Kumihimo

My best friend Skot made me a Marudai loom! Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of a Marudai loom, because I hadn’t either. It took some googling for me to actually figure out what it is and how to use it! It’s a little round piece of wood that is used to create decorative braided cords, a traditional Japanese art called Kumihimo. It is very, very cool.

Anyway Skot actually made this little loom with his laser wood cutter. Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have a pretty amazing group of talented and creative friends? Skot does some pretty cool art of his own, (and he makes kickass mead– if you live in Minnesota or Wisconsin check out Bumbling Fools!) Anyway, he made this little loom with his laser wood cutter and so I have a fascinating new craft to experiment with. Technically, a traditional Marudai is totally smooth and unadorned on the top. But those are much harder to use! Most modern Marudai–also called Kumihimo discs– have grooves and numbers around the edge like this one to aid the braiding process

The braid hangs down in the middle of the loom while the loose threads are draped around the edge, on weighted spools which allow gravity to keep an even tension on the braid. Pragmatically the process is similar to making friendship bracelets, except that instead of tying lots of tiny knots it really is just a very complex, multi-strand braid. For me, this posed a challenge to maintain an even tension and my first attempt at a simple 8-strand braid turned out very messy! I’m still figuring out the technique, but I think this is going to be an exercise in trusting gravity and not pulling too hard; good practice since too-tight-tension is a challenge for me in nearly every medium!

The actual process of braiding is very repetitive, almost meditative, though to be honest it had trouble holding my attention. My second try was a 12 strand braid, and it did turn out much better than my first attempt. I’m going to experiment some with different designs and I also need to buy some decent silk cord– so far I’ve been using embroidery floss, like I’d use for friendship bracelets. Embroidery floss is a common beginner material for Kumihimo, but traditionally it uses silk cord, and I definitely think that will be better! I also want to try beading, which is a traditional form of Kumihimo jewelry made by threading a tiny bead into the braid each time a strand is moved around the Marudai. I’ve never been much into beading, but the method of Kumihimo beading looks so cool I think I might give it a try.

Ultimately, I’m not sure this will become one of my long term favorite mediums; the braiding itself is a little *too* soothing and meditative for my taste. And I don’t anticipate making a ton of Kumihimo jewelry, but in future I think I will definitely use Kumihimo braids for things like tassels on hats, or other similar decorative accents on other projects. I always love learning new crafts and I’m really glad to have the opportunity to experiment with this one!

• Featured project: Kumihimo practice
• Medium: Kumihimo
• Pattern: instructions from Pacific Patina (8 element and 12 element braids)
• Materials: Embroidery Floss
• Started & Completed: August 2024
  • Estimated time to Complete: around 3 hours per braid

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