I was recently given a book on straw work because the person knew I was interested braids. It's from the mid-1970s.
There's a section on plaits where a gap is left. And, as the author writes, "These are often called Fill the Gap plaits."
So there you have it. The very term "fill the gap" comes from straw work, as do the braids. Dunno how much earlier it dates back to in Straw Land. In Braid World (i.e. where I learned it from), I first became aware of the term in the late 1990s or early 2000s.
The book shows several Fill the Gap plaits -- four, seven, eleven, and fifteen strands. The book also has a few of the "multiples" or "move the extra" type braids I was nattering on about earlier, referring to them as "group linked plaits" that have a number of elements divisible by either three or four, plus one more for work. The book says that up to 49 straws can be used this way by the skilled worker, and they specifically show 7, 9, 10, and 21.
That is all.
The book has some interesting ideas I'll want to play with. And in general, it is kind of interesting to see how braiding is approached by people using different materials and for different purposes.
It's possible I will do a bit of research to see how far back these straw braids go, though my guess is that I'll have a tough time finding a lot from before the early to mid-19th century and also a tough time finding anything not in a European language and publication. We'll see. Dunno if I'll actually do anything just yet, though.
I'm dithering about my next narrow wares project(s), but that's OK, because I do that a lot.
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