Fingerloop Braid Color Variations

Two fingerloop braids, with bonus whetstone and shears.

Getting ready for Faire, and realized I never posted these fingerloop braids from my last 16th century event. They're braids #4 & #6 ("A Lace Baston", "An Endented Lace") from Tak V Bowes Departed. Both have the same braiding patterns as #2 "A Round Lace of Five Loops", which I previously used as purse strings. I've technically made #6 before (the endented braid for a drawstring on the sweetbag project), but revisiting it in conjunction with the others really helped me internalize how the color patterns work.

Close up on the patterns: stripes and chevrons.

All three of these are the same braiding pattern. Number #2 (the black purse string) just uses 5 loops of the same material, giving a plain round cord. Number #6 (above, tied on the whetstone) uses two loops of one color and three of the other, each starting on separate hands, so the colors alternate and change place as you work; this produces the chevron design. Number #4 also uses five identical bicolor 'loops' made by tying a thread of one color to a thread of the other: this produces the vertical lines down the cord IF you keep the loops aligned.

It's probably obvious to everyone else, but I found this this experiment very helpful for improving my understanding of how the braiding really works. The patterns were also nice training tools for keeping tracking of your loops (chevron) and picking up the right side of the loop (stripe). The solid color looks more forgiving, but makes it harder to tell where errors occurred. I'd honestly recommend that anyone starting on fingerloop braiding try all three of these variant braids together as an exercise.