Kumihimo #3

Kumihimo project #3

After looking at the pattern for the inspiration black and red piece (as mentioned in my previous Kumihimo post), I wanted to do a black and red one too – I love black and red together, and it reminds me of the logo colours (and song lyrics) for one of my favorite Finnish metal bands, Turisas.

Disc set up with a 12-strand set; 8 strands of red and 4 of black.

The disc set up is a 12-strand (different than the 8-strand I did for the beaded bracelets) with 8 strands of red and 4 of black. The resulting braided cord is a red cord with a winding black thread. I love it! I’ve ordered a silver Mjölnir from a seller on Etsy which I’ll use with this cord. I’ll have to wait until I can get the pendant before finishing the cord – just in case the hole is only sufficient to accommodate the cord, and not also the end caps. I want to go with a Viking-esque feel because the resulting cord reminds me a bit of Viking knit (which I also want to learn!) and I think the whole effect will be great – plus a substantial pendant deserves a substantial and interesting cord!  I might do the reverse (a black cord with a winding red thread) for another, similar project.

The finished black and red cord.

I picked up some beautiful horse-head end caps at Beads & Plenty more (the same place I got the disc and cord) for $.75 each which echo the feeling of a lot of Viking jewellery (torcs) and I think will work great. Hopefully I’ll have a finished project to share soon!

Kumihimo braiding – completed!

So, I finally finished off the bracelet that I started in the Kumihimo braiding class that I took a while ago, and here it is, along with another I made shortly after!

Finished purple Kumihimo bracelet

Kumihimo braiding

(A while back I was in Suzie Q beads and really liked one of the examples in their showcase; kumihimo braiding. Traditionally this is done with silk or cord, but they had done it with vibrant leather cord, and added in lovely bits of sparkle with beads.

I made a mental note to look into Kumihimo braiding (and maybe take a class) but didn’t get much chance, until I saw a class being offered through a Continuing Education catalogue in their craft section. The price was a bit steep (though it did include most of the materials, although not all) but the date was the big problem – the class was set to take place at the same time as a birthday celebration I had committed to attending. I did a quick look online and found out that Beads & Plenty More http://www.beadsandplentymore.ca/classes.html  also offered a similar class, so I signed up for it!