After making a braid long enough for a keychain in the Kara-kumi diamond pattern, I switched over to a Kyo-Kara braid - a related set of moves but very different look.
This is a 32-element variant in rayon; it is braid #2 in the “The Essence” book.
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Braid looks great! 💕
32-element Kara-kumi braid in rayon. There are 8 elements each of purple, blue, yellow, and orange. I used 70g tama and 40% counterweight. This is an expansion of the 24-element braid #104 in Makiko Tada’s Comprehensive Treatise of Braids, Volume 1 (marudai braids).
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Kiku-kara 1 from Tada’s CTB1 (Braid #82). A 16-element braid done in all one color of rayon (royal blue Robison-Anton) using 70g tama and 40% counterweight.
This braid would normally have a “good” side and a “bad” side - but both sides look interesting to me in a single color!
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Masu-gumi braid - braid #107 in the Comprehensive Treatise of Braids Volume 1 book by Makiko Tada. The braid has repeating outlines of silver diamonds with a central filled diamond in 3 shades of purple - all in fine silk.
A 24-element masu-gumi braid. All of the elements are made up of many strands of fine spun silk: silver and 3 shades of purple. I used 70g tama and 40% counterweight.
Some different braid structures will be coming soon - I’m just in love with masu-gumi at the moment!
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Edna Gibson is a brilliant braider known for her karakumi masterpieces. I recently joined The Braid Society and I am excited to meet the many experts there. 🙂
Check out the supplier listing from The Braid Society (based in the UK; linked below). You may be able to source a copy from the UK. For example - see the listing for Edna Gibson - I believe she is based in the UK.
thebraidsociety.wildapricot.org/Suppliers
Are you in the US?
Braidershand carries it (linked here). It’s a more expensive book but is so comprehensive that you could spend years with it and never get bored.
braidershand.com/comprehensiv...
That is a wonderful book. It really orients your mind to the various combinations and permutations of moving and intertwining braiding elements.
Your braid is beautiful - and if the random woodworker from eBay who made your marudai wants a hobby - they could sell many of those stunning stands! 💕
It is! Alpaca and silk mix is so luxurious! 😎
Some new fibers! This is a very fine yarn (120/2) - a blend of baby alpaca and silk. I used 20 ends (strands) per each of 8 elements (see picture with pen for reference). While somewhat “fuzzy” on its own - when braided it looks very nice! This braid is Yatsu-se, 250g tama and 40% cw.
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I also did this when I was a kid. As I remember, it was made up of half hitches done in alternate left and right directions. Hitches are knotting (macrame) not braiding.
Braids only intertwine strands - the ones I do are held in tension with weighted bobbins. I move the bobbins & the braid forms.
What you did was likely macrame. Not braiding.
You did advanced Japanese braiding in junior high? On a marudai? Call me impressed. 🙄🤣
No need to apologize.
If you search for “viscose yarn” on eBay there are hundreds of options. Viscose is another name for rayon - which is a fiber made from cellulose (originally - it was developed as a type of artificial silk).
I presume you mean the yarns? I scour eBay and pick up random yarns here and there. I believe all of these particular yarns are discontinued but can be found occasionally with some patience on eBay.
This is a 24-element Masu-gumi in plied yarn. The yarn is 100% rayon except the purple which is 75% rayon/25% nylon. This is braid #107 in Makiko Tada’s Comprehensive Treatise of Braids Volume 1. I used 85g tama and 40% counterweight. I really like the sheen of this fiber
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I am not familiar with this braid. Which makes sense - their page says “This braid was derived by ourselves.”
It’s an interesting set of moves and makes an unusual surface texture. Using 10 elements is very uncommon. Maybe for a reason 🤷🏻♂️
I probably prefer the look of a 12-element Hira Kara.
Beautiful marudai! Excited to see your braiding progress.
Here is the other side of the braid. A bit different from mitake.
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A 16-element yurugi braid. The yarn is 6/1 linen, 4 strands per each of the 16 braiding elements. There are 8 navy elements and 8 terra cotta elements.
I used 70g tama and 35% counterweight. I use a lower counterweight % because linen is quite stiff and I wanted a tight final braid.
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AI is usually completely useless.
It is so **confidently** wrong it is frightening. I swear we will not be able to discern actual truth from “alternate” truth in another 5 years. Maddening.
I worked up another 16-element yurugi braid in a variegated yarn. Same setup and tama weights as the purple, pink, yellow, and orange braid - but a slightly different color layout. Both are pictured side by side below. The yarn is Caron All Day Cotton in a colorway named Starling.
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What was this braid structure called? Or what braid # from what book?
I love the colors. The braid structure looks a little loose but I still think it looks lovely.
16-element kanmuriuchi (aka yurugi, braid #72 from Makiko Tada’s CTB1). This is a cool braid because both sides are interesting and quite different. 70g tama 40% counterweight; 4 elements each of 4 different colors of mercerized 100% cotton yarn.
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16-element Kata-sasanami (braid #76 in Tada’s CTB1) in variegated mercerized cotton yarn. I did 4 color-aligned elements in each of the 4 main colors of the yarn. I used 70g tama and 40% counterweight. You can see how the variegated yarn shifts throughout the braid.
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The pink is so subtle! This is a masterpiece! Brava! 🙇🏻♂️
It is called a marudai. A round braiding table used in Japanese braiding. Here is a picture of another of my marudai from the side with the weighted bobbins in view. During braiding, the braid forms through the middle hole and is counterweighted to provide tension to form the braid properly.
This is braid #107 from Makiko Tada’s Comprehensive Treatise of Braids Volume 1. It is a 24-element braid called masu-gumi completed in 5 gradient colors of 100% mercerized cotton yarn. I used 70g tama and 40% counterweight. Such a fun braid!
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