Instructor: Shirley Berlin

Class: Saturday, May 22, 2021, 5:30pm – 7:00pm Eastern Time

Zoom links will be added here for class.

Q&A session: Saturday, June 5, 2021, 2:00pm – 2:30pm Eastern Time

Class Description:

In the Hide and Seek on a Disk class you will learn three different ways to braid around core yarns. Hide and Seek references how the colors come and go. Students will learn how to complete a Laramie braid, a 16 strand Kongo gumi and a braid that combines  Kongo with a square braid. All braids, including the square braid, are made on a disk although the Kongo gumi and Combination braids may be completed on the marudai. Interestingly, none of these braids require any adjustment moves. 

In this class you will also learn how to start a braid with a blunt end, make your own “satin cord” and complete a beaded ending.

Students will learn:

• The Laramie braid utilizes 10 strands of color one and 10 strands of a contrasting color. As the Laramie braid is a “one handed” braid, it is preferably made on a disk.

• Sixteen strands of each of two contrasting colors are utilized to make the Kongo gumi braid. Kongo is the basic “left up, right down” braid and in this case the core threads rest on top of the disk and are shifted with each move. Note that Shirley Berlin utilizes various color layouts for the two color Kongo gumi.

• The Combination braid consists of two 8-strand square braids creating the core and a 4-strand Kongo braid on the outside. For the combination you will braid the core as you go.

Prerequisite: none

Class Instructions:

• General Information
• Laramie Braids
• Kongo Braids
• Square and Combination Braids (rev. 051721)

Forum

Equipment:

A Disk will work for all three braids. A Marudai may be used for the two Kongo based braids.

Supply List:

• Foam discs, preferably three
• Counterweights, a variety of weights
• Yarns for all except the outside strands on the Combination braid: Ribbon yarns, pearl or mercerized cottons, shiny synthetics, etc. Do not choose a fiber with stretch, such as wool. Most lengths are short and do not require use of bobbins.
• Yarns for the outside “fat” strands of the combination braid: the yarn should be a “stuffed” hollow synthetic “ribbon yarn” or fat rattail or stiff metallic cord.
• Yarn lengths for actual braid structures (shorter lengths can be used for learning a braid structure):
  • Laramie:                    10 strands of color 1, approximately 60 cm or 24 in
  •                                                 10 strands of color 2, approximately 60 cm or 24 in
  • Kongo gumi:             16 strands of color 1, approximately 60 cm or 24 in
  •                                                  16 strands of color 2, approximately 60 cm or 24 in
  • Combination:              4 strands of color 1, approximately 80 cm or 32 in
  •                                                  4 strands of color 2, approximately 80 cm or 32 in
  •                                                  4 strands of color 3, approximately 160 cm or 64 in
• Bobbins: 4 flexible plastic bobbins, such as E-Z Bobs. These will be used for the 4 strands of the Combination braid.

Kits:

Note: each kit is unique in the yarn choices but follow the below guidelines.

Kits include:

• Postage with tracking (Note: kits are being mailed from Canada).
• Short yarn sets for learning Laramie and Square braids
• Longer yarn sets of at least bracelet length; one for each braid structure.  These yarns are chosen for success. These sets may include ribbon yarns, pearl or mercerized cottons, shiny synthetic yarns, etc.
• Blunt darning needle and “stuffing” yarn
• 4 flexible plastic bobbins
• Beads for endings, color coordinated with the yarns
• Note: counterweights are not supplied

Cool Colorway

Warm Colorway