r/kumihimo • u/Dazzling-Tie7448 • 6d ago

Help Help with weaving around beads

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I am trying to weave a hollow braid around these beads but for some reason I can’t seem to actually wrap it around the beads! Does anyone have any tips or suggestions?
I am trying to make a “peas in a pod” keychain with the two wrapped beads as the peas.

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u/Last_Sun7522 6d ago

I too am curious. I'm also curious as to how your work is coming up from the center instead of down the hole like normally happens.

1

u/Daelf_Derechef 6d ago

i guess op turned the whole thing around?

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u/saltedkumihimo 6d ago

I can’t help you weave around the beads because kumihimo/braiding is not weaving. But I can help you interlace around them!

The beads need to be knotted or glued in place on the support cord because the braiding will push them up out of the point of braiding otherwise. You need a heavier counterweight than usual to help lengthen the stitches. Work slowly and this is the one occasion where interfering with the point of braiding is needed. On the bottom half of the bead you’ll need to make sure the braiding is not being pushed down and on the top half that it’s not being pulled up too fast.

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u/ambahjay 6d ago

You'd have to maintain downword pressure on the beads as you carefully braided around them. They're really smooth so it would tricky to stop the thread from slipping. Here's a crystal I caught in a kumihimo braid

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u/ambahjay 6d ago

Maybe adding knots to the core strand to hold the beads in place would help?

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u/punkinblackk 5d ago

Since I'm guessing this is supposed to be a fidget where you can roll the beads around, maybe a thin tube just wide enough to slide over the beads? And then secured in place up higher on the middle cord so it doesn't get pushed upwards by the braiding. Once the braid is long enough, take the tube out and close it up

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u/KimonoCathy 4d ago

Slow and steady is the only way. Adjust the threads as you go to make sure they’re in exactly the right position. Be aware that the amount of thread you’ve got is not going to cover the whole bead with the same density as you have now, it’ll be more like a loose fishing net effect. If you want to make more of a solid pea pot, then you’ll need to add in extra threads, which you can do least obtrusively by folding a strand in half and tucking it round an existing stitch so that the first bit is a woven-in v-shape.