_ = Cas BRAIDING Variacions on a Renaissance Cord oy Claine Fuller Ua apa Rea) LACIS PUBLICATIONS.TOOLS, TERODS & ABBREVIATIONS THE LUCET ‘The design of the lucet is simple: two fixed rods spaced about 2 inches apart. The two configurations are the “lyre” shape, without a handle, and the "Y" shape with an integral handle. The “lyre” shape was favored for lucets made of exotic or expensive materials. The "Y” shape, sometimes called a chain fork or hay fork, facilitates rotation of the lucet. Most lucets have a hole near the base of the uprights to guide the finished braid. ‘The uprights will be referred to as “horns” in this text. The tops of the horns turn away from you and slightly up to keep the working loops in position. TERMS Before you go any farther, please make sure you understand the following terms: Base cord: The basic braid, formed by making stitches on the horns of the lucet. Gimp: One or more supplemental threads weaving in and out of the base cord. Knot: A completed stitch Kumi Himo Bobbin: A wooden spool used to store and tension thread for braiding. Front: The side of the lucet facing you at any given time Stitch: The configuration of thread made by wrapping the thread around a horn of the Iucet and lifting the old loop up, off, and over the horn ‘Thread: Whatever material you are braiding, be it thread, yarn, string, ribbon, etc. ‘Turn: To turn the lucet over, 180 degrees clockwise if looking from above. If you are looking at the front of the lucet, it will appear to flip from right to left, asa page turns in a book. ‘Working Thread: The thread running between the lucet and the thread supply. ABBREVIATIONS BTOF Back to front DK Dark FTOB Front to back IFO In front of LH Left-hand LT. Light MED Medium RH Right-handSINGLE THREAD CORDS BASIC SINCLE-THREAD CORD ‘The basic process consists of grasping loops and lifting them over the horn of the lucet. The left hand holds the lucet with the horns pointing away from you. The right hand controls and manipulates the thread. 1, Thread a six-inch tail of crochet cotton from F to B through the hole of the lucet. With your left hand, hold this tail securely against the back of the lucet. Wrap the thread from the ball twice around the little finger of your right hand, then pass the thread across the palm of your hand and hold it lightly between the right thumb and index finger. 2, Wrap the thread around the horns in a figure 8. Do this by taking the thread counterclockwise around to the back of the RH horn, bringing the thread forward between the horns, then wrapping the thread clockwise around the LH horn, Now Fig. 1 bring the thread IFO the RH horn and above the first erap (Fig. 1). 3. Slip your right thumb and index finger under the working thread and behind the RH horn. Grasp the back of the lower of the two threads lying between the horns. Pull this thread clockwise around to the front of the RH horn. Without twisting the thread lift it up past the upper thread, off over the tip of the horn, and to the back of the lucet (Fig. 2). The upper thread must remain in its place IFO the RH horn. Release the thread ‘you just lifted, dropping it behind the RH horn. You now have a loop of thread encircling each horn, and a loose knot sitting behind the RH horn, Pull the working thread to the right to tighten the loop against, Fig. 2 the horn (Fig. 8) 4 Using your left hand, turn the lucet over from right to left (the lucet turns like a page in a book). The work should now appear as in Fig. 4, with the working thread lying above the oop on the RET horn. 5. Slip your right thumb and index finger under the working thread and behind the RH horn. Grasp the back of the oop on the RH horn, Pull this part of the loop clockwise around to the front of the RH horn. Without twisting the loop Fig.3 lift it up past the upper thread, off over the tip of horn, and to the back of the lucet (This is the same motion shown in Fig. 2). The upper thread must remain in its place IFO the RE horn. Release the loop you just lifted over the horn, dropping the loop to the back of the horn. As in step 3, you now have a loop of thread encircling each horn, and a loose knot sitting behind the RH horn. With your right hand, pull the working thread to the right to tighten the loop against the horn. Carry the thread across the back of the lucet, stopping just to the left of the LH \ horn. The work should appear as in Fig. 5. Fig. 4PICOTS Now for those picots I've been promising you. Work until you have completed step 7. To make a picot, substitute this modified step 8: 8. __ Keeping the LT thread IFO the RH horn, place the DK thread behind the horn. Pick up the lower (DK) loop on the RH horn. Lift the loop up past the upper LT wrap, then off and over the horn as usual. Gently pull the DK thread to the right to tighten the knot. *Place the LT thread IFO the horn again and lift the LT loop up, off, and over. Pull the LT thread to the left to tighten the knot. Repeat from * until your picot is big enough. The work should appear as in Fig. 24. Now proceed on to step 9, which will close the picot for you. Upon completion of step 9, your picot will look a little loose, Don’t worry about it; just turn the lucet (step 7) and go on to the unmodified step 8. Pulling on the DK thread to tighten the knot in step 8 will further tighten the picot. Make sure you have at least two plain stitches between picots. This preserves the structural integrity of the cord. It is, of course, possible to make this cord with twisted stitches. To set up the lucet, hold the LT and DK together as one. Make an initial Right Twist Loop on the RH horn, then turn the lucet and make another Right Twist Loop on what is now the RH horn (Fig. 25). *Turn the lucet, make a Right Twist Stitch on the RH horn in LT, then make a Right Twist Stitch on the RH horn in DK, and repeat from *. eine Bx wy) Fig. 24 . : Fig. 25 TURNED CORD WITH TWISTED STITCHES AND TWO WORKING THREADS 1 Holding the two threads together as one, drop a six-inch tail from front to back through the hole of the lucet. Pass both working threads to the back of the lucet, With the LT thread, make a Right Twist Loop on the RH horn. Above the LT loop, make a Right Twist Loop with DK thread. 2 Turn the lucet. Make a LT Right Twist Loop on what is now the RH horn. Above this LT loop, make a Right Twist Loop with DK thread. The work should appear as in Fig. 26. 3 Turn the lucet again. Position both threads behind the RH horn, 18 | | Fig. 26This same LT-MED-DK stitch sequence can be applied to a no-turn cord. To make a cord with twisted stitches, set up the lucet as in Fig. $3. Make a Right Twist Loop in LT on the RH horn, and lift the lower LT loop up, off, and over. Follow the same procedure with first the MED thread and then the DK, then turn the lucet. This is a very flat cord. All of the cords in this section can incorporate gimps and thread exchange. Experiment and have fun! Some beaded cords. See pp. 24 - 25. 2