Today's fingerloop braids (6 loop and 7 loop square braids)

Well, yesterday's and today's braids.  I did sets of two braids since these will be given away as gifts and the giftee requested pairs of braids if I was going to do shorter lengths (i.e. less than 1-2 yards).

This first one is a 6-loop square braid, as described here by Ingrid Crickmore, except, of course, that I did it as a square braid instead of a flat braid.

I chose the "3 Ws" pattern -- the A fingers get color A, the B fingers get color B, and the C fingers get color C.  I used the V-fell braiding orientation, using the little or pinky finger of one hand, going through the loops on the other hand, and picking up the index-finger loop of that other hand, reversed, to bring back.  Shift the loops and continue.

It's very cute and I hadn't remembered that I'd already used that color combination and basic pattern in a different braid not long ago (a 5-loop square braid shown in the February 21, 2024 post)!  The two braids are different in thickness and have a slightly different hand.  The 3 color Vs are stacked more evenly, of course.

This is the second even-number mixed-square braid I've done, I think.  I did one earlier with 4 loops (a 3-loop square on one side, a 5-loop square on the other).  They're an interesting variant to add to my repertoire.  I should do some of the flat braids, too, since I do like many of the color arrangements that are shown on Ingrid Crickmore's website (and want to design my own, too).  I'll no doubt do the 8-loop mixed braid at some point, and beyond.

This second pic is a 7-loop square braid, also done in the V-fell orientation.  Six loops are dark purple and one is light purple.  It's definitely larger than 5-loop square braids!

Both are nice braids, and I'm starting to get more dexterous when moving loops from finger to finger, at least with V-fell.

It's time to play more with colors, I think.  And also to explore other braid structures.  And do more flat braids, since I want to see if I can get the tension on those a bit tighter without collapsing the braid into a square again.

I'm still a newbie, but it's interesting to look back and see how I've progressed in the last month and a bit.

I won't be teaching the 7-loop Celtic braid at the end of the month, alas.  They wanted something simpler.  So I'll teach the 2-strand fingerloop braid again, yay!  I'm also teaching the 7-strand Fill the Gap disk braid again.