By now, I have re-started my nalbinded socks more times than I care to admit. In the course of all of the redoing, I have learned two things.
The first thing I learned is that kariena was right; you really don't need to "pivot", so long as you are able to connect your stitches back to your "caterpillar" as soon as you have made it as long as you want it--or at least that's the case if you're making a hat or something that starts out with a cylinder (like a sock). The result looks better than a pivoted end, too.
The other problem, and the real reason I've had so many do-overs, is the issue of adding a new piece of yarn to the work. As anyone who has tried it is aware, unlike knitting or crocheting, nalbinding does not use one continuous piece of yarn; it can't, because the working thread has to be pulled completely through for each stitch. So the nalbinder must be able to add a new piece of yarn every time the old one runs out, without ruining the look of the existing work.
The first thing I learned is that kariena was right; you really don't need to "pivot", so long as you are able to connect your stitches back to your "caterpillar" as soon as you have made it as long as you want it--or at least that's the case if you're making a hat or something that starts out with a cylinder (like a sock). The result looks better than a pivoted end, too.
The other problem, and the real reason I've had so many do-overs, is the issue of adding a new piece of yarn to the work. As anyone who has tried it is aware, unlike knitting or crocheting, nalbinding does not use one continuous piece of yarn; it can't, because the working thread has to be pulled completely through for each stitch. So the nalbinder must be able to add a new piece of yarn every time the old one runs out, without ruining the look of the existing work.
There are several ways to do this. One is simply to knot the new piece of yarn to the old one. This method is quick and simple, and depending on how tidy your knots are, can be fairly inobtrusive. Unfortunately, it doesn't work very well when your project is a pair of socks, because such knots can often be felt after the project is completed (even if they cannot be seen), and will cause discomfort.
Another common joining method involves fraying both the end of the old piece and the end of the new piece, overlapping them, and then uniting the two, either by wetting the area to be joined with water or saliva and rubbing it (to felt the ends together) and/or twisting the area to be joined in the direction the yarn was spun. This method wasn't working well for me either, because my yarn is thin and rough-surfaced. No matter how solid my spit-join looked, it usually pulled apart as I was making my first post-join stitch.
I've also seen pictures and videos of another method called the "Russian join." This method involves threading your new piece of yarn into a needle small enough to go up into the interior of the old piece. I'm sure it's a wonderful idea if your yarn is thick; however, I suspect any needle narrow enough to go inside a strand of my thin, 2-ply yarn would be too thin to thread with that yarn. A sample video illustrating the technique, using a thick, unplyed yarn, may be found here, but it's possible to find other videos and picture essays on the process, if you're interested.
Finally,I found a method called the "lazy join." This method involves starting your new yarn by running it underneath a number of stitches in the vicinity where your old yarn ran out, and continuing from there. Virginia Miller kindly put this picture page up to illustrate the process.
This method, finally, is working for me. Hopefully, the new sock I started last night will ultimately become a finished sock!
