Kumihimo

I've spent the past week or so learning the basics of a new skill: kumihimo, or Japanese braiding. I've admired these braids for quite a while and discovered a tutorial on YouTube that made it seem easy. Several types of wooden equipment are available for kumihimo braiding, but you can get started with just a slotted disc (made from high density foam and available commercially at reasonable cost). While waiting for mine to arrive, I cut slits into the plastic top of a large coffee can and made my first 2 braids.

My first braid – this uses 8 strands of cord.

And this one has 16 strands of embroidery floss.














Finally the kumi disc arrived! I love it – it's so much easier to keep even tension on the strings!

I used 6-ply embroidery floss to make this (supposedly) ridged 12-strand braid. Well, it is ridged, but so slightly that you almost don't notice it.
I expected a much "steeper" ridge.



And finally, a beaded braid.

This piece was really a combination of practice and experiment, since I had no idea how many beads or how much string this would use. Eventually, I want to do something like this but with mixed bead sizes.


Now I'm waiting for a book with lots of patterns to arrive. I'll keep you posted!