I've been making braids since I was very small; I have a veritable trove of three-stranders made of yarn and that colored string old ladies like to make into crocheted doileys. I remember some clerk at a bead store that told me she would “rather I didn't” watch her braid 4 strands together for the ends of a necklace in an attempt to learn this arcane art; (why then was she in the public part of the store, working at the counter?) and recall with fondness the generosity of another textile artist at the Ypsi Heritage Festival, upon hearing this story, vowing to teach me; but Catherine Martin's book on Kumihimo opened a magical world I didn't know existed.
Silk braid from the purple and green twisted diamond series. 2002?–2005.
We're so incredibly fortunate nowadays. Even before that treasure trove known as the World Wide Web became common, computers were making publishing accessible by orders of magnitude; all the sudden, people could write, illustrate—even color-separate—for a fraction of the cost before the days of desktop publishing. And all these specialty craft books have multipled as a wonderful result.
Now there are whole books on braids, ribbons, tassels, Japanese embroidery, glass beadmaking. When I think of them all, it makes me feel wealthy beyond anything I could imagine as a child. And it helps, too, that as so many traditional and ethnic crafts are being lost as the people doing them no longer have the time nor interest that they are springing up, irrepressibly, in other cultures, such as ours. Someone once told me there were more —and more skilled—armorers now than in the Middle Ages.
It is my hope other crafts will prosper, be revived, re-interpretated and enjoyed as well. —These pages are my small contribution.
Elemental Mojo bears the distinction of being the only other person I know who does ikat kumi —that is using variegated yarns to shift patterns in and out of a braid. Originally posted 30jun09 30jun2009
Updated documentation on my favorite layout, twisted diamond for my one of my very favorite braids, keiruko no himo. Originally posted 12nov08. 12nov2008
This piece was one of my earliest pages, then dropped off because I wanted a better picture, and so of course I forgot about it, until I needed to refer to it for another post. The original probably dates back to '96, but this version was first posted 02oct08. 02oct2008
This drawstring bag and figurine ensemble features a foam-card woven 16 strand diamond patterned kongo braid . Originally posted 19jun08. 19jun2008
16 strand flat braid using rainbow cotton string. Originally posted 28nov07. 28nov2007
This flat braid was the first sample made using 24 100g tama; originally posted 24nov07 24nov2007
These are among the oldest braids I've made, going back to at least the late 80s; even the image is 5 years old. But only posted 26oct06. 26oct2006
Stripeys to me are hollow round bead stripeys, but these beads do have the stripes built into the glass, so, technically, they qualify. Plus, some day I want to develop the theme further. So here they are, even though really this is mostly a post about teaching kids how to braid. Originally po...
Rainbow kongo in silk. created & posted 12aug05, indexed 23aug05 12aug2005
A textured braid made of a textured yarn during winter05, posted 31mar05 30mar2005
Moved the purple and green `twisted diamond' series all onto a subdirectory page which includes two new braids, 28mar05 28mar2005
Variation on a Theme by Gail Frederickson ; (closeups posted, 14aug04) 15aug2004
Lots of Black & Yellow Stripes 22may2004
Extravagant color blocking 22may2004
a Spiral braid in browns, creams, greens & pale blue 22may2004
Horrid experiment in attempting my own braid structure. Added 14Dec2001. 22may2004
More green and purple round braids 22may2004
Rectangular braid in green wool 22may2004
Orange & pink yarn braids 22may2004
fuscia & purple braid in perle cotton 22may2004
pink, purple, & cream round braid 22may2004
Purple and Green Fuzzy braid 22may2004
One of my favorites 22may2004
Not strictly a braid book; provides a variety of cord-making techniques, aimed at the (relative) beginner. Originally posted 26may07
For more braids check out various necklaces in the Beadweaving & Stringing Pages; also Holiday Crafts now include stockings with kumi (some of them originally shown here!
modified: Wed Aug 24 03:22:23 2005; 18oct06
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
