Guess what? One can easily find lots of sites with directions for making four, five, eight, even 12-strand braids and fingerloop braids. But six? that's much harder to find, for some reason.
The first site I found with real directions was this one, and I wasn't sure that I could effectively execute that technique effectively with long strings (I figure I need two completed braids each of which is about 40 inches long--one for each side of the dress).
An amazing number of 6-strand braiding sites involve the making of challah, a kind of braided Jewish bread. Still, the directions given on this bread site appear to be both simple and effective, even if the pictures showing the braiding of glistening bread dough make me a bit queasy. :-)
Come to think of it, the pictures on the braided bread site look a *lot* like the sketches I've seen of the braid on the Hedeby piece (such as those are) and are so simple even I'm not likely to screw up
I may as well try the "bread" braid first. After all, what do I have to lose, other than a few feet of yarn and some time?
(15 minutes later) I now know the answer to my question; I could lose my mind. I've tried both sets of directions, and find them confusing even with the 12-inch strands I cut for a "test run."
Fortunately, I have a book about fingerloop braiding; I should look that up and see if it has directions that confuse me less.
About halfway down this page, there is a diagram of a 6-strand braid.
ReplyDelete(Oh, and it looks different on the front and back, too.)
Are those the sorts of diagrams you need to get your head around it? :)
Yes, I saw the diagram on Phiala's String Page--that was the first link I provided in my post. I just couldn't deal with trying to do "over 4, under 1, under" with strings more than 80 cm long. However, I understand what she was trying to convey with the diagram, I think; the diagram in that case was not the problem.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting!
Yes, I saw the diagram on Phiala's String Page--that was the first link I provided in my post.
ReplyDeleteOops. That what happens when I read articles, and it's still bouncing around my brain a few days later.
I just couldn't deal with trying to do "over 4, under 1, under" with strings more than 80 cm long.
Bobbins, or even clothespegs, or anything with a bit of weight that you can wrap the strings around can help.
(Not just a bead-sized weight like you mentioned in part two, the ability to take up the extra thread so that it doesn't tangle so much at the bottom makes a big difference.)
If only I still had clothespins, I'd try it, because you're right about the beads being insufficient.
ReplyDeleteStill, I think I've come up with a workaround. I may post pictures of my working set up tomorrow.