Kumihimo collection

Shown above is a very bad scan of all the kumihimo braids I have made. Well, not all - I made two of the top one, but am including only one. I think my favorite one is the second from the top or the second from bottom.

No wonder I am sick of the blue/pink thread!

Overall I like kumihimo as an occasional fun thing to do but I don't see it becoming a serious hobby - not like I need another one!

Rounded flat braid

I finally finished the last braid in the Japanese Braiding book by Jacqui Carey that I've been using to learn the basics of Kumihimo. This was started quite a while ago, but soon after starting it I put it away and didn't touch until recently. Once I got into it again, it was quite addictive! The braid has quite a nice flow to it and it was hard to put down.

This is the first braid I made from the book that called for 3 colors. It's hard to tell from the scan, but I used dark blue, light pink and light green. Yeah I know, horrible colors! I'm still using the cheap crochet thread I have.

All in all the kumihimo braids were fun to make, but I still don't know what I could do with them. Not to mention that they would require a lot of practice before they would be nice enough that could do something with them.

It's a fun diversion, that's for sure.

Hollow Braid

Still plugging away with my kumihimo. I really like this braid and I finished it within a few weeks. You can really tell where I left off and picked it up again - tensioning properly was kind of difficult.

One more braid to go in the book I am using.

Honeycomb Braid

After a loooooong hiatus, I decided to make some more kumihimo. This is the honeycomb braid from Jacqui Carey's book Japanese Braiding - the art of kumihimo.

Like the previous kumihimo braids I made, this was also made using my cheapo crochet thread and my homemade cardboard disc. It shows. The tension was difficult to keep even. I'm sure part of it was that I am inexperienced, but I think a large part of it is also my very inadequate equipment. It was still fun to make though!

For some reason, this braid took me a few rounds to figure out. Although the instructions clearly say to pay attention to the position of the hands, I didn't bother doing so. It turns out, you really do have to pay attention to the hand position:)

I'm still undecided about kumihimo. I think I like having the option of making it now and again. I don't every see myself actually using the braids for anything (even if they get better, which they won't without practice... it's a vicious cycle...) All I have to do is look at my lace box though - I hardly ever use any of the lace I make either. Why should kumihimo be any different?

Kumihimo braid No. 3

Yet another kumihimo adventure. I put this braid down for a loooong time after I started and it shows. The large blip in the upper part of the braid is from when I picked it up and tried to start again. I think I reversed the order. After that, you can tell when I put it down and picked it up again, but at least the threads didn't get flipped around.

This braid was fun to make. Once I got into the swing of things I could make it without really thinking about it. Kind of nice to zone out when I was too exhausted to do much else.

I'm still using my cardboard loom and it's seen better days. I should probably make a new one before I start a new braid. One of the notches is about to tear off. I'm also still using the cheapo crochet thread. Yeah, I'm getting sick of the colors, but will probably stick with them for now. I don't see myself using the thread for anything else!

Kumihimo

My second kumihimo braid that I finished a while back. I like this one a lot more than the first one one I made. Tension was also much better! This braid is an example of the first kumihimo braid I saw. I can definitely see myself making more braids like this, something I couldn't say for the first braid.

Kumihimo

I am not sure when I first saw kumihimo, but I have always been interested in braids and such. I remember once I was looking through the Lacis website and learned more about it. Yes, the braids are pretty and yes, the equipment looks kind of cool, but I wasn't interested in having to set up a stand in my living room. My bobbin lace pillow is enough... Then about a year ago, I saw a website where it showed Kumihimo made on a little foam (I think) disc. I think it was called a kumi loom or something like that. After digging around some more, I found a short tutorial on how to make your own kumihimo loom on a plastic disc - coffee can lid or something similar. I made myself a loom and tried to follow the instructions but they were either poorly written or I was impatient and nothing came of it.

A few weeks ago I was browsing through our local library and saw that they actually had a kumihimo book. The instructions looked like they were written more clearly so I brought it home. I made my own loom again, this time a round piece of cardboard and set to work.

This thing in the scan above is my first attempt at a square braid. The kumihimo looms I've seen have notches cut all around the circle into which you slide the string as you work. I was using really cheap crochet thread and I was afraid that my string would not like being continuously pulled in and out of the cardboard notches. I tried to make the braid just by tensioning everything in my hand. Not good. As you can see, it's very uneven and barely looks like a square...

Since the tension was so bad, I decided to make the notches and try it that way. If it chewed up my string - oh well. Luckily it didn't and the final product is a bit more even. The braid actually looks like a square! I have a long way to go before my braids are presentable though.

I'm not exactly rushing out to buy a kumihimo loom or much less a stand, but for now I will try a braid now and again on my cardboard loom.