For several  days all I could talk about was how much fun I had at the Nevada Museum of Art Weaving / Kumihimo Demo day. The Reno Fiber Guild along with Museum volunteers put on a fabulous public demo. There were a variety of table and floor looms for anyone interested to try. Kumihimo was also a part of the demo day! The museum estimates that we had over 700 visitors!

I, along with my Kumihimo friend Nancy, had a blast with our Kumihimo demonstration. We were so busy and it was so exciting. We had huge interest from all age groups. People were captivated, enthusiastic and well on their way to Kumihimo addiction!  I brought about 20 mini disks, a lot of "string" and a couple of Marudai and we had braiders waiting in line!

The most rewarding for me was teaching the children. They were gung-ho and avid learners. Boy, those kiddos were quick. My youngest was a precious 5 year old (center picture above) who learned very quickly and I had another darling 7 year old that was braiding a 16 strand Kongoh Gumi braid before his mom was able to drag him away (photo right) and a sweet young gal who was determined to braid on the Marudai and she was awesome (photo left).

This definitely goes down in my book as one of those super great days! I met so many wonderful people. Thank you everyone that attended!

I am often asked if the patterns in What a Braid Kits, which are written with Foam Disk braiders in mind, can also be done on the Marudai. Th answer is a simple "yes" with some qualifiers.

Both the Kumihimo Foam Disk and the Marudai are equally great tools. I often "design" on my  disk. It is much easier, for me, to pick up my disk and load it with cord for a new project and test out new ideas. I always sample every kit on the foam disk. When I am making several color ways of the same design, I will braid the additional samples on my Marudai because the process is so much faster.  

If you know how to braid on a Marudai and already have an understanding of tama weight and counterweight, you can adapt What a Braid kit patterns to the Marudai. The best What a Braid Kit patterns to adapt to the Marudai are any of the "all beaded" braids. When I say "all beaded" I am referring to those necklaces that have beads on every element, and a bead is dropped wth each move. These "all beaded" necklaces are typically 8/0 or 6/0 seed beads on C-Lon.

Tama & Counterweight: Generally speaking for many braids, the counterweight is half the tama weight. For example, if I am braiding an 8 strand Kongoh Gumi braid on the Marudai and my tama are each 70 grams, my total tama weight is 560 grams (70 grams x 8 = 560 grams). If the counterweight is half the tama weight, I would use 280 grams of counterweight (560 grams /2 = 280 grams). This a a good place to start. After I have started braiding, I always look at the point of braiding and the first couple of inches of my braid to "see and feel" the tension of my braid. I can adjust with more or less counter weight if I need to. When I am braiding on the Marudai with "all beads" (beads on all eight cords and dropping a bead every time) I start out with my counterweight being about 40% of my tama weight. I always check my braid as I am braiding. Too much counterweight will create a looser braid while less tama weight will result in a firmer braid. It is important, when you check your braid for firmness/tension, to lift up on the counter weight so the braid is not held under tension. You will get a more accurate read on your braid if you lift up on the counterweight tension!

Cord Lengths. If you have "leaders" on our tama you can cut your cord lengths per the instructions in the What a Braid patterns. The leaders allow you to make better use of the length of your cords. If you do not use leaders, and just loop the cord onto the tama, you may want to cut your cords longer to start with. The distance across the face of the disk is smaller than the distance on the mirror (top surface) of the Marudai. 

Some kits are best done on the Foam Disk and these include Edge Bead Necklace, Cluster Bead Necklace, 12-Strand Ridge Spiral and any of the others that are basically Petite Satin Cord with 6/0 seed beads. I would rather make these necklaces on a Foam Disk.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or other thoughts on this!

Karen@whataknit.com

Get your orders in before I leave- Deadline February 10th!!

 

These pictures are taken from the back of my house showing the enormity of the January MONSTER STORMS. Headlines have bragged 20 feet of snow in January. I read in another place that we got 23 feet in 23 days. In another place I read that we hit an all time record for the most snow in the month of January in the Sierras. Suffice to say, we have alot of snow at our house. Our downstairs windows are covered with snow and the front door and back doors are buried as well! Storms are a funny thing. They are exciting at first and "exhilarating" as described by one of my friends. But after several days, that turn into weeks, it is exhausting. Afterwards, however, there is nothing so splendid as the amazing Winter Wonderland that we are blessed with.

Digging snow away from windows!

And this is what it looks like when the sun comes out.
These XC ski trails are in my backyard!!
Lucky me! Oh Happy Day!

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