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!

Rotation, and Other Things

My 'day or two' is really long, isn't it? Lol!

I scraped and scrapped and arranged and rearranged my rotation - I still had to give up a few projects (temporarily!) that I would have rather kept, but this is the main one for now:

1. Frederick the Literate - so close to a finish!
2. Chang Wufei - I want to finish him, and he's so much fun!  Plus he will allow me to stay in the YOTA SAL.  I'll show you an update soon (is tomorrow YOTA?)
3. Cut-Thru Princess Palace - I refuse to give it up, lol!
4. QS Nostlagy - I'm going to work her instead of Lovers for IHSW, until she's got the equivalent of a page finish, for the HAED BB SAL.  Then it's back to Lovers.
5. Oops/Stocking/Sprite - whatever small project that I happen to put in my purse on that particular day.
6. Open - I will be rotating other projects through this spot - it may be enough to keep me in the Turtle Trot SAL but I'm not sure.

Some other things:

Since I've had to cut down on my crochet time, I've picked up a few older crafts that I used to play with a lot - one is kumihimo braiding - I used to do this before it became popular in those friendship bracelet kits - I used to make my 'wheels' out of old cardboard.  I have to admit, buying a kit and using the 6-8 wheels they come with is a lot easier! (They wear out pretty fast, though - my best record is five braids on one wheel)

I've done all the basic designs before - hearts, flowers, diamonds and stripes, but I never once thought of a picture.  I also used to make up designs - not easy with just pen and paper, but now there are several online sites that give you a visual of what your pattern will look like.

I make my braids into keychains - and yeah, okay, they can go around your wrist.  They're pretty loose, though.  Here's a burgundy and white one in the 'heart' design I'm making for my mother - all the designs for a 16 strand braid (called Kongoh-gumi, usually) are spiky.  There are no real curves, but it does look sort of like hearts.  You can see how worn the wheel is getting and this is the second braid I've done on this one. (Ignore the printed colorways; I'm doing my own thing, lol!)



And this is one of my own ideas - I call it 'Ember'.  I was trying to make it in flame colors.  It's four diamonds in red, orange, yellow, and black.  White might have been better but I didn't like the way it looked.  Here's the tiny start, front and back. When it gets a little longer, you roll it between your hands to make the pattern lay 'straight'.





These are pretty easy, if you're interested - they sell the beginner's kits at Hobby Lobby, I know, already threaded for a single-diamond pattern.  Be warned, though, every kit I've ever found that comes pre-threaded has the knot facing the wrong way - take it out and make sure it's behind the wheel.  Or you'll get a very short, knobby, inside-out stump of a braid.  The beginner kit with one wheel is two dollars.

I'll be back soon - off to check and see if YOTA is tomorrow!