I braid. Japanese braiding, kumihimo, literally means "bringing together". I am a relatively new braider, going on 2 years, but am still in the "stringing" mode. That means I usually view a braid as the "wire" to string beads on. This is a braid from R. Owen's book, "250 Patterns from Japan, Peru & Beyond". It's about 1/8" thick (or 3mm). See the broken bead? It's ceramic and had a fairly large hole. Not large enough, however. That nasty looking instrument is a bead reamer, used to enlarge holes in beads. Unfortunately, there was not enough side wall to make the hole big enough without breaking the bead, as you can see. See the beads ON the braid? Those are specially made, from The Beaded Lily, in Italy, from the "Organics" series. "Turquoise and dark Amber" beads were custom-made to have a larger hole. (And the fact that the largest bead is hollow is also a plus, it doesn't weigh down the braid). Why can't the braid be smaller? Well, it can, but to see the structure of the braid, the braid must have some degree of thickness. And besides, the braid is already made, (will explain the process of making a braid soon). Hence the broken ceramic bead. Happy accident: the colors of the braid echo the new bead colors. Now, in a couple of days I will succeed in posting a pic of my maru dai (braiding stand), made by husband, and my amazing technicolor weights made of polymer clay. The strain of trying to post this pic today is about all I can handle. Back to "Judge Judy".
