ABOUT THIS EPISODE
How did people make and use the textiles we’ve created for millennia? From nalbinding to netting to bast fiber processing, Sally Pointer looks for answers by working with her hands.
Some fiber crafts are as old as humanity, even recorded in cave paintings. Some fiber crafts are so little practiced now that they’re considered endangered. For textile historian (and prehistorian) Sally Pointer, they’re entirely vital and full of new discoveries.
The Heritage Crafts Red List of Endangered Crafts tracks more than 150 crafts in the UK practiced by so few people that they may disappear within a generation or so, and it names the known practitioners. Sally’s name appears twice, once for nalbinding and once for bast fiber processing. Those are far from her only fiber fascinations; she is currently at work on a book about netting, and she speaks passionately about splicing and cordage-making.
Nalbinding is plagued by misconceptions: that it’s solely a Viking craft, an early form of knitting, only interesting for reenactors, or slow to work. Nalbinding—It’s Not Knitting, Sally’s 2026 book, presents it as a useful contemporary craft still practiced around the world. The technique is as useful for creating twenty-first-century socks as for the ancient Egyptian examples excavated from archaeological sites.
As an experimental archaeologist, Sally not only looks at ancient textile finds; she tries to understand how they were made and used. Looking at an artifact and guessing how it was used can breed misconceptions; experimental archaeologists test those guesses to learn what it was like for the people who used them. “This is almost allowing us to touch the hand of the original maker for a fleeting moment,” Sally says. “And that is spine-chilling at times.”
Links- Sally’s website
- Sally’s current book is Nalbinding—It’s Not Knitting
- Lime Bast: Harvest, Preparation and Use by Sally Pointer and Chiz Harward
- Find Sally’s free videos on fiber processing and textile techniques at YouTube
- Her online and in-person class list is available at Sally Pointer Heritage Education
- Red List of Endangered Crafts
Treenway Silks is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com. You’ll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway's array of wild silks provide choices beyond white.
If you love silk, you’ll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed.
Calling all fiber lovers! Here’s your invitation to indulge your holiday wishes: Long Thread Media’s Great Holiday Giveaway 2026! From October 9 through November 13, enter for your chance to win a prize from one of our partners, featuring tempting fiber gifts for weavers, spinners, knitters, and needleworkers.
There’s more than $1,400 in prizes, and you’ll have five chances to put your name in the hat. Visit [Handwovenmagazine.com/giveaway]( for details and be sure to check the rules and eligibility requirements at the bottom of the page.
Go on, put your name in! Good luck.
