Also called Letterbraids, Alphabet braids, Inscription braids. Three known 17th C. European historical methods for making these have been reconstructed by Noemi Speiser and Joy Boutrup. All were traditionally made by a team of 2 braiders, each of the two braiding a “spanish” braid of 5 or 7 loops, the 2 braiders combining their braids into one larger braid as they worked. The letters and other symbols were braided using the loop braided equivalent of what is known as complementary pick-up patterning in weaving. This was used to braid letters of the alphabet to form words and inscriptions in a braid. Also used for braiding abstract and decorative motifs and symbols. I teach a solo-braider workaround for one of these braids on this blog.
More info in 17th Century Letterbraids
Dominic will be teaching knotting at Braids 2016! His 2-day class is called Cylindrical Braids, which refers to nautical-type knotted ‘braids’ that can be formed around solid objects—like handles of tools, etc.
The first photos I’ve received back since sending my Nun’s Book letterbraid tutorial out into the braiding ether! —Of knots as well as letters…
Video-based tutorial on my workaround method for braiding the 17th Century Nun’s Book letterbraid of 10 loops as a solo braider. I learned the traditional method from Noémi Speiser and Joy Boutrup’s Instructions for Letter Braids in 17th Century Manuscripts. Includes printable charts for my versions of the letters J, V, and Q…
I promised a long time ago to make a tutorial for one of the two known 10-loop letterbraids…
This is a ‘what I’ve been braiding lately’ post. It’s a letterbraid variation that I came up with last summer on a camping trip—an eighteen-loop version of the 17th Century letterbraid of fourteen loops. (Click on photos for more detail)…
If you are already comfortable braiding 7-loop square braids, this seven-loop braid might be fun to try next. It has twice as many loop transfers as a square braid–and they are done differently than you might expect! (Includes set-up instructions for several different color patterns.)
An intricate and unusual 7-loop braid —the word for braid was spelled some funny ways in the 17th C. manuscripts— is the basis of the 14-loop alphabet braid. Joy Boutrup described this 7-loop braid in her recent groundbreaking analysis of the 17th C. letter braids.
Ok, I finished the last bit, and decided to take a couple more pics after washing it and before sending it off. After shrinking less than an inch, it’s 46 inches total–40 inches to the point where it splits into 2 separate parts for the first half of the “tail.” A little over 1/2 inch…
I’m almost finished madly braiding a letterbraid to send in to the Braid Society’s Traveling Exhibition*—still fiddling with the braidlets at the end. The orange is DMC cotton embroidery floss, doubled, so 12-strand, and the light green is an unknown brand of silk knitting yarn of similar weight (sport? or maybe thinner). The braid is…
Loop Braiding 