Ready to Begin, Again – Heian Haven

I really thought I would give the kumihimo a rest and do something else. Nope.

I actually didn’t plan to get much of anything accomplished as I had other priorities today. I didn’t wake up knowing what to do, nor did I happen to do research that illuminated an answer. The fact of the matter is this – there is only so much space in my apartment and I can only move the sawhorses so far apart. So I set them as far apart as I could and measured. 248 inches. That should net 135 finished inches which is lovely and long and has room for knots.

So I set myself to reeling out silk thread and winding tama (wooden bobbins/spools). I was more careful this time and lifted the end loop off and passed a bit of string (DMC floss that had previously been used to attach a strand to a tama) through it.

8 wooden spools with white strands made up of multiple loose threads are arranged in a rough semi-circle The looped ends of the strands extend to the center point of the semicircle and a dark grey string has been passed through the looped ends.

After I had all 8 ready, I cinched the string in a lark’s head knot and taped it down to the table. I then smoothed the cut parts of the ends and bound them all together with needle and (silk) thread. This is a much more tidy start than the …test braid. That looped end will eventually be cut and trimmed to make a tasseled end.

8 wooden spools with white strands made up of multiple threads THe strands are gathered together and bound. Needle and threadextend to the left of the bound spot. The strands have looped ends which have a dark colored string tying them together in a lark's head knot. The dark string is taped to the wooden surface with a piece of masking tape.

It’s nearly midnight and I should really get to bed, but I’m sorely tempted to go ahead and set the tama and start again. I won’t. But I am tempted. And I definitely have to order more silk thread.