Fascinating Differences
Jul. 14th, 2018 09:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kerravonsenSo. I decided to try making a 10-strand flat Kumihimo braid for the first time.
To explain, for those who don't know what Kumihimo is, it is the (ancient, or at least very old) Japanese craft of braiding cords. The traditional method is to use a "Marudai", which is a stand with a hole in the middle (rather like a four-legged stool with a base); weighted spools (or "Tama") which you put your thread/cord/yarn/string onto; and a counterweight. The thread/cord/yarn/string (I wish English had a word which means "all string-like thread-like rope-like things" but it doesn't) -- the string is attached at one end to a spool and at the other end to the counterweight. The spools MUST all be the same weight as each other. The counterweight goes through the hole in the centre of the Marudai, and the weighted spools are arranged, dangling, around the outside, so that everything is all balanced. The tension in the braid is the result of the weight of the spools counterbalanced by the weight of the counterweight. The counterweight usually weighs half the sum of the weight of the spools; usually people use a bag filled with weights as their counterweight, so they can add or remove weights depending on how many spools are being used. The number of spools equals the number of strands in the braid. And you move the spools around in different patterns to make different braids. That's the traditional method.
The modern method doesn't use a Marudai or weighted spools, and doesn't really need to use a counterweight either, though some people do. Instead, the equipment used is a dense foam platform (or "plate") with slots cut in the sides, and a hole in the middle. All the strands are joined together (for example, with an overhand knot) and then each strand is put into its own slot on the platform. Spools are optional and they are not weighted; if the strands are short enough, you don't need spools; the only purpose of spools is to prevent the strands from tangling. There are two types of plate: the round (or disk) for making round braids, and the square, for making flat braids. Again, the strands are moved around in different patterns to make different braids, but instead of being held in place by the weight of weighted spools, they are held in place by the slots in the plate.
So.. back to my 10-strand flat Kumihimo braid. There's a good tutorial for it here. Since the tutorial used a square Kumihimo plate, that's what I used. After making the braid on the square plate, I'd figured out how it could be done on a Marudai, so I made another braid, using my usual light 25 gram spools (I have two sets of spools; small ones that weigh 25 grams and large ones that weigh 70 grams). The difference between the two braids was so remarkable that I wondered what would happen if I did it again on the Marudai, this time with 70 gram spools. And with the same yarn, of course. Again, there was a difference, but not so dramatic a difference.
Here, have a photo of the three of them:
The bottom one was made on the square plate. The middle one was made on the Marudai with the 70 gram spools. The top one was made on the Marudai with the 25 gram spools.
I can only conclude that TENSION IS EVERYTHING.
To explain, for those who don't know what Kumihimo is, it is the (ancient, or at least very old) Japanese craft of braiding cords. The traditional method is to use a "Marudai", which is a stand with a hole in the middle (rather like a four-legged stool with a base); weighted spools (or "Tama") which you put your thread/cord/yarn/string onto; and a counterweight. The thread/cord/yarn/string (I wish English had a word which means "all string-like thread-like rope-like things" but it doesn't) -- the string is attached at one end to a spool and at the other end to the counterweight. The spools MUST all be the same weight as each other. The counterweight goes through the hole in the centre of the Marudai, and the weighted spools are arranged, dangling, around the outside, so that everything is all balanced. The tension in the braid is the result of the weight of the spools counterbalanced by the weight of the counterweight. The counterweight usually weighs half the sum of the weight of the spools; usually people use a bag filled with weights as their counterweight, so they can add or remove weights depending on how many spools are being used. The number of spools equals the number of strands in the braid. And you move the spools around in different patterns to make different braids. That's the traditional method.
The modern method doesn't use a Marudai or weighted spools, and doesn't really need to use a counterweight either, though some people do. Instead, the equipment used is a dense foam platform (or "plate") with slots cut in the sides, and a hole in the middle. All the strands are joined together (for example, with an overhand knot) and then each strand is put into its own slot on the platform. Spools are optional and they are not weighted; if the strands are short enough, you don't need spools; the only purpose of spools is to prevent the strands from tangling. There are two types of plate: the round (or disk) for making round braids, and the square, for making flat braids. Again, the strands are moved around in different patterns to make different braids, but instead of being held in place by the weight of weighted spools, they are held in place by the slots in the plate.
So.. back to my 10-strand flat Kumihimo braid. There's a good tutorial for it here. Since the tutorial used a square Kumihimo plate, that's what I used. After making the braid on the square plate, I'd figured out how it could be done on a Marudai, so I made another braid, using my usual light 25 gram spools (I have two sets of spools; small ones that weigh 25 grams and large ones that weigh 70 grams). The difference between the two braids was so remarkable that I wondered what would happen if I did it again on the Marudai, this time with 70 gram spools. And with the same yarn, of course. Again, there was a difference, but not so dramatic a difference.
Here, have a photo of the three of them:
The bottom one was made on the square plate. The middle one was made on the Marudai with the 70 gram spools. The top one was made on the Marudai with the 25 gram spools.
I can only conclude that TENSION IS EVERYTHING.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2018-07-14 10:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-15 01:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-15 12:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-15 04:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-16 02:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-16 05:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-07-16 03:42 pm (UTC)"I can only conclude that TENSION IS EVERYTHING."
Yep. That goes for pretty much any sort of thread-craft, doesn't it?
no subject
Date: 2018-07-17 03:53 am (UTC)If you want to give it a go, then the entry-level thing to do would be to buy a Kumihimo platform -- disk (round) or plate (square) -- because they aren't expensive. There are advantages and disadvantages of a platform versus a Marudai.
* A platform is cheap, a Marudai is expensive.
* A platform is extremely portable, a Marudai is not. I've done braids in the bus with my disk.
* Tension is easier to control with a Marudai. I think. I could be wrong. And tension is more important for flat braids than round ones. I think.
* A Marudai can be a lot faster, because (a) you can move two spools (one in each hand) at a time rather than one strand on a platform (because one hand is holding the platform and the other hand is moving the strand), and (b) it is quicker to reposition strands on a Marudai than on a platform, but only some braids require the strands to be repositioned.
* There are lots of video tutorials on YouTube using a platform; not so many using a Marudai (at least not in English).
Yep. That goes for pretty much any sort of thread-craft, doesn't it?
True, but I've never seen such a massive difference before. Then again, most of my thread-craft apart from this has been something where the tension is entirely in the hands (literally) of the crafter, such as knitting or crochet, and generally unconscious on the crafter's part, and thus not as easy to vary deliberately.