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Showing posts with the label kumihimo book

Stop Slipping Kumihimo Cords: How to Fix Weak Downward Tension

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You are right in the zone, moving your strands with perfect focus, when suddenly— snap . A cord slips entirely out of its foam slot. You pop it back in, make two more moves, and another one slides loose. Before you know it, you are fighting your Kumihimo disk just to keep your threads from unraveling. Slipping cords are incredibly frustrating, but they are actually a symptom of a very specific mechanic: inadequate downward weight . When your center pull isn't strong enough to lock the core of the braid in place, the strands lose their anchor point, causing them to dance around and slip right past the foam grips. Let’s look at exactly how to fix your downward pull and secure your strands for good. The Fast Fix for Slipping Cords (Featured Snippet Target): If Kumihimo cords keep slipping out of their slots, it means there isn’t enough downward weight pulling the braid core through the center hole to anchor the strands. To fix this instantly...

Kumihimo

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Kumihimo is a Japanese braid-making technique which dates to about 550 C.E., when the Buddhist religion spread in Japan and people began to use decorative cords in religious ceremonies. Later, people used brightly colored braids to decorate clothing, to hang banners, to lace samurai armor together (esp. in late SCA period, 1400-1600), and to hang knives. Although kumihimo is particular to Japan, other cultures in history have used similar braids or braid ‘stools’, including the sling braiders of the Andes and hair-braiding stools from Scandinavia. Research is ongoing into the origins of kumihimo and similar braids. There are some similarities between kumihimo and the fingerloop braiding practiced in western Europe during mid- to late-SCA-period. Except for those who aspire to putting together a set of period Samurai armor, most people who make kumihimo in the SCA use it for decorative purposes. Oddly, it is not usually used in Japanese garb in the SCA, possibly because we don’t hav...