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.
Wooden (!) braiding disks didn't exist in the Taisho era. 22aug2023
Kumi in My Happy Marriage ep ``The Gift''. 06nov2023
Black, white and blue kongoh disk braid 14mar2023
new disk coral braid, started 11feb23, completed 27apr24' 28oct2024
a short pendant serves as a portable kumihimo counterweight 31mar2020
notes for a light coloured diamond-pattern scrap DMC non-ombre cotton 16 str braid 29aug2023
pink, green and cream kumi—w dark to light background.
sea stocking takes an age... 24dec2019
Review of Your Name the 2016 anime featuring kumihimo. 17apr2017
grey & blue kongoh disk braid kumihimo 26nov2019
red white & blue tabby weave tubular disk braid with metallic accents. 12apr2017
blue-green-gold-green disk braid in perle cotton from 2016. 13apr2017
Reviews of two speciality kumihimo books. 17apr2017
Fugly flat braid 14apr2017
16 strand pink & purple ombre perl cotton kongoh on disk completed in 2015. 10apr2017
2015 24 strand disk kongoh in pink Japanese cotton. 11apr2017
The addition of a kumi drawstring made this post-worthy. Sort of. 12oct2015
notes for 1st 32 tama braid in red, black and white. 25nov2015
three strands in mint,blue,and beige come together in a post about how memory is braided together. 18apr2017
My first kumistrung necklace in a long, long time. It's also the first to feature my own lampwork beads. 07sep2015
collection of wonderful temari, lovingly documented by a grandchild by a woman now in her late 80s, who took the craft up in her 60s. 04sep2015
This was supposed to be a masterpiece of shifting colors, braided on the marudai. Except I forgot & did it on a disk. 02sep2015
purple, green and harvest gold kumi... 20aug2015
kumihimo reviews: Jacqui Carey, Catherine Martin, Roderick Own. 04sep2015
Notes from the kumi class I took with Tada-sensai. Incomplete & hard to read; mostly for the benefit of other folks in the class, whom I hope will find them useful. 04may2014
5mm x 83" 16 str kongoh completed approx 16feb15 19aug2015
More than once I've encountered the idea of mathematical knitting (or crochet) but those pieces are usually one-offs designed by the fiber artist to explore the concept (with, perhaps, moebius scarves being the exception.) Indeed, fitted clothes, especially to women's bodies, is a pretty complex t...
Two 1.5" hollow pressed lentils, with frit, powder, shard and floral decorations, with minor production notes. 12jun2014
Ikat style broken diamond patterned keiruko no himo kumi in orange and blue. 10jun2014
This red, white and blue spiralling diamonds 16 str kongoo was completed Monday, 24 feb 2014. 19apr2017
Red white and blue kongo, cordage for omiyage made on a disk. 23nov2015
Aya's polar bear stocking 07jan2014
wool kongo braid in earth tones—mustard, brown, purple. 22oct2012
4 stranded 3 ended disk braid in easter colors. A failed experiment. 20apr2017
I speculate about a beautifully simple silk braid, or kumihimo, from Japan. 20sep2013
purple braid with teal/aqua accents. Completed 08feb09, photographed 21dec10, documented 14aug2013
black and white blast from the past: zigzag D weight silk keiruku no himo kumi. 15aug2013
orange and blue kongo kumi done on a disk. 13aug2013
notes for flat mitake 16 strand red, white, blue braid, started near beginning of july. 03sep2015
Lentil shaped pink floral on kumi necklace with etched copper bail. Omiyage for f2tY. 30apr2013
Pink kumi/floral vessel omiyage. Page created 16apr13, posted 19jun2014
I try the hand/fingerloop method of braiding for the first time. And it's awful. 29mar2013
Hand or finger loop braiding. 24mar2013
Purple, lime green and fuchsia kongo kumihimo, made on a disk. 30apr2015
Easter oval braid uses two weights of cotton thread. 01sep2015
Orange braid, kongo, made on a disk. 09apr2012
2011 JDftY3's braid, continued. 28mar2012
Pink, purple and green kumi. Completed Feb2012;
a sample braid testing out some oval braid structures. 31aug2015
About a quarter century ago I tried card-weaving. Recently I took it up again.
Japan Daughter for the Year's parents sent me not one but two wonderful yukata (summer kimono) plus a bunch of other stuff. Not to mention entrusting me with their child for ten months. This piece was my attempt at arigato gozaimasu . 02sep2011
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
Bronze dragon adorns one of my earliest kumi-strung necklaces. 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
cranberry red and blue violet oimatsu braid 16jul2013
200 Braids to twist, knot, loop, or weave. Jacqui Carey, 2007 26may2007
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...
This index page collects my posts on kumihimo (Japanese style braiding on a marudai, or round stool, with tama/bobbins) and other braids. 23aug2005
Rainbow kongo in silk. created & posted 12aug05, indexed 23aug05 12aug2005
The first and so far best and most successful effort. (originally posted 14dec01) 08may2005
A textured braid made of a textured yarn during winter05, posted 31mar05 30mar2005
But hey, I think I've got it down anyway, so let's try it in silk (28mar05) 28mar2005
Moved the purple and green `twisted diamond' series all onto a subdirectory page which includes two new braids, 28mar05 28mar2005
Well, that didn't work, so let's try in the cotton again. This is a little better ... (28mar05) stay tuned for more thrilling developments... 28mar2005
This one wasn't working out so I turned it into a split braid. (originally posted 14dec01) 28mar2005
light blue & white snowflake stocking made in the early 2000s. 03dec2018
Variation on a Theme by Gail Frederickson ; (closeups posted, 14aug04) 15aug2004
Extravagant color blocking 22may2004
Lots of Black & Yellow Stripes 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
Trading is fun : polymer clay by Imagine. Collection of the artist. 22may2004
reviews of four books of Kumi instruction
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.
