This one of a kind braid made on an octo or square plate will further develop your skill at braiding with fiber.
AKS CoD – Moving On with the Laramie Braid by Shirley Berlin
$40.00
29 in stock
29 in stock
Description
The Laramie Braid is a straw-plaiting braid of European origin. It is made most easily on a disc because of the way the threads move around a core.
In this class we’ll braid with both yarn and wire, adding beads both inside and out. We’ll start with the basics but for those who already know this addictive braid, there will be variations: the number of threads, where they sit on the disc and using varied materials.
What will students learn?
Beginners will learn an exciting new braid with many possibilities:
- How to make a warp with a yarn core.
- How to work around a rigid core.
- How to tame wire.
Longtime braiders will be encouraged to apply their experience with other braiding techniques to this braid – which is how the Laramie was re-invented in the first place. The history of this braid is still being written.
Instructor – Shirley Berlin
Shirley loves to teach kumihimo and other narrow wares workshops. She is particularly interested in basic kumihimo and its myriad variations: texture, thick and thin, distortion, adding bumps or beads, beginnings and endings. On a road trip, she and her friend Carol played with a boring straw-plaiting braid and found the spiralling braid now known as the Laramie.
Although a committed marudai braider, with time she has come to appreciate that the foam disc has more possibilities than she first thought.
She has been braiding since the 1980s and is a founding member of both AKS and the Braid Society. At BerlinBraids, she and Peter Berlin make marudai and tama in Canada. She can answer the question “That’s nice, dear, but what do you do with it?”
Shirley is Canadian, but for 50 years she also lived in France, Sweden, Holland, Germany, Russia and England.
Equipment:
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Round foam disc.
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Counterweight
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For long threads – plastic E-Z bobs.
Materials:
- Yarns will be discussed at the beginning of the class. Options: knitting ribbon yarn, perle cotton, stranded cotton knitting yarn (mercerized is best for sheen), rayon, silk, hanks of embroidery, 1mm satin cord. You can include some novelty knitting yarn for pizzazz.
- Core: This braid is made around a core. You can use almost any type of cord, but dishcloth cotton or 4 or 5 strands of knitting cotton work well. Sometimes you want to make the core fatter or thinner so multiple strands give you that flexibility. With wire, I use knitting needles or dowels.
- Beads: Seed beads, 6/0 and 8/0 work well, or any small roundish bead with smooth ends and centers. The sample braids use 4 – 5mm round beads.
- Craft Wire: 22 or 24 gauge work well. You can mix sizes and colors. (Sample, sample, sample!)
Kits:
- Not available at this time.
Skill Level/Prerequisites:
- No previous experience necessary
Class Availability:
- This class can be accessed until September 9, 2027.
If you have questions about purchasing process, please email them to education@amksoc.org.
If you have questions about the class itself, email them to laramie@amksoc.org
Founding and Supporting Members are entitled to one free class. Use the coupon code akscodkumi when checking out.
After you have purchased this class, access it by selecting AKS Classes on Demand on Learning/Events menu on the tool bar on any page.
NOTE: This is an edited version of a previously aired Virtual Gathering class. There may be references to forums that were a part of that original class and discussions that were difficult to edit out. There may be some abrupt cuts where down time occurred and was edited out. We feel that the information you will get from these classes is outstanding and we are pleased to be able to capture these classes and share them in a very affordable and on demand fashion. Thank you for your understanding.
This class is copyrighted. Please respect the instructor’s rights.
Enjoy!
