So while at a glass workshop, one of the attendees kindly brought in some books for me to look at—two about (machine) thread painting, and two about kumihimo. I'm (still) not much of an expert on thread painting, but feel I have enough expertise to comment on the kumi books.

To be honest, I've kind of avoided wading into the morass that is low-priced, accessible kumi with beads books, because they all looked too basic to be of any interest. I figured if I wanted to do beaded kumi, I'd just do beaded crochet instead (it's more difficult to get started, but more compact to carry around).

Makiko Tada's masterclass changed all that.

Not only did it give me a greater appreciation for what can be done on a disk, I got her first treatise on braiding with disks. These also inform the books I'm going to review; thus they feature more complex braids than 8 strand kongoh.

First up we have Twist, Turn & Tie: 50 Japanese Kumihimo Braids—A beginner's guide to making braids for beautiful cord jewelry, complete with kumihimo disk to get you started (Whew! Who sez publishers no longer put out books with long titles? This volume is by Beth Kemp, copyright 2014, 128pp., $22 and is a hardcover published by Barrowns.

The first 33 pages cover a brief about the author (with a link to her website and facebook page for additional info), an introduction to common threads, beads, kumihimo disks, a (very) brief discussion of colour theory and winds up (heh) with finishing techniques. Aside from a one page index and another with templates for making your own disk at the end, the remainder are the various projects. Not surprisingly, she starts with the easiest braid to do on disk, the standard 8 strand kongoh. After several variations, she graduates you to 16 strand kongoh; and then shows some the patterns common to that structure.

Then we have a 4 strand round, and an assortment of thick-and-thin (spiralling) braids, both round and flat, before switching the reader to the rectangular disk. ‘Spring Dawning Square Braid’ and ‘A Braid for Jasmine’ are handsome variations on Owen's (& Tada-san's) thick and thin braids, and I wouldn't mind trying them. She also covers Tada's cherry blossom (changing directions of the flat braid to make petals) in one project.

By p 84 we start with beaded braids. I didn't find these nearly as interesting, but given my antipathy to beaded kumi, that's hardly surprising. There are a variety of projects for every taste, and I liked some of the ones with beads merely sprinkled in as an accent (e.g. Diamonds Forever).

I'm not a project person, but it can be helpful to see a variety of fibers and beads used; the diagrams, which are clearly based off Tada's disk and plate treatises, are easy to follow, and since exact lengths are given, it's relatively easy to calculate take-up for thicker (or bead laden) threads.

This book strikes me as an excellent choice for someone not quite ready to pop for the Tada treatises—many of her variations are shown (zigzag, winding a thin braid around another, spiralling braids) with the same clear diagrams, and in a little more English friendly format. (Tada's books are in both English and Japanese, but some of the more detailed notes must be purchased separately.) Plus, you get how to throw beads into the mix, and even a disk to get you started. (It's cardboard, though, so you'll take advantage of the templates or purchase a foam one.)

Next up, we have Giovanna Imperia's Kumihimo: Wire Jewelry, Essential Techniques and 20 Jewelry Projects for the Japanese Art of Braiding. This book came out a little earlier, in 2011 (for the same price, 22USD) in a softcover edition of 144pp by Crown Publishing under their pottercraft imprint. There's no question she's a serious student but I found myself a tad put off by the preface:

Many books have been written...making kumihimo more accessible by presenting technically rigorous information...Most recently, many small project oriented books have emerged in the United States, all of which, unfortunately, lack the technical knowldge and expertise of the earlier books. This suggested to me the need for a new type of book: A book that would address readers’ desires for easy-to-follow projects without compromising on what I consider an essential technical foundation... —this book provides more comprehensive coverage than others and can be used by experienced and novice braiders alike.

Equally important, this is the first kumihimo book on braiding with wire...I chose to focus on twenty gorgeous, one-of-a-kind projects for the disk/Maru Dai and the square plate.

So let's get my personal issues out of the way first, shall we?

The impression I was getting was that Giavanni really wanted to write an advanced manual for kumists. Problem is, as she notes, there are already a number of texts that explore the topic in-depth for the serious braider. The reason the quickly-kitschy project books she deplores got written was precisely because a lot of people—the bulk of them, I'd say—don't want all that theory: they want some fun and easy projects, with the research done for them. Oh, sure, they might swap out a colour or change the length or purpose of something, but they want to dive in. They couldn't care less what the Japanese names of the braids are.

Besides which, if the shelves of the average bookstore or craft shop are any indication, it's much easier to sell ‘20 fantastic $craft projects’ than so-and-so's learned treatise, with additional notes on historical sources of $given_medium. So I'm guessing the author pushed for all the stuff I liked, but the publisher insisted on a project format. —Oddly enough, I'd say the beaded kumi book, above, actually does a pretty good job of satisfying those somewhat disparate goals.

This book's not bad, either. I certainly appreciated the discussion of types of wire, the hints on prepping it for braiding, and the notes about kumi moves and tsuri hito (evidently the technical term in Nihongo for thick & thin ends). My favorite project was the three sample bracelets using this technique (which I also highlighted above) which could of course be done just as easily in all thread. My other fave was the bicoloured kata sanami—no doubt because I struggled with this exact braid in Tada-san's class, right down to the green and white colour scheme!

This book also starts with a brief intro, covering the various traditional equipment (including a square stand I'd never encountered until I took Tada-san's masterclass) along with a few pictures of some very beautiful Japanese braids that would be impossible to make with the equipment used in this book, as well as a traditional zen robe that incorporates braiding, a nice change from the usual samurai armour example.

Did you know you could braid with 50 or 60 gauge steel wire? I didn't know that it was even commercially available. Needless to say, the information about handling wire was probably the most interesting to me, but as I prefer very tight braids and wire doesn't braid tightly, I failed to find most of the projects very appealing. That said, the book is handsomely laid out, and does, in addition to naming the braids (& using the same diagramming scheme as Tada) have a brief section on types of braiding movements.

As with the beaded kumi book, the projects are divided into those worked on the round, and then square, plate. And maybe that, ultimately, is my issue with this book: the necklace featured in the cover was made on a marudai. I suspect most of the pieces would be easier to do on a marudai; but aside from a brief illustration of how to put leaders on tama, the author doesn't really go into the advantages of working on marudai: it's not just that you can use both hands at once, though that certainly speeds up the process. It's also that the weighted tama really help with tensioning, which I find enough of a bear with thread—let alone wire!

Thus the ‘Lacy Bracelet’ on pp 71-72 looks interesting, but it's not as if combining maru genji & edo yattsu isn't compellingly explored in Tada's first treatise, and the kata sanami, as I mentioned, is a direct adaptation from Tada's (and yes, her sample is white and green too....) —and I think it would be difficult for the casual hobbyist to achieve the results shown; whereas the serious braider would probably want to spring for the professional equipment. But hey, I haven't actually attempted braiding with wire (though I've done needlelace with it) so mebbe I'm being way too pessimistic.

That said, by far most interesting piece in the book is a piece facing the table of contents by Aya Nakamaya, which seamlessly moves from a cast pendant to wire to silk—a tour de force for which I certainly would have appreciated some construction notes. With the exception of one stickpin, (in which the ends of the wire are curled into decorative elements) the untidy wire ends are stuffed into caps and glued (shudder!) into place. I get it—for the most part, the artist is using coated wire, which you can't solder, besides which most people are unlikely to have a hammer and block, let alone a torch and the knowledge to use it.^[1]

I suppose wire (as opposed to beading) is a good choice, because, frankly, the wire braider is likely to get into the technique more, since working wire requires more tools, skills and dedication than getting started with beads.^[2] But the projects are all fairly easy—the necklace on the cover, for example, is not one of the projects^[3] though you do at least learn the structure and techniques to make it on your own.

But it totally violates the unspoken rule that you, the purchaser, will learn to make the cover item seems kind of a cheat for those just wanting a pattern.

Again, to be fair, this book does have more complex structures. The instructions for them include Rodrick Owen's slot method of notation, which I personally find much harder to follow than Tada-sensai's diagrams (somewhat abbreviated ones are also included). It's just...that the book had a bit of betwixt and between, and it bugged me.

That said, both of these books are, IMO, good value for your $22. The instructions are clear, the photography good.^[4] They cover the basics of working on plate and disk, introduce the kumist to more complex structures than just kongoh, and throw in an extra technique (beading or wire), have a number of fun variations to try in a variety of materials and colour schemes. Either would be a fine choice for a beginner/intermediate braider, and provide handy tips for the advanced braider wishing to explore their respective variations.

Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.

Sylvus Tarn