Some historical information about loop braids can also be found in the drop-down under the “About” tab, at far right of my top menu bar.
Below are all my posts tagged “history”. The one with the most historical info about fingerloop braids is “Which Braids on this Site are Historically Accurate?”
“Kute Uchi” has information about Japanese braiding traditions. “Rodrick Owen and the Braids of the Mummies” has information about ancient Andean braiding traditions. In other posts, the historical information may not be the main topic. (Scan through post, and/or check footnotes at the bottom.)
Two double braids from the 17th C with a wonderful “unorthodox” loop exchange method that goes back to the 12th Century, if not further. This exchange move is so easy to do with REALLY cool results! It produces unusual loop braids that may be unique to Europe. Videos for my solo braider method, illustration for the traditional team braiding method.
Two alternative fingerloop braiding methods for making the 2,500-year-old, 15-loop fingerloop braid known as “HallTex 301.” This braid artifact is one of the amazing textile finds from the famous Hallstatt Salt Mines in the Austrian Alps! 2 videos, one demoing a “Palms-up” method and the other a “Palms-down” method.
An all-history post: Which braids belong to which era? Which ones are ‘made up’? Can a braid be ‘period’ if it’s not in the old manuscripts? Information on the known loop braiding manuscripts, differences and similarities between braids of different eras, recent historical and archeological findings, what’s happening with LMBRIC, more. Also info on traditional fibers – types of silk, linen, wool, etc.
I’ve always been fascinated by braiding machines, so I couldn’t resist the new hand-crank toy by Spin Master / Cool Maker that makes a real Kumihimo braid called Kongoh-gumi! It’s not much like the antique hand-crank braiding machine that I was lucky enough to see and crank at Braids 2012…
Update: Now with videos!!!! This Kute-Uchi site now has videos and tips on how to organize and handle hand-held loops in making traditional Japanese braids, including how to deal with large numbers of loops!
Fumiyo Kitahara’s Kumihimo with Loops (in Japanese and English).
I’ve been trying to reproduce a Japanese national treasure braid known as the Itsukushima braid. It’s described in Masako Kinoshita’s big book on Kute-Uchi: 日本組紐古技法の研究 (Study of Archaic Braiding Techniques in Japan). This is a work-in-progress…
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…
Buried textiles rarely survive even a few hundred years.
But in sites in and around what is now Peru, treasure troves of amazing textiles have been found that are thousands of years old—including beautiful and intricate loop braids!
Also tips on how to make yet another double braid shape than the flat, hollow and rectangular ones of my double braid tutorials—the side-slit double braid.
Set-up instructions for 11 color patterns for flat double braids, plus 1 solid double braid color pattern, 1 hollow, and 2 side-slit rectangle color patterns.
Tips on braiding as a team – the traditional way to make what I call “double braids” — ten-loop braids that are twice as big and complex as a square braid. Yet all you and your partner need to know first is how to make a 5-loop square braid! Video and photos.
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)…
Requests from readers, my answers and updates, also a note on European loop braiding history.
Thank you everybody who clicked in on my sidebar poll! There’s been a lot more response than I expected…
The class I taught at Braids 2012 was two days on how to make double braids as a solo fingerloop braider. I also learned a lot from my students, including that one of them had learned how to braid 9-loop braids using thumbs as well as fingers in China during the mid 1900’s! This is totally new information for the history of loop braiding!
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 was on European finger loop braids.) Her class covered so much that it was like a feast…
Loop braiding highlights at the conference: Two different 2-day loop braiding workshops, plus a report from Mari Omura on loop braiding archeological evidence in Asia going back thousands of years B.C! Joy Boutrup’s 1st day of class included several unusual European loop braids that she has discovered through analyzing museum specimens—braids that are not known from any of the 15th or 17th C. loop braiding manuscripts…
Just a note to say that I’ve added text instructions for the Genji-Uchi braid to last year’s Kute-Uchi tutorial. I also want to plug Cindy Myer’s pages on Medieval fingerloop braids — this is an incredible resource! She’s analyzed the braid instructions of 3 different source manuscripts, and made beautiful reproductions of almost all of them. These are displayed in a chart with links to her very clear text instructions for each braid…
Information about other sites that have good loop braiding tutorials, and why their basic braid instructions may seem different than mine.
Thanks, Gudrun, Julie, and Annie!
The Japanese hand-held loop braiding technique that preceded kumihimo and produced incredibly complex and gorgeous braids–some more complex than are even possible to make easily on braiding stands! Two videos teaching the two most basic moves for making square and flat braids, and text instructions for a more complex braid that requires using both moves.
An alternative method for braiding the 15th C. eight-loop braids known as Lace Dawns (or Daunce) and Lace Piole. It is a faster method, with no doubled loops on any fingers. (Requires using the thumb of only one hand, so might be a good intro to 9-loop square braids.)
Loop Braiding 