Ok, here goes with Part 2… This is about the kute-uchi loop braiding day in Joy Boutrup’s class at Braids 2012. (Her first day had covered historic European finger loop braids. The highlight had been several unusual braids and braiding methods that she learned through analyzing museum specimens—braids that are not recorded in any of the surviving loop braiding manuscripts.)
I just wish I had taken more photos, and asked Joy more questions!
It’s been weeks since the conference and I still keep having dreams about interlaced strands…
While the classes were the official focus of the conference, a lot of the enjoyment was also the fun and excitement of being around so many other people as interested in obscure textile techniques as myself, sharing some of these, seeing braid exhibits, chatting, (eating!), and exploring Manchester and the nearby city of Macclesfield. There were people from all over the world—a few familiar faces, a few whom I’d only known “virtually” before the conference, most whom I had never met before.
John Whitley (Seattle,USA), Dominic Taylor (UK), Tulvi Turo (Estonia), Joy Boutrup (Denmark)
And there were several participants who had come specifically for the two loop braiding workshops. To me this was completely amazing and wonderful! Continue reading
I won’t have enough time to make “real” tutorials til after I get back from Braids 2012, but I just added text instructions for the Genji-Uchi braid to last year’s Kute-Uchi tutorial. The two videos already in that post relate directly to this braid! Here’s a photo of some Genji-uchi braids. They can be made with as few as 8 loops, and learned with only 4…the instructions for them are now in the Kute-Uchi post:
Genji-uchi braids, 16-36 loops. Cotton, wool, linen.
Item #2: Cindy Myers’ “Silkewerk” site’s fingerloop braids
I just (re-) found Cindy Myers’ Silkewerk site, which has a wonderful section on Medieval fingerloop braids. She carefully compares the braid instructions of 3 different manuscripts,* with links to many photographs of her beautiful braid reproductions, along with very clearly-presented text instructions. Continue reading
[new- I just added text instructions for a more complex kute-uchi braid—called Genji Uchi—at the bottom of this post.]
Here’s a rather slap-dash post to announce two things—1 is that I recently made a couple of video tutorials on kute-uchi braiding (a Japanese hand-held loop braiding technique). I really wanted to finish up a Readers’ Gallery post and get that posted first, but it just ain’t done yet! Whereas these videos got dashed out in a hurry in answer to a video request, and they ARE done.
The other thing is my (tentative) new blog format—more about that below. Any feedback on this change is welcome—I am not wedded to this format, but certain things about it do seem better than the old one…
Here are the 2 new videos, each demoing one basic Kute-uchi move:
(these were video requests from Petr in the Czech Repuplic! He is very interested in both Kute-uchi and Kumihimo braiding—has now acquired plans for a marudai and is building it himself.)
The “Inside-Through” move, making a 5-loop braid
Below is a video demonstrating the “Outside-Around” move, also making a 5-loop braid Continue reading
This is an amazing finger loop braid from the 14th Century! I had no idea anything like this had been made by European loop braiders (see footnote about kute-uchi braids*).
14th C. Sudarium braid reconstruction attempts, embr. floss
This dense, 10-loop cord is basically two square braids that are completely enmeshed and interlaced through each other down the axis of the braid. Continue reading
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