Alex's Historical Fiction

Roman socks

I've gone back to having a go at naalbinding. It's sort of one-needle knitting, or perhaps knotting. The Romans had socks, as shown at Vindolanda, and also on this artefact found in Carlisle. The late Romans knew about naalbinding, and there are knitted 'Coptic' socks found in Egypt dated between 3th-5th century. (I'm not doing the sandal socks with toes, though!) Naalbinding is more commonly known from the Viking period, and there are instructions by Regia Anglorum on how to do it here. I had a go a couple of years back, but got nowhere, despite being shown by one of the very craft orientated members in the re-enactment group. Then, whilst away in Bridlington the other weekend, someone said 'it's like a blanket stitch' which I think has done the trick for me.

I started last night, and it doesn't look too bad so far! It helps that I'm using a more slender metal bodkin, rather than the thick bone needle I bought for doing it. I'm just getting used to how the whole thing works, so if it comes to naught, I won't mind, as I've already learnt a lot :-) It's a very slow method, and a couple of our Roman ladies just spend most of their time a shows knitting/sewing away at their current sock!

posted by Alex Bordessa @ Wednesday, June 29, 2005