I've been thinking of doing a class on easy ways to make cords. It's not so much a follow-up on the class I did for the Fill-the-Gap braid, but more of "one in a series of". I like cords. Narrow wares. Etc. I'm not wedded to any particular technique, either.
So... if I were to do a class on something like "Three Easy Cords" (or four, or five, and yes, that's a slight riff on Five Easy Pieces), what would I include? Some of it would depend on the length of the class. Too many things would cause people's brains to shut down. But all of these are easy, so might not be enough for one class per cord. Though I did the Fill-the-Gap braid as a single (30-minute) class, and it requires less than 5 minutes to teach/learn.
The criteria to be included in this imaginary class or series of classes would be something easy with few or no tools needed. Here are some ideas.
1. Twisted cord. This is so dead easy I'd hesitate to include it. Except that some people truly haven't learned it, or at least it doesn't occur to them to use it when they need some cordage. It's an easy way to make something useful and fun, and of course is the basis for things like making rope. And heck, cordage, since this is basically making a 2-ply from some kind of single ply.
There's a second way to make it, which I see in basketry videos -- twist the cords, then kind of do a weird flip to wrap them around and equalize the twist somehow. I'll have to go back through the videos and see exactly what it is and how to do it. It seems useful for doing the twisted cord for a short segment at a time rather than the entire length of the cord.
Showing how to do this for the fringe ends after weaving/braiding/etc. could be useful, too.
2. Two-loop fingerloop. This is crazy fast and fun to make. I still haven't quite mastered keeping the tension even, however. It helps to have a second person, but there ought to be some other things I can do to keep things semi-even when a second person isn't handy. Also, This cord tends to spiral, which some people might find slightly distressing.
There are a lot of other ways to make this particular structure. Some of those would be preferable, especially when you want to keep your options open about how long the cord needs to be. The fingerloop method is a lot of fun, though.
The 2-loop fingerloop braid is well-illustrated here: https://loopbraider.com/2019/12/28/spirals-and-2-loops/
It's also in one of the little booklets I have on Friendship Bracelets, though done freehand rather than with finger-looping. And I'm pretty sure it's the same structure as one of the first braids in Rodrick Owen's book on Braids -- 250 patterns from Japan, Peru & Beyond. The simple "worldwide" braids in his book can be made in the hand as well as on a disk or marudai.
3. Finger crochet. This is something in Montse Stanley's knitting book. She calls it finger crochet, but I'm not sure exactly what other names it's known by. It makes a nice cord that is somewhat square in appearance.
After checking the Ashley Book of Knots, I believe that this might be a version of what he calls Idiot's Delight, knot 2896, p.477 -- also check out his other sinnets on nearby pages. Also, after doing a bit of searching online, this seems to be known as a Zipper Sinnet in the paracording community.
4. Finger knitting. Who needs a lucet or chain fork or knitting spool when you have fingers? There are a lot of instructions out there for anywhere from 1 finger (which looks mostly like crochet chains) to at least 4. Two fingers is pretty easy. The structure is kind of loose if you don't pay attention to tightening the loop at each step.
5. Three and four loop fingerloop braids, also found on the loopbraider.com website. See this one as well as the one above: https://loopbraider.com/2012/08/02/easy-3-loop-braids/
6. Macrame. Take two cords. One makes half-hitches over the second, maybe alternating which one does the half-hitch and which is the holding cord. Booklets and websites on friendship bracelets have many variations on this kind of theme.
7. Those scoobie-braids, the type kids make lanyards from in summer camp.
8. Paracord braids, some of which are fairly straightforward.
9. Plaiting and other braids. The three-strand braid is known by just about everyone and is very historic. I happen to love 5 strand plaits (aka rope braids), partly because they too are very historic. Of course there are zillions of braids out there.
For some of the above, you need some way to keep tension on the cord as you make it, and that may well require tying it or pinning it to something. Others just need your hands/fingers. Some need just one strand (or bundle of strands), while others use two or more strands or loops. All would make smallish cords that would then be used for something else -- ropes, shoelace, tying packages, running through eyelets, simple bracelets, fringes, and so on.
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I'm still dithering about what tablet-weaving pattern to do next. Something tubular? I have enough wool yarn left for 16 strands. So I could do a monochrome tubular braid from Tablet-Woven Treasures, with 8 tablets having 2 threads each. Or I could do a 4-tablet tubular braid with all the holes threaded with alternating \ and / tablet orientation. Or I could add another color. Or I could try to do some kind of braid with the yarn instead of tablet weaving. I'm kind of inclined towards the monochrome tubular 2-hole braid as what I'd like to tablet-weave with the yarn, but I haven't decided for sure yet.
Or, I could go back to cotton and/or colors and/or some other wool I have and do something else. Another El Cigarralejo braid? More brick-patterned bands? Vestrum or Snartemo II? The little 2-hole Antinoe grave band or another 2-hole that is mostly Xs and diamonds? A checkerboard, either threaded-in or double-face? The monochrome-ish 2-hole/diagonals Hochdorf wallhanging? Some of the 8-tablet 2-hole patterns from Eva Sandermann Olsen's Tablet Weaving pdf? Something else from Randi Stoltz? Or something else entirely? There are so many possibilities.
I may need to put away the tablet-weaving work area for a few days, so if I don't decide soon, the decision will be made for me -- i.e. no tablet weaving for at least a few days.
But while I'm dithering, I think I'll crank out some more cords and think about how to organize classes to show them to others.
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