Braiding, Hair and Other Stuff.

Braiding is a fascinating technique - there's so many different braids that can be made, just by passing strands over each other, and there's a good number of different ways to go at it as well.

That starts from using just your fingers to hold the individual strands, which are fixed at one end, continues with the use of loops held on the fingers or the hands, and ends at the use of more elaborate tools such as braiding stands or braiding tables, weights, and weighted spools for the individual elements. The last is used, among other things, in kumihimo (the Japanese art of braiding), but was also employed in Europe for braiding hair.

In case you're not familiar with that, there was a time in the 19th century when it was totally en vogue to have jewellery or artwork done with human hair, as a keepsake and especially as a remembrance item for deceased loved ones or family members. You can read a bit more about this topic here, and the book referenced whenever hairwork is mentioned, "Self-Instructor in the Art of Hair Work", is freely available on the 'Net, for instance here at archive.org or via googlebooks or Project Gutenberg (if you're not in Germany, that is - Project Gutenberg is blocked off for German IPs, because, ah, stupidity.)

I've thought about trying to do some hair work with my own hair now and then, basically whenever I stumbled across this topic, but I've never actually put together all the necessary things and actually tried it. Maybe some day I will, before my hair gets too short (age is having an effect here - my braid used to be quite a bit longer five or ten years ago!).

Anyway - there is a distinct similarity between this technique used for hair work, with weights attached to the many individual elements and braiding with the help of a stand, and kumihimo. In case you're interested in the latter, the American Kumihimo Society is running a virtual meet-up with several workshops on March 20&21. Registration is possible for both members and non-members; you can learn more about the virtual meet and the workshops here.