Kumihimo bracelets…WIP

These are fun and fairly quick to work up (despite the fact that I’m not done yet…need supplies…and rest 🙂 ). Aside: I’ve found it challenging and sometimes tiring to learn new techniques in new media every week. It’s been a great way to spend my sabbatical, but I definitely couldn’t jump around like this on a regular basis.

So first, the semi-end products:

These need a variety of finishings: end caps, magnets, tassels. I’m liking the silk cord (two on left) more than the silk ribbon (bracelet on right).

 

This is what the ribbons looked like *after* I distressed them with water and *before* I wove them ever so tightly into that third bracelet on the right.

Turns out I am a tight weaver coming out of the gate. It doesn’t seem to matter what project – if I’m weaving I’m pulling and holding things tight. I don’t think this is a good strategy all the time…so I’m working on it. In this case, there was a weight pulling the bracelet down through the loom, so I should have just let it do its’ job. I didn’t realize this until the end of the first bracelet (which was the silk ribbon one). Also, I’m not a fan of the big beads that line the ribbon bracelet…I have skinny wrists and these seem pretty big in scale for me. The smaller beads I could use on the silk cord (which is called “rattail” for enquiring minds) suited me better. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what size cord I used in the store to fit inside those beads (p.s. I still had to cut the ends of the cord at an angle then glue them into points before stringing on the beads…not the easiest part of the project.)

Here are some close-ups of the process, in case you’re not familiar.

Here’s the disk needed – apparently these come in square shapes as well and you can make many different patterns with each shape.

 

These cool plastic spools hang off the loom with the beads attached (they flip open/closed). The shiny thing in the middle is my highly technical weight (it’s a large metal nut, from my teacher). I like that they look like rudimentary flying saucers when they’re on the loom.

Here’s a small beginning (I think I already accidentally missed a bead placement at this point…ah, first projects!).

Here’s more bracelet – getting ready to remove it from the loom.

So I need to glue on end caps, use O-rings to attach magnets and put on tassels. I have the teacher’s email address if things get weird. 🙂

I’m looking into buying spools of this silk cord because I feel like I can’t get enough of this kumihimo weaving. It’s very meditative and I really enjoy it. Plus I love finishing projects within a few hours/days (so different from usual crochet projects).