Looping
SOFT TOOLS / Pulling through
This Pulling trough-technique is found in many places around the world and can result in both refined or more rough daily objects. Although it was mostly used in the past – dating from already 10.000 years ago, in some places it is still being used today. Anthropologists and textile researchers use names such as knotless netting, needle looping, needle binding and looped needle netting. It is said to be the ancestor to knitting.
As crafters use a needle to bind the fibers in some cultures, Soft Connection Lab keeps the double name for this technique. When a needle is used, we refer to the technique as needle looping. On other continents, a similar technique is found. As only the fingers are used here, we name it looping.
The simplest definition of (needle) looping is “the use of – a needle and – a short length of yarn which is pulled through each stitch to create a fabric of interlocking loops. Although only short lengths are used, looping cannot be unraveled in the same easy way as knitting and crochet. The loops are locked.
Soft Connection Lab has researched looping. The team examined its potential on several levels: to enhance easy understanding in an enlarged version, to turn it into collaborative manufacturing, and how or if looping could trigger potentially new applications, other than its traditional appearance. As we thought it was too slow and complex for the goal of this research project and context, we decided to not fully integrate it in the project. Moreover, it offered no advantage over crochet, which was integrated.
Roots
(Needle) looping is found on almost every continent and was used by numerous cultures to solve many of life’s daily challenges. Depending on the stitch, the materials and the makers skills, the looped artefacts can vary from coarse looking items to extremely refined artefacts. Some of the looping stitches look like knitting. Only close examination makes it possible to see the difference. Looping is said to be the ancestor to knitting.
One of the earliest known needle looped items, a textile fragment dating from 10.000 years ago, was found in a cave in the Israelian archaeological site Nahal Hemar. Researchers found out that the fragment was made from plant fibers and human hair.
The archeologic finds in the needle looping technique from Scandinavia are made in wool or hair, being used for smaller objects which can be made in the round and which needed to be hard-wearing and warm.
The earliest complete piece done in needle looping known in Europe is a mitten found in the Ålse Mose bog in Southern Sweden, which dates from the 4th or 5th century A.D..
Besides isolating for the cold, there are some archeologic finds of looped woolen socks found in warm climates. They needed to protect the wearer from hazardous natural elements such as scorching sand, stinging or insects. The famous pair of wool socks dating from the Egyptian Coptic period (between 250 and 450 A.D.) look very contemporary. The woolen socks are made in a needle looped stitch referred to as Coptic knitting or the Tarim stitch. This stitch looks very similar to the jersey knit stitch. In the Traditional applications-section, we explore a present-day pair of socks from the Omani desert.
SOUTH AMERICA
From the pre-Columbian America’s originates a 2.000-year-old astonishing masterpiece in the needle looping technique. The fringes of the mummy bundle are made in a blend of cotton and camelid fiber and witness an astonishing mastering of the craft. With simple tools, the early cultures of the Andean region of South America produced textiles of amazing virtuosity. Some extremely fine pieces, like this one, are too delicate to have served any utilitarian purpose, and are considered ceremonial.
Many looped artefacts found in warm continents are made with plant fibers. Building a textile piece through looping is very well suited to use unspun armlengths of fiber, which is a common length for numerous plant fibers. The short ends are being twined together while progressing on the piece. Common plant fiber looped objects could be for transportation, fishing, garments or for ceremonial use.
AFRICA
The Nigerian ceremonial dance suit dates from about 1970 and is made entirely of cross looped coir fiber. The suit is set up at the head and shows that it is possible to create a complete garment with arms and legs starting with a few loops, by continuously augmenting the number of loops.
Traditional applications
From versatile bags in Papua New Guinea over desert socks in Oman and light shoes in Iran to new traditions in Europe.
Looping as a living heritage in Papua New Guinea
A Noken is a hand-woven bag made and used by Dani, Lani and Yali people in the Baliem Valley region of the highlands of the Papua Province of Indonesia. The Noken is protected as Unesco cultural heritage. Very similar are the Bilum bags made by the Telefol people in Central New Guinea. In their Tok Pisin language, the word Bilum means “womb” or the place from which all life springs. When a man slings a handwoven Bilum bag across his body, he carries with him not just the goods that fill the sack, but also the history of the women in his family.
While looped artefacts such as socks and mittens look compact, warm and isolating, the Noken and Bilum bags have a very open construction. This stimulates their distinct quality of expanding and adjusting to the shape of objects kept within. People use them to carry different things, from babies over piglets to food and firewood.
Traditionally a bag’s single handle is placed around the forehead and hangs down the person’s back. Doing so, the person has free hands and can keep good balance while walking up or down the mountains. This mode of carrying is reflected in how the Noken is worn for traditional ceremonies. Women use them to cover their hair or chest as clothing and it is also worn by itself on the head on special celebrations.
Nokens and Bilums use the looping stitch which looks like a figure of 8 and is referred to as the hourglass looping.
Bedouin desert socks from Oman
These thick, needle looped socks are often reinforced with goat hair and are worn to insulate the feet from the scorching sand and as a protection to scorpions, snakes and thorns. Anyone who has been naive enough to walk across the desert sand in shoes or boots knows that nothing causes blisters faster and more painful than grains of sand caught between your feet and the boot. Anyone who has been naive enough to walk barefoot across sand during summer only makes this mistake once.
This pair of socks dates from the late twentieth century, but can still be found today, on rare occasions, as seen on thisInstagram post. As the post describes, these bedouin socks seem to be the ideal desert shoes.
Looping the Iranian Giveh shoes
The upper of this espadrille like footwear is made in the needle looping technique. In the past it was worn by farmers and villagers. Giveh footwear is very durable and has unique features. For example, it is highly suitable for arid and mountainous climates, and it is very light which decreases sweating. It does not have a left or right foot; both are the same. These features have given the footwear international popularity and made it a unique product.
To manufacture a Giveh, you need specialized makers: one for the sole, one for the upper, and another to combine both parts. Giveh is one of the oldest crafts of Kermanshah and is still practiced today. It is said to have more than a thousand years of history.
A living craft in Europe
Today, needle looping as a craft undergoes a resurgence in Europe. At events such as the annual Jorvik Viking Festival, traders from across Europe make, sell, and buy needle looped items. In addition to the interesting history of this ancient technique, looping techniques have some advantages over knitting: the fabric doesn’t ladder (as for a dropped stitch) and can be harder-wearing, thicker and warmer than knitted fabric. Many of the stitches needle binders use today are named after extant finds, such as the York, Oslo, Åsle, Mammen and Korgen stitches. This thread links our hands to many cultures and dives deep into our shared past.
Watch & learn
At Soft Connection Lab, needle looping was examined but not withheld for the research, because of its complexity. Needle looping also requires working with short ends. You cannot use a bobbin because the bobbin cannot pass through the loops.
So, the looping is a not just slower than crochet or knitting, it also requires some extra time to attach the pieces of yarn together. Usually, one works with an armlength of yarn at a time. For those who want to get an idea about the technique, we share two needle looping tutorials and one finger looping tutorial.
