Kumihimo Fun

I went to a Bead Show this summer and came accross something new to me...  Kumihimo braiding.

I found this at Linda MacMillan's Oak Grove Studio booth.   My friend Mary Lee was looking at the goodies in her booth and I was looking for Mary Lee so I stopped for a minute as Linda was demonstrating how easy it was to braid with a Kumihimo disk.   I thought it looked interesting because I like to have something easy and mindless to do in the evenings while watching television.  I have three dogs who want to be in my chair with me so I can't work on anything too complicated.  My mind is also about mush by then so I really don't want to have to count something...

I have been pleasantly surprised with this!  The first braid I made was with fibers that came with the Kumihimo kit that I purchased from Linda.  I used it in a neckpiece that I did for fall.  You can see it here intertwined in beads and fiber wrapped cord.

I also purchased a kit to make a beaded bracelet using the Kumihimo disk.  I love it!  I did have to count the beads when I set up the disk but didn't have to worry about counting anything after I had it set up!

Here is the bracelet I made.

So now that I have the hang of it I have been trying some other fiber combinations.  So fun!

This one is made with a multi colored yarn.

This one is made with the same yarn and with another similar yarn in a different color.

So then I got creative and added a silk frayed ribbon and some fuzzy yarn to the mix.  It actually makes a spiral when you use a different thickness of fiber.

Here is a photo of the three braids.

They are about a 1/2 inch in diameter.  I am not sure what I am going to do with them yet but I really enjoyed making them.   To learn more about Oak Grove Studio check out her web page.