Yet another novice level post on Balearic-style slings and Andean-style braiding

Zigzags!  I've done a zig and a zag and have started the next reversal.  I'm trying to do about six repeats between reversals, though I'm not keeping track all that closely.  My consistency is improving, yay!  And I think my understanding is improving, too.  I guess I'll find out as I keep braiding, start the next braid, etc.

I've also made another sling using the same instructions and methods as last time.  Hmmm, the sling is a bit less than a meter long, so I do think I'll make the next one longer.  The first one is also a bit less than a meter long.  This second one has a slightly longer pouch but a slightly shorter finger loop.  The release cord is about an inch longer than the retention cord (when I fold everything in half around the middle of the pouch).  I had thought the two would look and feel a bit different from each other, but no, they don't!  So I guess I have a ways to go before I'm content with the consistency of the braiding.  Or maybe this is good enough and I'm too picky.

I might soak this one to see if that makes a difference in how it looks, whether it stretches out or evens up, etc.

Dunno what I'll make next.  Maybe do this one again, but maybe a bit longer and maybe with 5 strands instead of 6.  Or 10 instead of 6.  Or try a braided sling with a woven pouch.  I guess I'll see what inspiration strikes.

I'm also starting to feel like I want to start some tablet weaving projects.  I'm not sure how much longer it'll be until I can set up my little weaving area again.  The sling-braiding and the fist-braiding don't take up much room and can be done anywhere.  For various reasons, weaving takes up more space and needs a dedicated spot where I can walk away for a few hours or a few days and things can be resumed without too much trouble.

I believe that's it for me today.

More sling chatter (and a new braid)

I showed my first sling to someone who knows how to use a sling.  This person confirmed that it looked and acted like a perfectly reasonable sling, yay.  This person usually makes slings by attaching paracord to a sling pouch made of duct tape.  I love that slings are so low-tech with so many ways to make them from whatever convenient items are in your local environment.

I've started another Andean in-the-fist braid.  I tried with 8 strands (4 strands folded in half) first.  It was difficult for me to see which was the lower and which was the upper strand.  So I cut another set of strands, and I'm doing another braid the same way I did the first.  It's going well.  I'll probably start zig-zagging soon, and then, depending on how much yarn is left when I get tired of that, will try some other variations.  At some point I will return to 8-strand braids!  Though it amuses me that the 16-strand braid is easier to learn on.

I've also tried a new-to-me braid.  I'm pretty sure I've done something very similar using a different technique.

It's from a youtube video on making a sling.  It's in Spanish, so they of course use the local terminology of Honda or Waraka.  Here's part 1, which shows the braid and the first half of the sling's construction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMJAAkhHcZE and here's part 2, which shows the woven split pouch and the rest of the sling's construction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw1chCl6fXs&t=616s

The finger loop, made with 4 strands, is the standard 4-stranded cord made all around the world.  I like this particular method, where diagonally opposite strands twist past each other, alternating the twist direction.

Then it's joined, and the new braid is a braiding technique I've not done before.  It's a 4-strand braid (each strand has two pieces of yarn).  I'm pretty sure I've done this braid structure on a marudai and also through fingerlooping.  But this is a freehand braid, and it's kind of cool-looking and fun to do.

Not that I'm perfect at it or anything.

The video demonstrates the sling construction using a fairly thick single-ply yarn.  Interesting.

I wonder if I should do a track plan and compare it to the other braids I believe this resembles?

The braid is slightly elastic, though more so in compression than in tension.

I only used enough yarn to play around with the braid rather than doing a full sling.

The split pouch is one of the styles I see in the books (and websites and videos) on Andean slings I have access to.  I'm looking forward to trying it when I decide to make that style of pouch on a sling.

I wonder what the braid would be like if I use more than 4 braiding elements?  Also, will I get faster with time, and how will that compare with other braiding techniques?  The braid in the video was secured at the top, while I was randomly holding onto it while braiding.  Maybe I'd be faster if it was hooked to something.

I have no idea whether this is a traditional technique or a more modern shortcut.

My stash of random acrylic is getting low.  I also use it for charity knitting and share it with another charity knitter/crocheter.  We're both fairly productive; there's not much left.  My second in-the-fist braid is using different colors because some of the skeins of yarn I used in the first braid are now with my friend, being turned into charity hats.

A braid pic (first try at Andean-style braiding in the fist)

It's not quite done, but I'm making progress.

You can see how I'm finally getting the hang of things.  The braid is properly spiraling, yay!  And my tension is starting to become more consistent.

I'll work on this for a little while longer, but the strands are getting short.  They are not even in length -- I must not have adjusted the tension/evenness very well when I first started.

After this, I think I'll play around with 8 strand braids for a little while.  (The above braid is a 16 strand braid.)  There are some fun variations that seem very logical in their construction/development when I look at the charts in Cahlender and the Owen and Owen/Flynn and Tada books.  So I'll check them out.  Owen and Tada make charts for the marudai or square disk, but it's straightforward enough to generalize them back to in-the-fist braiding, I believe.  If I understand and can make the various 8-strand braids for realz, it'll be a good sign for when I return to the 16 strand braids and beyond.  It'll also help me to continue gaining the physical finger skills to make my braids more consistent and more efficient to braid.  And heck, I can always use a marudai or disk for any of these braids if I want to.

I've wandered into a bunch of fun videos in Spanish on slings and Andean-style braiding and cordage.  I don't know enough Spanish to follow all the details of what is being said.  But I recognize some of the words and I can certainly watch what's happening in the video part of things.  It's a nice complement to English-language sling-braiding videos.  And it's also a nice complement to the many videos I enjoy watching about other kinds of braiding and narrow wares, in whatever language they may be in.

Andean/Tibetan-style braiding in the fist and other sling-related baby steps

No pics yet, but I'm starting to learn how to do this, yay!

I started with 8 strands (of acrylic worsted weight yarn) folded in half, which is probably slightly more complicated than it needed to be, but it's giving me a lot of good info on what not to do and why.

My baby braid is very uneven.  Hopefully it'll be a lot better by the time I'm done.

I used 4 different colors -- one color each for lower N/S, upper N/S, lower E/W, and upper E/W.  That way, it's easier to keep track of each level and what it's doing.  I'm doing the same moves each time and am getting a square braid with vertical stripes.  I'm not fully sure why it's not spiraling like it seems to do in a lot of Youtube videos, but it looks about right compared to my in-print resources and according to what my brain thinks is happening.  Or maybe not.  I guess this is one of the things that will become obvious eventually.

One I finish mangling this braid, I'll retreat to 4 strands folded in half (2 threads per side instead of 4) and try again.

I do understand the underlying theory of having upper and lower threads, with the lower threads being the ones that move.  I understand the idea of crossing the strands clockwise or counterclockwise, and I also understand rotating 90 degrees to do each side in turn.  I'm sure there's a lot I don't understand yet, and probably am not even aware of not understanding.  But that's what this kind of learning is all about, right?

I'm getting comfortable with holding the braid in my fist along with the threads that are not to be bothered during the current braiding step.

I liked the starting method, which I saw somewhere I can't remember but is probably universally known and I just didn't know it.  Lay down the lower N/S threads, then the lower E/W threads, then the upper N/S threads, and finally the upper E/W threads.  I used a piece of thread to hold the cross in place for the first few moves.  One starts with braiding the lower N/W threads and goes from there.  The threads will not be locked into place for a round or two so it's possible to adjust where the middle is.

I will probably show a pic of my baby braid when it's done, baby missteps and all.

One of the goals, obviously, is to be able to make Andean and Tibetan style braided slings, in addition to making cool braids in general.

The braided sling I wrote about in the previous post is keeping me entertained.  I need something heavier to toss around -- cat toys don't have sufficiently predictable aerodynamic properties.  But not too heavy, since my accuracy is still garbage and I don't want to break anything with a poorly-aimed projectile.  What I really need is to find someone who is already a decent slinger to give me some good feedback.

My next bast-fiber sling might be with a 5-strand pigtail/herringbone braid.  I'll probably do the same basic design.  I do need to double-check how to split or join the braids at the pouch since I think it's slightly more complicated than doing it with a 3-strand braid.  After that, I might start experimenting with different ways to add a sling pouch.  Eventually, of course, I'll start tapering the various parts -- heavier near the pouch, perhaps more slender by the end of the release cord.  Not all historic slings do that but some do.

So many fun things to learn and play with!  (Netting!  Sprang!  More fingerloop braiding!  More tablet-weaving!  More inkle-weaving!  Kumihimo/marudai fun!  Etc.  So much etc.)

A simple braided sling

My weaving area is still unavailable.  But I guess the sling-braiding itch got too hard to ignore.  Thus, a sling!

It's made from 6 strands of 48 lb hemp, in a simple 3-strand braid with a split pouch.  I followed the Dan Bollinger tutorial on slinging.org, here: https://slinging.org/20.html

His instructions are for a 1m sling.  He recommends starting with strands that are 2.8 times the length of the desired finished length.  So, for the 1m sling (39"), cut 6 strands at 110" each (280cm).  Braid the central finger loop for about 4", then join.  Braid about 14", split for the pouch.  Each side of the pouch is about 4" long, then rejoin and braid another 18".  Do an overhand knot (or some kind of sturdy knot) to finish, then trim the ends.

Hemp is hard on my poor fingers!

My braiding is not as consistent as I would prefer.  I'll have to see how well the sling works...  I'm also wondering if I should try waxing or oiling it, and what effect that might have.

This is similar to the Balearic style in that it has a simple pouch made from splitting the cordage for braiding and then rejoining.  A lot of slings use a leather pouch, or they sew a bit of leather or something to these split braids.  Or they weave a pouch that is incorporated into the braiding at each end.  Most of the tutorials I saw for Balearic slings had the release cord tapering at the far end, sometimes ending in a tassel made from much thinner material.  Many tutorials also did 5-strand pigtail braids rather than 3-strand.  And some were made from grass that was twisted into cordage as the braiding proceeded.  That made it easier to increase or decrease the size of the braids.  Some had thicker braids near and in the pouch area, for example, in addition to narrowing the release braid.

I still plan to do slings made from animal fiber (or maybe just acrylic yarn at first, and then animal fiber) and the fancier square braids, with various styles of woven/braided/sewn/etc. pouches.

But these quick bast-fiber braided slings are cute, too.

And yes, even with the delightfully amateurish construction, I am exceedingly pleased with myself.  I'll get better with more experience and with the feedback from actual real-life use.

The demo/teaching thing

I did the demo/teaching thing referred to in the last post.  Most people took their braids, but a few were left behind, or were ones I did as part of teaching and demoing.

I mostly taught people the 5-strand unorthodox fingerloop braid, A-fell.  (though it was kind of slentre-like in that it was easiest to go through the middle finger loop on the way to the ring finger loop by holding my hands mostly palm-downwards rather than palms-facing)

For a few young children, I did twisted-loop cords with them.  One slightly older child learned the 7-strand fill-the-gap disk braid.  (I had a pile of disks with me for just that purpose)

A few people already had done fingerloop braiding, so we had fun with 5-loop orthodox braids (square, flat, and split/double), 7-loop orthodox braids (square and flat), 7-loop unorthodox braids, and the 7-loop pigtail braid done as a V-fell braid (load up 4 fingers on one hand and 4 on the other, and the empty little finger grabs the index finger loop of the other hand).  We also did a 4-loop loop-exchange braid, and I tried playing around a bit with various unorthodox 7-loop braids though none turned out so well that I needed to write them down.

As you can see from the above photos, people had fun choosing different colors to see what would happen.  With the unorthodox braids, sometimes the back side (the one that looks interwoven) is more interesting than the front side (the one that looks like Vs).

I also got to spin a bit, on both wheels and spindles.  Someone had some raffia and shared it around so we could all make some cordage (twist one side and fold it over/under the other side).  And as always I had my knitting with me and got a fair amount of knitting done.

It was fun, both the teaching and the hanging out with other people who enjoy playing with fiber.

My weaving area is still unavailable, so I haven't done much else in the way of narrow wares this month, at least not so far.  All the stuff mentioned in my last post is still on my want-to-do list.  We'll see what happens.

One of my feline weaving assistants has passed away.  She was old and it was sudden.  I'll miss her.  Yes, even her deeply non-helpful weaving assistance.

Thoughts for an upcoming demo/teaching thing (braiding)

My tablet-weaving area is still unavailable, thus no tablet-weaving or other narrow wares this past month.  I did do some real weaving on a rigid heddle loom.  I'm sure my experience with band weaving (tablet, inkle, heddle, etc.) helped as I did my first beginner-ish project.  If/when I do more weaving, I can add some narrow wares to use as handles and trim and what-not.

I've been asked to be part of a demo this weekend.  Specifically, I've been asked to demo/teach braiding, and in particular, fingerloop braiding.  I'll be in the family crafts area, so I'll be doing quick one-on-one teaching to people of all ages, plus or minus a bit of whatever I want to demo when I don't have customers to teach.

Hmmm.

This calls for the standard, most common/famous fingerloop braid, right?  The 5-loop unorthodox A-fell braid!  It's pretty easy to learn, not much to wrap your brain around.  The hardest part is the finger dexterity as you walk the loops.

Put loops on the index, middle, and ring finger of one hand, and the middle and ring finger of the other.  Use the empty index finger to go through the middle-finger loop on the other hand and pick up the ring finger loop.  Walk the loops down on that hand, and repeat with the other index finger.  Etc.  It doesn't matter if the loops are taken reversed or non-reversed.  Well, with the usual caveats about bicolor loops, I suppose, or the other subtle differences in the braid's structure or appearance.  But the braid looks roughly the same either way and it doesn't do anything weird like fall apart or become two braids.

For people for whom that is too complicated, we can do the 3-loop variation.

What I like about the above braid (in addition to its near-universal prevalence) is that it is relatively bomb-proof, i.e., you'll end up with SOME kind of braid, and also that it generalizes very easily.  With your index finger of one hand, go through the loop next to the loop on the smallest finger on the other hand and pick it up, then walk the loops and repeat with the other hand.  That works whether it's 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, etc. loops.

I might bring discs with me to teach the 7-strand fill-the-gap braid, too.  Or even the 8-strand kongo-gumi braid.

I should have some random demo braids on display, as well.  Plus maybe make sure I remember how to do several other kinds of braids if I get bored, either for demo or to teach.  Other variations on a 5-loop braid, of course.  Maybe one of the loop-transfer braids (the 4-loop, probably), since that's fairly easy to teach.

Should I pre-cut yarn in addition to having some for others to cut their own lengths with?  Should I do this in the context of making a project such as a small bracelet?  Or not, and suggest using the braid as a bookmark or keyring attachment or small tie, etc.?

I should probably also re-read a bit on the history of cordage so I can spout a few facts and what-not at people.

I might want to bring a hand-out, taped down, that people can take pics of if they want info on links to good websites and other resources for learning.

Should I bring silly things such as a sprang project?  Plus my knitting, of course.  The inkle loom is probably too fragile to be out in public (i.e. too easy for people to break or steal).

I want to practice some in-hand Andean-style braiding at some point (in addition to everything else I want to do), so that's another potential project for me to bring to entertain myself with.  Hmmm...  is that a possible method that could have been used by people doing the common 4-strand sennit/braid?  Or does it not generalize as easily?  Is the braid easier to make going up from the hand, or down from a tie-on point?

-------------------

I also wanted to mention that Noemi Speiser has passed away.  She was 99, I believe -- a good, long, productive life. Her contributions to our knowledge of historic braiding and braiding techniques are immense.  I've learned a lot from her publications and from the people she educated and inspired, and I have plenty more to learn as I continue to explore the world of braiding and other narrow wares, both woven and not.

https://trauer.nzz.ch/traueranzeige/noemi-speiser