The Round Braid

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v2Published in 2005Accent Bead Design2222 Francisco Blvd., Suite 510-#158El Dorado Hills, CA 95762916-941-1104916-941-1103 fax

www.accentbead.com

E-Mail: Sales@accentbead.com

Copyright © 2005 Karen DeSousa

All rights reserved. Every effort has been made to ensure that these instructions are accurate and complete. We cannot, however, be responsible for human error, typographical mistakes or variations in individual work, injuries, losses or other damages which may result from the use of the information in this book or materials. No production of these patterns as kits, or any part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Any violations of the above will be prosecuted to fullest extent of the law. Minor altering of these patterns does not negate this copyright and serves as a confirmation of knowledge of this copyright.

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Round Kumihimo BraidIntroduction:

Kumihino is the ancient Japanese art of braid making. There are many different devices for making braids, but one of the most common is the marudai, which is a wooden stool with a hole in the middle, using tama which are wooden bobbins filled with lead to make a very specific weight. Kumihimo braiding has a beautiful history full of many traditions. The Kumihimo disc is a fast and inexpensive way to try out kumihimo braiding and see if you like it. If you do, you will find the kumihimo disc a great way to “try out” braid patterns before setting up the larger marudai. There is a lovely rhythm and peacefulness about the braiding process...and traditions are good.

The Kumihimo disc is sturdy, but can be destroyed by overly rough use. You can make wonderful kumihimo braids that incorporate strings of beads, but not with this disc. The beads will chew up the slits and eventually you lose tension. Once you have a little experience, a careful braider can incorporate beads one at a time as long as they never enter a slit. String the beads before braiding and drop in whenever that bobbin comes into play.

In addition to these instructions, you should have a Kumihimo Disc, 12 yards of satin cord, 8 bobbins, some thread, 2 end caps, and a clasp.

The kit does not include glue. You will need some fabric glue to adhere your cord inside the end caps. I recommend E6000 because I know it works well. Just be sure whatever glue you choose dries clear and does not discolor your braid or your end cap.

Introduction

Check out the kit

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1. Cut the cord into 8 equal pieces. The easiest way to do this is by folding. The cord in your kit is 12 yards long. Fold it in half and you now have 2 pieces 6 yards long. Fold again and you have 4 pieces 3 yards long. Fold one last time and you have 8 pieces approximately 54 long. No ruler needed.

2. Tie an overhand knot at one end of the folded cord to organize them into a single bundle. Cut the loops at the other end. Voila, 8 equal pieces of cord. Keep your overhand knot as close to the end as possible to avoid wasting cord.

3. Drop the knot down the center hole of the Kumihimo disc. Arrange one cord on either side of the 4 black dots on the disk.

4. Open the bobbins by bending towards the domed top. The dome will invert and you will see the center shaft.

5. I used to tie one end of each piece of satin cord to the bobbin shaft using a slip knot. I was afraid I would lose a bobbin. But experience has shown that all you really need to do is wind the cord around the bobbin shaft. Leave 2” of cord hanging below the disk then close the bobbin by bending the dome back over the shaft. Do this to all 8 pieces of cord.

Setting up

open domed bobbin

slip knot on shaft

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Look at your Kumihimo disc. Notice that the slits for the cord are to the LEFT of the number. This is important. In the following instructions you will be directed to move cord from one numbered slit to a different numbered slit. ALWAYS use the slit to the left of the number directed.

Kumihimo disc

Your disc should look like this. Notice how short the bobbins are. Also notice that the knot is in the center hole.

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North

South

West

East

Braiding

1. The disk should look like this. Place one strand of cord in each of the following slots:

32 1 8 9 16 17 24 25

Reality check: The knot should still be in the hole with the top of the knot level with the top of the hole. There should be one cord on each side of the black dots printed on the disc. Bobbins should hang down 2”-3” from the bottom of the disc. If they are much longer they will start to tangle on each other. Use slits to keep cord taut on face of disc.

2. Move the cord in slot 1 to slot 15. Move the cord in slot 17 to 31. In the picture, the green cords moved, the red cords stayed the same. Your disc should look like this picture.

Another way of saying this would be: Move the upper right cord across the disc. Then move the lower left hand cord across the disc.

Never move one cord without moving the second. It is the easiest way to get confused and make mistakes.

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3. Turn the disc, one quarter turn to the right. The numbers 24 and 25 should be at the very top.

4. Move the cord from slot 25 to 7. Move the cord from slot 9 to 23. (the green cords moved) Use slits to keep cord taut on face of disc. Your disc should look like this picture.

Another way of saying this would be: Move the upper right cord down across the disc. Then move the lower left hand cord up across the disc. IN THAT ORDER.Never move one cord without moving the second. It is the easiest way to get confused and make mistakes.

5. Turn the disc, one quarter turn to the right. The numbers 15 and 16 should be at the very top.

6. Move the cord from slot 16 to 30. Move the cord from slot 32 to 14. (the green cords moved) Your disc should look like this picture.Use slits to keep cord taut on face of disc.

Again, we are moving the upper right cord down then the lower left cord up across the disc. DO IT IN THAT ORDER.

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7. Turn the disc, one quarter turn to the right. The numbers 7 and 8 should be at the very top.

8. Move the cord from slot 8 to 22. Move the cord from slot 24 to 6. (the green cords moved) Use slits to keep cord taut on face of disc.Your disc should look like this picture.

By now you should know what your next move is. (Turn the disc one quarter turn to the right.) But just in case, the table on the next page lists the next moves. You are at 4. The table does not go on forever, nor does it repeat. By the time the table runs out you should no longer need to look at it. Try not to use the table, but continue to move the upper right hand cord down across the disc. Then move the lower left hand cord up across the disc.

Repeat this move, over and over and over until you run out of cord. When you need more cord, just tug on the bobbin and a couple more inches of cord will spool out. There is no need to open and close the bobbins every time you need cord.

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Move from slot:

To slot: Move from slot:

To slot: quarter turn to right

1 15 17 31 quarter turn to right done in Step 125 7 9 23 quarter turn to right done in Step 316 30 32 14 quarter turn to right done in Step 58 22 24 6 quarter turn to right done in Step 7431 13 15 29 quarter turn to right23 5 7 21 quarter turn to right14 28 30 12 quarter turn to right6 20 22 4 quarter turn to right29 11 13 27 quarter turn to right21 3 5 19 quarter turn to right12 26 28 10 quarter turn to right4 18 20 2 quarter turn to right27 9 11 25 quarter turn to right19 1 3 17 quarter turn to right10 24 26 8 quarter turn to right2 16 18 32 quarter turn to right25 7 9 23 quarter turn to right17 31 1 15 quarter turn to right8 22 24 6 quarter turn to right32 14 16 30 quarter turn to right23 5 7 21 quarter turn to right15 29 31 13 quarter turn to right6 20 22 4 quarter turn to right30 12 14 28 quarter turn to right21 3 5 19 quarter turn to right

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Continued from previous pageMove from

slot:To slot: Move from

slot:To slot: Then turn disc...

13 27 29 11 quarter turn to right4 18 20 2 quarter turn to right28 10 12 26 quarter turn to right19 1 3 17 quarter turn to right11 25 27 9 quarter turn to right2 16 18 32 quarter turn to right26 8 10 24 quarter turn to right17 31 1 15 quarter turn to right9 23 25 7 quarter turn to right32 14 16 30 quarter turn to right24 6 8 22 quarter turn to right

When the bobbins are completely spooled out, take the bobbins off and continue to braid until you can no longer catch the cord into a numbered slit. This will give you an inch or so more cord than if you stopped when the bobbins were spooled out. DO NOT TAKE OFF THE DISC YET!

You should have approximately 26” of braid.

Finishing the braid:

When the braid is as long as you want it, or you’ve run out of cord, it is time to bind off the braid. Instructions are on page 12.

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Troubleshooting

1. You’ve stopped and you don’t know which cord to start with again.

This is an easy and an important thing to learn in kumihimo. When braiding, the last moves made are the top most cords on your braid. Look at the center of your disc. Notice that there are two cords on top. In the case of this picture the cords are in the top east and bottom west position. This tells you that you just finished rotating the disc. You are ready to move the upper right hand cord down across the disc. Then move the lower left hand cord up across the disc. After that move, there will be the two cords on the top of the braid and you would be ready to make the quarter turn right.

2. Looking at my cord I can see I’ve made a mistake.

Kumihimo is great because it does not damage the cord in the process of braiding. If the mistake is not too far down the braid, then very carefully, step-by-step, undo the braid. Basically you will be moving the upper LEFT hand cord DOWN across the disc followed by moving the bottom RIGHT hand cord UP across the disc followed by a quarter turn to the LEFT. Sometimes it helps to use a safety pin to mark the mistake so you don’t lose it in the process of undoing the braid. It is up to you to decide if the mistake is serious enough to fix.

3. I’m at the end of my cord and I want to make my braid longer.

Oops! That one can’t be solved. All the big decisions in kumihimo are up front. Length is one of those decisions. When making subsequent cords figure out how long you want the finished cord to be. Then TRIPLE that length on EVERY bobbin. This way you will never come up short. Another good idea is to hold onto your leftover braid. Use it as a “sample” to remind you how you made it and what that color/bobbin combination ended up looking like.

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Binding the Ends

1. Cut a piece of thread about 24” long. Fold it in half making a loop.

2. Bind the braid. At the top of the braid, right under where the cords branch out to their numbered slots, slide the tails of the thread through the loop making a cinch. Your hands will be working below the disc. Move the thread so that it is at the very top of the braid. Pull the tails of the thread taught to cinch in all the cords. Make another loop with the thread. Run the tails through again, pulling taut to cinch the thread.

3. Remove the cords from the disc being careful to hold onto the thread at the cinch point.

4. Wrap the thread around the cinch point several times, binding all the cords together tightly. The width of the binding should be about 1/16”. If you make the binding too wide it will show from under the bead cap.

5. Seperate the ends of the thread, wrapping one back around the binding so that you can tie a knot. Tie several knots to hold the binding taught.

6. Trim the loose ends from the braid by cutting the cord very close to the binding.

7. Do this to the opposite end of the braid, right above the knot.

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Finishing the necklace

1. Check to make sure that the braid is not too long. Be sure to take into account the width of the clasp. If the braid is too long, rebind the cord at the correct length. Then bind a second time about 1/4” beyond the correct length. When BOTH bindings are in place, cut the braid between the bindings. If you don’t bind twice, the unbound end of the braid will unravel.

2. If you intend to thread the braid through a focal bead, now is a good time to do it. Once the bead cap is attached, it may not fit or be flexible enough to squeeze through. If you are hanging, stitching, weaving, or any other sort of embellishing of the cord, do it now. Even if it doesn’t make a difference, it is better to be safe than sorry.

3. Spread glue on the braid end. Be sure to cover the binding well. Slip the gluey braid end into the bead cap. Make sure the braid is centered and straight. Carefully wipe off any glue residue. The result should look like the picture.

4. Let the glued bead cap dry 24 hours before attaching the clasp.

5. After 24 hours, attach the clasp.

Congratulations, you have now made a round kumihimo braid.

There are all sorts of things you can do to vary the look of your round braid. The easiest is to change the type of cord you use. Try yarn, embroidery floss, cotton perle, art cord, mixed fat and thin cords. The possibilities are endless.

Enjoy your new skill. Experiment with new cords and fibers. Have lots of fun.

Happy Braiding!