Making: Braiding Loom :: Kumihimo

A few years back I was at a craft fair and spotted a local weaver using a disk to make these very cool braided strings. She had made them into eyeglass holders, knotted them into key chains, and created pretty necklaces with these seemingly intricate braided strings.

She told me it was simple. It looked anything but. She said it was called Kumihimo. I wrote it down on the back of a card. I purchased an eyeglass holder for a gift, tucked the card into my bag, and went on admiring the arts and crafts.

I thought about it often but the opportunity to get a disk and try a new art was not presenting itself. And I did not go after it. Still thinking it was going to be complicated.

During this holiday season I spotted a little craft kit near the embroidery floss at Michael's. It was a kit for kids (I can't find it on the website.) I thought if kids can do it... maybe? And maybe the little lady of the house would like to do it too.
I don't normally go in for prepackaged kits but I purchased this one to put under the tree.

She asked me to make a bracelet first to learn how it was done then she would try.
I wish I could report that she jumped right in once I showed her how simple it really is...
No go.

I think seeing all those strings of floss trailing out of the disk is a bit daunting for her.

She has been more than happy to organize the floss that came in the kit. I gave her a pack of clothespins for the job.

So while it was a mama fail for getting the little one into a new crafty occupation, it was a super win for me because I got to try it out and found that it is great fun.
I am still holding out hope that she will be enticed to try it during our very long drive across the continent.
For now she and her brother are more than happy to request bracelets in a variety of colors... to help me practice this fun new art.

Now I have a real Kumihimo disk on my wish list.

If you have a kiddo that already works with floss, yarn, or thread you might like to see if they would want to give it a try. There are lots of resources for making your own disk if you search make your own Kumihimo disk in google. I can't recommend one because I have not tried to make one just yet.

Have you tried it this cool braiding technique?


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Note: If you do somehow find the kit at Micheal's... the floral pattern in the kit did not have great instructions so did not work out. So far I have made stripes and dimond patterns with great success.

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