This pattern is found both in Owen and Carey (pp. 134–135 and 49, respectively). The long stitches are made with (in this case) with 12 bobbins and the short with 4, both of which move clockwise around the mirror (top) of the marudai in an alternating and non-interacting sequence. Since all the bobbins are always in the same position with respect to each other, I sorted the yarns to give the ombre effect.

So far as the ridging is concerned, tension has never been one of my strong points; you can see some poofiness in one section of the braid, but for much of its length, the long stitches do not stand proud of the short.

Japanese braiding sequences, as a rule, are symmetrical and balanced—if you move a set of bobbins one way, at some point during the sequence they will be moved back. Thus Japanese braids tend to be even in character. Other patterns, lacking this symmetry, are much harder to properly tension and show the novice's wobbliness to a much greater degree, as for this example. (Let's not even discuss my own variation on this braid, in which the long stitches vary in length all over the place.)

wool, cotton

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