Coin Braid

Do you remember that gorgeous thread that I bought in Japan?

It appeared to be a variegated thread, a better description would be multi coloured. There wer 2-3metre length of blue and gold thread joined to red which was joined to brown etc. While it was not what I expected its a lot more versatile than I expected.

Of course once I had undone the skein I needed to unwind it onto individual cones.

It didn't take that long. I just did a bit everytime I was waiting for a photo to upload, emails to download.

I actually started this process beacuse I wanted to make a kumihimo necklace for Alan.I had brought back some Japanese coins, the ones with the holes. I planned to use this Japanese thread with the Japanese coins.

In addition to the above thread I also used a wire covered cotton 'thread' I bought at the craft show last year. I actually got 6 skeins for $20.

This is the messy skein after I had used some in the braid. I warped 16 bobbins of 1.5 metres each. I used Jacqui Carey's 16J from Creative Kumihimo. I slipped the coin onto 1 bobbin and kept braiding.

This is the finished necklace. It's a little longer than a choker but not princess length.

This is a detail shot of the braid. There was enough left over to make a bracelet for me and a sample length for the shop display.