Playing With String

I ended up not getting an afghan out yesterday - I went to get a project bag, and went right past them to get this.  It is my kumihimo box.  I don't have much braiding stash compared to the rest of my stash!  Everything fits in here.

I laid a skein of floss on it for sizing.

Here's what's inside:

A box of craft cord, a stack of kumihimo disks, two braids that need 'rolling', two braids in progress, and a baggie of plastic 'string' and a really thick foam disk that I recently found at a yard sale - it has a few bits of already braided stuff in it, too.  And my notebook full of pattern ideas.  That's a full sized notebook, which might be a better idea of the box size.  I love my box!

Here's my two almost-finished braids.

The top one is the 'hearts' pattern and the bottom is a single diamond pattern.  They need 'rolled' which is where you put something on the TV to watch and sit and roll them between your hands for what feels like forever but is usually about ten-fifteen minutes.  Then they lay perfectly smooth and lovely.  When you're really, really good at kumihimo, you supposedly don't have to roll anymore, but I haven't reached that stage yet, though these aren't as lumpy as mine used to be!  These are both destined to be key chains for my Mum, who likes to put her key chains around her wrist so she doesn't drop them.

These are my two in progress, and I worked on them yesterday.

The left one is the 'flower' pattern and I'm making it to look like daisies.  The right is my own pattern, a set of four diamonds in fire colors that I call 'Ember'.  The daisies will be another key chain, Ember will be a lanyard for an employee ID.

This is my newest addition to the box - it is a little Christmas prezzie I got and love!  I will be making a lot of braids this year - it is supposedly for young girls but there is not a single kid I know who would have the patience to sit down and do these!  But I love to braid and always have, and these instructions are pretty good.

The book has the spiral knot braids that I always wanted to learn to do - like the pink one on top right.  It does say to tape down the ends while you are working but I'm going to rig myself a little frame, instead.  Make life easier!

Today, I really did get an afghan out so progress pics of that coming soon!

PS - My apologies for the bad formatting.  Blogger doesn't like me today!  It will not adjust!