3.18.2008

Braiding

Finally I have time to share this fun way to make scarves.

The yarn I used here is blue sky alpacas "Bulky Naturals", I used one skein.(45 yards)
The color is silver mink. ( these look very nice too)
The length of the finished product is 6'4" and the width is 2'-1/4".




First, cut the yarns to the desired length. I had 12 of 10' long yarns. 2 of them as a group and tie them together. like the photo shown below.

**( it could be 14 of 8' long yarns or 16 of 7' long yarns. you will have shorter but wider scarf.)



so you will have six group of them. Tie them to the clothes hanger.




Follow the instruction here. I quickly did some sketches here. I hope this is helpful.

I hung my hanger to my book shelf structure so I can sit on my chair. The Ikea book shelve I have happens to have the steel rod structure so I can easily adjust the height I want. I also tried to hang it to the bath room's towel hanger but then I could not adjust the height. It's a bit painful to stand for a couple hours. Also you need a clean floor space for the excess yarns. remember they are 10' long yarns!

I think I was inspired by those back strap loom which attached to wood trunk and human body. It reminds me that I can simply use my clothes hanger to finish this project.




No. 8 is the end condition. You need to always adjust the shape of the scarves. Pull them tight!! but not overly.



try to do some swatches before you did a real project. to check the texture, color and get used to the braiding patter. Also you will know what kind of the tension you need. This is the swatch I used the irregular shape yarns so you can see that it got various width.






Here is the original illustrations from the book. You will notice that actually the yarns are fixed by the nails. you also can do this way. I tried this at the very beginning . I used foam core and pins but it failed. The pins doesn't hold the yarns well. I just don't have a surface can nail on and also bigger enough for those 10' long yarns.


マフラー&帽子全書 isbn4-8347-2081-0







I think I'm going to keep this scarf with me this time although it's almost sprint here now!! ( I always ended up not keeping/owning any of the scarves I made.)
Please feel free to ask me any questions. I may miss some details. I think you will find you own way to do it just like what I did.

Happy braiding!! friends!






* It took time to make the scarf, do all the sketches and write this post if you are going to use any of the photos or contents here you need to get the permission from me.


43 comments:

Unknown said...

You are so generous sharing this beautiful craft! Thank you thank you! And the blue sky alpacas are really irresistable eh.
Lies

nikole said...

thank you.
oh i'm so excited!

marie said...

ooh un tres GRAND merci ah-yi!
it looks a little tricky..but i will try it!
would it be okay to link this post to one of my posts? (i want everyone to see it!)

ah-yi said...

marie, please feel free to link this post!
i would love to see your creation!

Anonymous said...

Simply lovely.

Anonymous said...

thank you for sharing the pattern...hope to give it a try! your scarf looks beautiful! [and i never seem to keep the knitted/crocheted projects i make either].

Anonymous said...

Oh, wow! Yu I, this is amazing. I don't think I have the patience to weave, but I so admire the process!!

marie said...

encore merci!
and i'll definately try it..(maybe not for a little while though, its a bit hectic at the moment!)..
but i won't forget believe me..
it looks like a good system ;)

MWM said...

these are beautiful -thank you for sharing your process.
I happen to have a whole bag of the blue sky alpaca -even the same color....

erica-knits said...

Wow, thank you so much for posting this! I cannot wait to try it out. I really appreciate the time and hard work you put into this post to share it with us. yay!

Fine Little Day said...

Very lovely scarf! Goes so well with the colors of your clothes. That jacket looks gorgeous too.

Anonymous said...

thanks for sharing that!! I really want to try!!

mansuetude said...

this is such a big, big gift to us!!
i want to try it. how many practices to get it lovely as yours.

thanks.

karin said...

The scarf looks fantastic! Nice combination with the jacket! I like white and yellow together.

Noshii said...

those are great instructions...i will have to try it out :)

Nidhi said...

beautiful and generous post! Your weaving posts remind me of childhood trips to the big factories in Himalayas with those old looms :)
I love the hangers too :P I have to go searching for hangers this weekend for my little unworn project.

Jeannie said...

this is so lovely thank you so much for sharing!
also i think the #2 diagram is supposed to show the green under/over not over/under?

ah-yi said...

ohhh, Jeannie, you are right! i need to correct this right away!

Anonymous said...

Thank you!

kokochan said...

Hello! I just found your beautiful blog! I wanted to thank you for this post especially. I'm really inspired to make my own braided scarf!

naughty little pony said...

Thanks for this post, love it. can't wait to try it.

michelle said...

thank you so so very much, I am so excited to make my very own scarf without having to learn how to knit!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for taking time to share the tutorial ah-yi, your scarf is beautiful as always (I don't think I have the patience) :)

Anonymous said...

absolutely wonderful work! i hope to make one soon!

Unknown said...

i will definitely try this out..thank you!

another question: where did you get your ring? it is very beautiful too!

patricia zapata said...

how beautiful! thank you for sharing.

ellyy said...

this looks like so much fun with thicker wool! thank you so much for taking the time to share this process with us.

i used to makes these but with embroidery cotton for my friends and we would exchange the little bracelets at lunch time. :)

Anonymous said...

I bought one from Reform School when you first posted these lovely creations! It's so nice to see the process, thank you for taking time to share!

labourofheart* said...

this is so beautiful!!!

Anonymous said...

we used to make these "friendship bracelets" at school - it is fabulous seeing the technique being used to make a scarf! lovely :)

Anonymous said...

How clever. This is like some of the friendship bracelets we used to make as kids. Thank you.

Little Red said...

Wonderful!! I've done scarves like this based on those embroidery friendship-bracelets, but I never thought of doing them all one color, or with such thick, rich yarn. It looks beautiful!! Your tutorial is fantastic, too. You've inspired me to pick this up again!!

Now, I wonder what OTHER friendship-bracelet inspired yarn creations we could make...

jesirose said...

I have tubs and tubs full of yarn to use and I may have found something to do with it finally!!

Any tips on what to use if you don't have that style hanger? I may just go buy one because it looks easy that way lol.

Anonymous said...

This is such a beautiful technique! I cannot wait to try it.

JAMIE KEILES said...

may i post a photo of this on my blog?

i will link and give you 10000% credit.

its beautiful!

gertru said...

great idea!

evencleveland said...

This is beautiful - I was so inspired, I made my own. I can't wait to try it with the blue sky alpaca. You can see my pictures at my site (and I put in a link saying I saw it here first.) Thank you!

Anonymous said...

this is great, thank you!! i will definitely have to pick up some thick, chunky yarn and now i have a reason to look forward to the cold weather in the fall!

Anonymous said...

I am definately giving this a try! It looks beautiful! Thanks for taking the time to share your instructions!

Confections said...

Hi, thank you for posting this. A few years back at my weaving guild I began a project with this technique, a bag formed in the round around a full paper towel roll. It was a bit more complex because of its round nature, and I never did finish it. However, now I am inspired to make a narrow scarf, perfect the technique, and go back to my abandoned project. Thanks again!

Valerie said...

I love this! I even made a cute little scarf for my poppet with this technique, thankyou !
I tweeted about it :)
http://twitter.com/RiechansWorld

Anonymous said...

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Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!

zucca azzurra said...

lovely, will try it for my autumn's project, thanks...ps love your blog and have a great day..