Page 70 - Lindsey Philpott "The Ultimate Book of Decorative Knots"

64 tHE UltiMatE bOOK OF dECOratiVE KnOts

7 The second stage

of finishing is to
gently ease the
left-hand loop
from the left fork
and pass the cut
cord through this
loop. again, pull
tight.
6 Finishing the braid is done by snipping the

right-hand cord after passing the loop over.
Take the front portion of the loop and pull,
while holding the braid, to tighten.
Note that the first six or eight loops that pass
over the forks when beginning the braid will be a
little loose and you will have to maintain tension
with your left fingers to keep the looser
knots from coming apart.

You can also make single-strand braids using a
tool called a knitting dolly. I used to make knitting
dollies out of used wooden sewing-thread spools
when I was a child by adding three, four, or more
nails to the upper surface as prongs and passing
the finished braid down through the centre hole
of the spool. The braid here is a braid of round
cross-section and hollow. The number of pegs will
determine the appearance of the final braid – three
pegs makes a six-strand hollow braid and four pegs
makes an eight-strand hollow braid.
A talented braider can also make single-strand
braids on his or her own fingers. Use the pointing
finger and thumb as the prongs and the other three
fingers to hold the finished braid on to the palm.
Obviously you cannot twist your hand here but you
will still be able to carry the cord around the finger
and thumb anti-clockwise just as in using the lucet.