key archaeological example was found and differs in how many loops sit on the thumb and how many loops on the previous row the needle passes through.

Tools and materials

A single blunt nålbinding needle (bone, antler, wood, or polished metal) and 100% non-superwash wool in Aran or worsted weight. A large tapestry needle works in a pinch. No stitch markers, no row counters, no patterns.

What can you make?

Mittens, socks, hats, cowls, slippers, bags, and reenactment garments. The fabric is windproof, hard-wearing, and warmer than most knitted equivalents.

Track your nålbinding projects with Purlsy

Purlsy now supports Nålbinding as a first-class craft type with fields for stitch type, connection notation, your needle, project type, gauge, and yarns. Get started free at purlsy.com.

References and Further Reading

Books

Claßen-Büttner, Ulrike. Nalbinding: What in the World Is That? Books on Demand, 2015.
Bush, Nancy. "Nålbinding, From the Iron Age to Today." PieceWork Magazine, Vol. IX No. 3, May/June 2001, pp. 28 to 32.
Hemingway, Penelope. River Ganseys and Their Darkest Materials.

Archaeological and Museum Sources

Nahal Hemar Cave finds (c. 6,500 BCE), Israel.
The Coppergate Sock (10th century CE), York, England. Jorvik Viking Centre
The Mammen Burial finds (10th century CE), Denmark. National Museum of Denmark.
Arnheiðarstaðir Mittens (10th century CE), Iceland.
Egyptian nålbound textiles. Museum für Byzantinische Kunst, Berlin

Online Resources

Penelope Hemingway, "Nålbinding: A Short History of an Ancient Craft." Spin Off Magazine
Penelope Hemingway, "Nålbinding Basics: Oslo Stitch." Spin Off Magazine
Anne Marie Decker, Nalbound. nalbound.com
Sanna-Mari Pihlajapiha, Neulakintaat. neulakintaat.fi
Heritage Crafts Association, "Nalbinding." heritagecrafts.org.uk
PieceWork Magazine, "The Ancient Craft of Nålbinding Then and Now." pieceworkmagazine.com
Väkerrystä blog, "What does F2 mean?" vakerrysta.blogspot.com
"Nålebinding," Wikipedia. Wikipedia

Living Traditions and Events

The Jorvik Viking Festival, York, England.
Nanti people, Camisea region, Peru. A non-revival living tradition.